Question 1.
What according to you are the stages of a person’s life? What characteristics would you associate with each stage? (e.g childhood : innocence, joy)
The other stages of life which are not mentioned in the extract by Shakespeare are:
| Stages | Characteristics | |
| (1) | Childhood | innocence, joy, carefree life |
| (2) | Youth | dynamism, strength and romance |
| (3) | Middle | responsibility, maturity and Age wisdom |
Besides the above mentioned stages, Shakespeare describes seven stages in man’s life. They are
| Stages | Characteristics | |
| (1) | Infant | mewling and pucking. |
| (2) | Schoolboy | unwilling to go to school, shining face. |
| (3) | Lover | sighing, writing romantic ballads for mistress. |
| (4) | Soldier | jealous in honour, quick in quarrel, seeking bubble reputation. |
| (5) | Justice | full of wise sayings and modem instances. |
| (6) | Old pantaloon | Shrunk shank, manly voice turns into childish treble. |
| (7) | Last stage | Second childishness, without taste, without eyes. |
Question 2.
On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following questions by ticking the correct choice:
(a) All the world’s a stage is an extended metaphor for ______
(i) the life shown in well known plays.
(ii) seeing the well known plays.
(iii) life of well known actors.
(iv) the life of man.
(iv) the life of man.
Question 3.
Having read this extract, identify the stages of a person’s life as Shakespeare has done. Write down these gtages in your notebook, and sum up the characteristics of each stage in two or three words. e.g.
| Stages | Characteristics | |
| (1) | infancy | crying |
| Stages | Characteristics | |
| (1) | infancy | crying |
| (2) | Schoolboy | unwilling to go to school. |
| (3) | Lover | sighing for mistress. |
| (4) | Soldier | searching for bubble reputation. |
| (5) | Justice | full of wise sayings and instances. |
| (6) | Old pantaloon | grows weak |
| (7) | Last stage | second childhood. |
Question 4.
Work individually, and rank the seven stages in order of attractiveness. If you think being a schoolboy is most attractive, you could rank it number 1. Then, work in groups of four and compare your individual rankings.
| S.No | Stages | Rank |
| 1. | infancy | 1 |
| 2. | Schoolboy | 2 |
| 3. | Lover | 3 |
| 4. | Soldier | 4 |
| 5. | Justice | 5 |
| 6. | Old pantaloon | 6 |
| 7. | Last stage | 7 |
Question 5.
Explain the meaning of the following:
(a) …all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances…
(b) And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace…
(c) a soldier,
…Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth.
(a) Shakespeare compares this world to a stage. All men and women are like actors. They play their individual roles and go away. Like the stage of dramas, life too has its own exits and entrances. In this world, men take birth and go out when they die.
(b) The third stage of life is that of a lover. He is always sighing like furnace for his beloved. He is full of passions and emotions for his beloved.
(c) The fourth stage of life is that of a soldier. He is ready to die for honour. He is very quick to seek honour and reputation. He is ready to sacrifice his life and jump into a cannon’s mouth just for a momentary reputation.
Question 6.
You already know the two literary devices generally used by writers for comparison, Le. metaphor and simile. e.g.
(a) He was a lion in the battle, (metaphor)
(b) He fought like a lion, (simile)
In (a) the writer talks of the soldier in terms of a lion. The comparison is implied. In (b) the writer compares the soldier to a lion with the use of the word like, (as may also be used for such comparisons.)
Read the poem again and note down the metaphors and similes. Copy and complete the following chart:
| Item | Metaphor | Simile |
| world | all the world’s a stage | |
| men | ||
| women | ||
| schoolboy | ||
| lover | ||
| soldier | ||
| reputation | ||
| voice |
Which comparison(s) do you find most interesting? Why?
The metaphor of‘stage’ is quite interesting. Men and women are merely players. The simile describing the lover sighing like a furnace is quite apt and logical. So is the metaphor ‘bubble reputation’. It shows the transitory nature of honour or reputation the soldier is seeking. The metaphor ‘childish treble’ highlights the high-pitched sounds created when the ‘old pantaloon’ speaks.
| Item | Metaphor | Simile |
| world | all the world’s a stage | |
| men | merely players | |
| women | ||
| schoolboy | whining schoolboy | creeping like a snail sighing like a furnace bearded like the pard |
| lover | ||
| soldier | ||
| reputation | bubble reputation | |
| voice | childish voice |
Question 7.
