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Poem 1 - All the World's a Stage - by William Shakespeare

About the Poet:

        Poet and dramatist, William Shakespeare (1564-1616) lived and worked during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Shakespeare began writing for the stage in the late 1580s. Shakespeare's earliest work as a dramatist was history plays. After this, he wrote numerous plays and poems, among the better known ones being comedies such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night, tragedies such as Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and King Lear, while his fourteen-line poems were collected in Sonnets (printed in 1609).
All The World's A Stage tells you that all the men and women are mere characters in the drama, which is played on the stage (in the world). 'They have their exits and their entrances'; this means that all the people take birth and then die after a certain period of time.

SUMMARY

           As All The World’s A Stage begins, you are dragged to a stage. It is like you are the audience, and you are watching a drama on the stage, right in front of your eyes.
All The World’s A Stage tells you that all the men and women are mere characters in the drama, which is played on the stage (in the world). ‘They have their exits and their entrances’; this means that all the people take birth and then die after a certain period of time.
When the man enters into the world, he has seven different ages or phases to go through. When he goes through these ages, he has to play different roles. These roles depict a man as a son, his responsibilities as a brother, father, husband, a fighter for the nation, etc.
The man begins his act on the stage as an infant; he pukes in the arms of his nurse and cries to be in the comfort of his mother.
The second act starts right when he turns into a school going boy, who is unwilling to go to school and unwilling to take the responsibility of being a student.
The third act then comes when he turns into a lover; his lover is the only person he sees dancing in front of his eyes. For him, there is absolutely no other place that can comfort him, than the eyebrow of his lover.
The fourth act of All The World’s A Stage portrays the man as a soldier or a fight for the nation. His beard depicts all those strange oaths that he takes to protect his country and all the men and women living in it. No doubt he quarrels, but he also maintains his dignity to create and develop his reputation in front of others around him. This is perhaps the toughest stage in his life.
Then comes the fifth act, where he turns into justice, the one who knows what is good and what is right. At this stage, he is perhaps the best person to approach to find out who is correct and who is wrong.

Video Lecture Links:
https://youtu.be/uF3Tdqrkrb4




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