Seven
Ages of Man
Introduction of the Poet
William Shakespeare was an English
dramatist and poet, considered to be the greatest of all writers. Shakespeare
was not only a writer and poet, but also an actor who devoted his life to the
theatre.
Introduction the Poem
The poem entitled Seven Ages of Man
is one of the best known passages from Shakespeare’s work. This speech is
delivered by Amiens in act III, scene VIII of the play As You Like It. Amiens
is one of the group of noblemen leading a life of exile with Dukes in the
forest of Arden.
Summary
In this poem, Shakespeare describes
various stages of human life. He compares this world to a stage where men and
women as actors and actresses perform the drama of human life. The birth and
death of human beings is similar to the entrance and exit of characters of
stage. This point of view reflects his deep affiliation with theatre.
Shakespeare says that each human
being performs seven parts in this small drama on the stage of the world. He
makes his entry as a baby who is fully dependent upon others. This stage ends
when the infant grows into a school child.
Shakespeare describes him as a boy
having a face fresh like morning, with his bag hanging on his side, walking
appropriately to school. In the beginning he does not like going to school but
gradually his thinking changes. When time passes onwards the schoolboy
transformed into a youngster. He is not an adult yet and due to lack of
maturity, he indulges in infatuations.
The young man through years of
experience emerges as a brave soldier. His desires and ambitions give a more
aggressive look. He has become hasty and fights over minor issues. He wants to
become famous at all costs. The age of bravery soon passes away by giving way to
a mature and sensible phase when he plays the role of a judge. He has cold,
unemotional eyes and wears a beard of formal cut. He gives lectures to people
and delivers wise sayings.
The stage also comes to an end and
the sixth age arrives. The wise judge is an old man now. His legs are thin and
body has shrunk and his strong voice changes into a squeaking voice. The
seventh and the last stage of a man’s life is the time of exit. He is once
again dependent upon others as he was in infancy. Shakespeare has called this
age second childhood.
Moral
Shakespeare has perfectly described
this truth in Seven Ages of Man that man is an actor, life is a drama and this
world is a stage. Each person plays the roles assigned to him and tires to
justify it.
“Our whole life is like a play.”
- Ben Johnson
Reference to
the Context
Reference
The lines given for explanation have
been extracted from the poem Seven Ages of Man, composed by William
Shakespeare. Seven Ages of Man is a speech chosen from one of William’s
Shakespeare’s comedies As You Like It.
About the poet
William Shakespeare was an English
dramatist and poet, considered to be the greatest of all writers. Shakespeare
was not only a writer and poet, but also an actor who devoted his life to the
theatre.
About the Poem
This poem is one of the best known
passages from Shakespeare’s work. This speech is delivered by Amiens in act
III, scene VIII of the play As You Like It. Amiens is one of the group of
noblemen leading a life of exile with Dukes in the forest of Arden.
Lines
And all the men and women merely players ———– His act being seven ages.
At first the infant.
Explanation
In the opinion of the poet man’s life
on earth is like a big drama, in which men and women play their parts before
their death. Man has to play many parts before their death Man has to play many
parts and his life has been divided into seven parts.
This world is just like a stage of a
theatre. All persons being players are given different roles. Every individual
plays a definite role during his life, which normally consists of seven parts
or acts.
In order to make his meaning clear,
he makes a comparison of life with the stage. The first stage of a man is being
an infant i.e. when he enters in this world and makes his exist in this stage
of world as a baby.
Lines
Mewling and puking in the nurse arms ——— Sighing like furnace, with a
woeful ballad
Explanation
Shakespeare says that each human
being performs seven parts in this small drama on the stage of the world. He
makes his entry as a baby who is fully dependent upon others. This stage ends
when the infant grows into a school child.
Shakespeare describes him as a boy
having a face fresh like morning, with his bag hanging on his side, walking
appropriately to school. In the beginning he does not like going to school but
gradually his thinking changes. When time passes onwards the schoolboy
transformed into a youngster. He is not an adult yet and due to lack of
maturity, he indulges in infatuations.
Lines
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow; then a soldier ———- Even in the cannon’s
mouth; and then, the justice,
Explanation
As a lover the man composes poems
about the eyebrows of his lover, and then came the fourth stage of his life, in
which man makes his appearance on this World’s stage as a soldier. He utters
wrong oath and develops a beard like that of a leopard. He becomes mad after
vain and transitory fame. He becomes wild and haughty and readily picks up
quarrels with anybody. He becomes a young soldier ready to fight and defend his
country. He fights with a spirit of competition.
He is ready to sacrifice his life for
his country. Being a young man, he looses temper very quickly. He is even ready
to face the canons he is a brave soldier. So he is seeking bubble reputation.
In the next role of his life the man becomes an agent of doing justice.
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