In this poem, life is compared with a play. Just as in a play a man acts many parts, so also in life, a man plays many roles. Can you think of some other comparison for life ? (For example, life could be compared with the seasons in nature, the days of the week, the lessons in a school day.) Select one of these comparisons (or choose one of your own), and write about the similarities that life has with it. (80-100 words)
Similarities of Seasons in Nature with Stages of Life The cycle of seasons in nature is very similar to the cycle of man’s life. Men take birth and make entrance on the stage of life. Similarly, seasons start with the spring. Everything sprouts and blooms. It is the best period of man’s life. It is full of colour, romance and beauty. Then comes the summer. It is full of warmth and heat is unwilling to go to school. He carries a satchel with him and walks slowly like a snail towards his school.
Question 8.
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.
Paraphrase: This world is like a stage in a theatre. All the men and women are only the actors of this stage of life. Like the stage, this world has its exits and entrances. People come into this world when they are born and go away from it when they die. One man has to play many parts in his lifetime. He plays and enacts seven stages of life.
(a) What are all the men and women of this world?
(b) Explain: ‘They have their exits and their entrances’.
(c) How many parts does every man enact and play?
(a) The men and women of the world are just like players on the stage of life.
(b) They take birth and enter the world. They die and depart from the world.
(c) Every man enacts and plays seven different roles in life.
Question 9.
At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school.
Paraphrase: The first stage of life is that of an infant. He is always crying and vomiting in his nurse’s arms. The second stage is that of a schoolboy who is complaining as he is not interested in going to his school. With his shining morning face and a small bag over his shoulder, he is walking slowly towards his school inching like a snail.
(a) What does man do in the first stage of life?
(b) Does the schoolboy show eagerness to go to school?
(c) How does the schoolboy walk up to his school?
(a) In the first stage of life man plays the role of an infant. He is always crying and vomiting in the nurse’s arms.
(b) No, the schoolboy doesn’t show any interest in going to school. Rather he is unwilling to go there.
(c) He is inching slowly and unwillingly like a snail towards his school.
Question 10.
And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow.
Paraphrase: The third stage is that of a lover. He sighs like a furnace and shgs a sad song dedicated to his lover.
(a) What is the third stage of life?
(b) What is the poetic device used in the second line?
(c) What does the lover do for his mistress?
(a) The third stage of man’s life is that of a lover.
(b) ‘Simile’ is used as a poetic device in the second line.
(c) The lover is always sighing and longing for his beloved. He writes a sad ballad describing the eyebrow of his mistress.
Question 11.
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.
Paraphrase: The fourth stage is that of a soldier. This stage in full of strange oaths. He is attentive for honour. He is always ready to quarrel. He can even enter the mouth of cannons for temporary fame.
(a) Describe the two traits of a soldier.
(b) What is the poetic device used in : ‘bearded like a pard’?
(c) Why does the soldier risk his life and what for?
(a) A soldier is always ready to swear and is full of oaths. He is ever ready to compete for honour and glory.
(b) The poet uses a simile for comparison.
(c) The soldier risks his life a momentary reputation and is ready even to enter the cannon’s mouth.
Question 12.
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.
Paraphrase: The next stage of life is that of a judge. He has a very big round belly as he is so fond of eating big and fat male chickens. He is a man of severe or hard looks. He wears a beard of formal cut. He is very intelligent and is full of wise sayings and modern examples. And so the justice plays his own role.
(a) Who is a justice?
(b) Describe the appearance of a justice.
(c) What are the two mental abilities of a justice?
(a) A justice is a person well-versed in law. He hears and decides cases in a court of law.
(b) He has a fair round belly as he devours lot of chickens. He keeps a beard of formal cut.
(c) A justice is full of wise sayings and modern examples.
Question 13.
The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered 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.
Paraphrase: In the sixth stage of his life a man turns into a lean and thin, slipper-wearing pantaloon with loose trousers. He wears glasses on nose and keeps a leather pouch on his side. He bought stockings in youth and have saved them well. Those stockings are too loose for his shrunk and thin legs. His coarse and loud manly voice produces whistles and piping sounds like a child as he speaks.
(a) What is a ‘lean and slippered pantaloon??
