All the world a stage

1. All The World’s a Stage

2. Background
“All The World’s a Stage” is an excerpt taken
from Shakespeare’s play,
‘As You Like It’ (Act II, Scene VII) the character
Jaques speaks about the seven ages of man
from birth till death where he sees the world
as a temporary stage where all of mankind
plays particular roles in seven different stages
of life.

3. Brief summary
In this poem William Shakespeare compares the
world with a stage and considers all the human
beings merely the actors who have a entrance
and exit in this world and all play seven different
roles which eventually describe the seven stages
of life that every mankind lives.

4. The Seven Stages
• The first stage - infancy : The infant’s helplessness is
expressed through ‘mewling’ and being dependent on
the nurse.
• The second stage- a young pupil, a school boy : who
has a ‘shining morning face’ signifying the vitality in a
young child, almost every student who complains
about formal schooling.
• The third stage - the lover: who has devoted his life to
his mistress. The lover here is sad and sighing, the
ballad or song he has written for his mistress is about a
small feature of her face – her eyebrow.
Continued……..

5. • The forth stage - the soldier : who regards his oaths to
his state with his life, is proud of his honour and quick
in battle.
• The fifth stage- a powerful judge or justice : the round
belly signifies that he is in a comfortable stage of life
financially and now knows the ins and outs of his trade.
• The sixth stage- old age : that weakens everyone. our
figure becomes lean, eyesight is weakened and the old
man has as if turned into a feeble child once again.
• The seventh or the last stage- is that of oblivion or
death : where none of our six senses work and we are
left devoid of everything.

6. • Literary devices used :
Metaphor ( world as stage and the seven
stages is an extended metaphor)
 Monologue
• Tone :partially depressing

7. Questions
• What is the world compared to?
• “And they have their exits and
their entrances” - What do the words ‘exits’
and ‘entrances’ mean?
• Describe the different stages along with its
features, as discussed by Shakespeare in the
poem

8. Thank You