William Shakespeare (26 April 1564; died 23

April 1616)was an English poet and playwright,

widely regarded as the greatest writer in the

English language and the world's pre-eminent

dramatist. He is often called England's national

poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving

works, including some collaborations, consist

of about 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long

narrative poems, and several other poems. His

plays have been translated into every major

living language and are performed more often

than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-

upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne

Hathaway, with whom he had three children:

Susanna, and twins Ham net and Judith. Between

1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in

London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a

playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's

Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to

have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he

died three years later. Few records of

Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has

been considerable speculation about such matters

as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious

beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him

were written by others.

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613.His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.

Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognized as Shakespeare's.

Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright

in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its

present heights until the 19th century. The

Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's

genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare

with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called

"bardolatry". In the 20th century, his work was

repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new

movements in scholarship and performance. His

plays remain highly popular today and are

constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted in

diverse cultural and political contexts throughout

the world.

"All the world's a stage" is the phrase that

begins a monologue from William

Shakespeare's As You Like It, spoken by the

melancholy Jacques in Act II Scene VII. The

speech compares the world to a stage and life

to a play, and catalogues the seven stages of

a man's life, sometimes referred to as the

seven ages of man: infant, schoolboy, lover,

soldier, justice, pantaloon, and second

childhood, sans. It is one of Shakespeare's

most frequently-quoted passages, and is

mistakenly believed by some to be

Shakespeare's last speech.

Shakespeare compares the world with a stage in a

theatre and men and women with the players on that

stage.

Like the stage in the theatre, life too has its entries

and exits. A man plays his role through the seven ages

of life.

The first role/age is that of an infant. He cries and

whines and vomits in the hands of his nurse.

In the second stage of life, man plays the role of a

little child. He carries a small schoolbag with him and

has a shiny face, walking as slowly as possible because

of his dislike of school.

In the third stage of life, man plays the role of a lover.

He falls in love passionately and sings a sad ballad about

love, praising the beauty of his lover’s eyebrows.

In the fourth stage of life, man plays the role of a soldier. He is full of strange oaths, bearded, and strives for honour, recognition and reputation, even faced with a cannon.

In the fifth stage of life, man plays the role of a justice. He is well fed and has a fat belly. He is full of wise sayings. He uses his experience, wisdom and knowledge in the dispensation of justice.

In the sixth stage of life, man becomes weak and fragile. He wears baggy clothes and his deep manly voice becomes high-pitched and whistly.

Man’s last stage is that of extreme old age. This stage is compared to second childhood. He loses control over his senses and becomes dependent on others just like a child. He becomes a victim of forgetfulness and loses his teeth, eyesight, hearing, etc. and then, he passes away.

The man in the poem goes through these stages:

Infancy: In this stage he is a helpless baby and knows little.

Childhood: It is that stage of life that he begins to go to school. He is unwilling to leave the protected environment of his home as he is still not confident enough to exercise his own discretion.

The lover: In this stage he is always remorseful due to some reason or other, especially the loss of love. He tries to express feelings through song or some other cultural activity.

The soldier: It is in this age that he thinks less of himself and begins to think more of others. He is very easily aroused and is hot headed. He is always working towards making a reputation for himself and gaining recognition, however short-lived it may be, even at the cost of his own life.

The justice: In this stage he has acquired wisdom

through the many experiences he has had in life.

He has reached a stage where he has gained

prosperity and social status. He becomes very

attentive of his looks and begins to enjoy the finer

things of life.

Old Age: He begins to lose his charm — both

physical and mental. He begins to become the

butt of others' jokes. He loses his firmness and

assertiveness, and shrinks in stature and

personality.

Extreme old age: He loses his status and he

becomes a non-entity. He becomes dependent on

others.

All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players:They have their exits and their entrances;And one man in his time plays many parts,His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.And then the whining school-boy, with his satchelAnd shining morning face, creeping like snailUnwillingly to school. And then the lover,Sighing like furnace, with a woeful balladMade to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,Seeking the bubble reputationEven in the cannon's mouth.

And then the justice,In fair round belly with good capon lined,With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,Full of wise saws and modern instances;And so he plays his part. The sixth age shiftsInto the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wideFor his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,Turning again toward childish treble, pipesAnd whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,That ends this strange eventful history,Is second childishness and mere oblivion,Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

At first, the infant,

Mewling and puking in the nurse's

arms.

And then the whining school-boy, with his

satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail

Unwillingly to school.

And then the lover,

Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad

Made to his mistress' eyebrow.

Then a soldier,

Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,

Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,

Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon's mouth.

And then the justice,

In fair round belly with

good capon lined,

With eyes severe and

beard of formal cut,

Full of wise saws and

modern instances;

And so he plays his

part.

The sixth age shiftsInto the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wideFor his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,Turning again toward childish treble, pipesAnd whistles in his sound.

Last scene of

all,

That ends this

strange eventful

history,

Is second

childishness and

mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans

eyes, sans taste,

sans everything.

The Seven Ages of Man by William

Mulready, 1838, illustrating the speech.