AS YOU LIKE IT ( 1599-1600)

Shakespeare dealt with a great variety of themes which covered the whole range of human experience and could speak to all kinds of people throughout the ages and all over the world. We shall have a look at some of his most frequent themes.

Appearance and Reality

 

The theme of appearance and reality is recurrent in Shakespeare's plays. The playwright uses different ways to express it, either by exploiting theatrical conventions to the full such as the apparition of ghosts. a disguise, a play-within-the play or, more subtly, through a suggestive use of language and imagery.

You are now going to read a famous monologue from the comedy As You Like It (1599-1600). Its title, which hints that it is impossible to have an objective knowledge of reality, is the very epitome of the theme of false appearances.

You do not need to know the very elaborate plot of the play in order to understand the content of the monologue.

Read the text.

•          What are the world and human beings compared to?

•          Make a list of all the stages in human life according to the text.

 

 

 

ACT II, Scene 7: JACQUES

 

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 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 shifts

Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,

His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And 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.

 

Tutto il mondo è un palcoscenico,

e tutti, uomini e donne siamo attori.

Con le nostre uscite e le nostre entrate.

Un uomo, nel corso della vita, interpreta molte parti:

sette età suddivise in sette atti. Dapprima il bambino,

coi suoi versetti, che sbava in braccio alla nutrice.

Poi lo scolaro piagnucoloso, coi suoi libri,

ed il volto intirizzito dal mattino, che si trascina svogliato, come una lumaca, verso la scuola. Poi l'innamorato,

che sospira come una fornace la triste ballata composta per il sopracciglio della donna amata. Dopo viene il soldato, con le sue bizzarre imprecazioni, baffuto come un leopardo,

geloso del suo onore, impulsivo e pronto alla lite;

alla ricerca di una effimera reputazione perfin nella bocca di un cannone. Poi il giudice,

dalla bella pancia rotonda piena di capponi grassi,

con l'occhio severo, con la barba ben curata,

che sputa sagge massime, banalità che ritiene moderne, e anche lui recita la sua parte. La sesta età ti trasforma

in un debole e sonnacchioso Pantalone,

con i suoi occhialetti sul naso e una borsa al fianco,

calzoni di quand'era giovane, ben conservati, ma oramai troppo larghi perle sue gambe rinsecchite; il bel timbro maschile della voce

regredito ad una vocina fanciullesca: falsetti

e soni acuti gli escono di bocca. L'ultima scena, poi,

in fondo a questa strana e lunghissima storia,

è una seconda fanciullezza: completo oblio,

senza denti, senza occhi, senza  gusto... senza niente.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_world%27s_a_stage

"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 Jaques 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.

 

The ages

The man in the poem goes through these stages:

  1. Infancy: In this stage he is a helpless baby and knows little.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Extreme old age: He loses his status and he becomes a non-entity. He becomes dependent on others.

 

Summary

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.