William Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. In his famous play "As You Like It", Shakespeare compares the world to a stage and human lives to a drama acted out on that stage. He describes seven stages of human life, likening them to the seven ages or acts in a play, from infant to lover to soldier to justice to old man and finally second childhood. The poem explores how people take on different roles throughout their lives just as actors play different parts in a drama.