(b) What does the phrase “a world too wide’ here mean?
(c) How does the ‘mainly voice’ turn into ‘childish’ in the sixth stage of life?
(a) It means a thin old man wearing slippers and loose trousers.
(b) The stockings he bought in his youth have become too loose for his shrunk and thin legs.
(c) His manly voice turns into childish trebles and whistles when he speaks as he has no teeth in his mouth.
Question 14.
Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Paraphrase: The last scene which ends the eventful life-history of man is second childishness and mere forgetfulness. In this stage man loses teeth, loses taste and loses everything.
(a) What is the last scene of man’s life?
(b) Why is the last stage of man has been called a ‘second childishness’?
(c) How is the last stage of man’s life a ‘mere oblivion?
(a) The last scene that ends man’s eventual life is a ‘second-childishness’. In this age he appears and behaves like a child.
(b) The last stage of man’s life has been called a ‘second childishness’ as man’s appearance and activities in this stage are quite similar to those of a child.
(c) The last stage of life is a ‘mere oblivion’as old age is another stage of forgetfulness.
Question 15:
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances.
(а) Which stage of life has been described here by Shakespeare ?
(b) What are the features of this stage ?
(c) Explain the last line.
(a) Here Shakespeare describes the fifth stage of life, that is, of a justice.
(b) In this stage man enjoys prosperity, self-satisfaction and wisdom. He is fashionable. He has stem looks.
(c) At this stage man is full of wise sayings and examples from contemporary life. He impresses others with his knowledge and wisdom
Question 16:
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.
(а) What is the world compared to ?
(b) Exits and entrances mean________ .
(c) What do you mean by ‘acts’ in the last lin
(a) The world is compared to the stage of a theatre.
(b) deaths and births.
(c) ‘Acts’ in the last line mean roles which a person enact in his life-time.
Question 17:
At first the infant
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
(а) Which stage of life is being referred to here ?
(b) What are the characteristics of this stage ?
(c) Give the meaning of ‘mewing’.
(a) The stage of life described here is infancy.
(b)At this stage an infant in helpless and dependent.
(c) ‘crying’
Question 18:
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwilling to school.
(а) What is the school going by described as ?
(b) How does the school boy walk to school ?
(c) Which simile has been used here ?
(а) The school-boy is described as unwilling to go to school.
(b) The school boy walks very slowly like a snail while going to school.
(c) ‘creeping like snail’.
Question 19:
And then the lover
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress’ eyebrow
(a) Is the lover described happy ?
(b) How does he behave ?
(c) Which figure of speech has been used in the first two lines here ?
(a) He is not happy. He is sorrowful.
(b) He sighs and writes sad verses in praise of his beloved’s beauty.
(c) It is a simile. It also acts as an image.
Question 20:
Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and feared like a pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon’s mouth.
(а) What is the soldier ready to do ?
(b) What is the poetic device used in the second line ?
(c) What does ‘bubble reputation’ mean ?
(a) The solider is ready to die for name and fame.
(b) It is a simile.
(c) It means that reputation is as short-lived as the life of a bubble.
Question 21:
………………… The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered 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
(а) What does the phrase ‘shrunk shank’ in this stanza mean ?
(b) How is the voice of a man at this stage ?
(c) What stage of a man’s life is referred to in these lines ?
(a) Man is very old and dependent in the last stage of life.
(b) It means ‘without’.
(c) It means that man is helpless like a child.
(а) It means that his legs become weak and thin.
(b) The voice of a man at this stage becomes shrill like that of a child,
(c) It is the sixth stage of man’s life.
Question 22:
What is the significance of the words ‘entrances’ and ‘exits’ in the poem ‘The Seven Ages’
Human life has been compared by the poet to a stage of theatre where actors , appear, enact their roles and quit. ‘Entrances’ here signify human births and ‘exits’ deaths. Human beings take birth, play their parts and die.
Question 23:
Explain‘mewling and puking’in the nurse’s arms.
The infant cries and vomits milk in the arms of his nurse. He can do nothing but cry to express his needs. He is totally helpless and dependent.
Question 24:
Why does a man in his life play many parts ?
A man. is fated to play many roles in his life. As he grows, his role changes and his character also changes accordingly. He takes birth only to play different roles-the roles of an infant, a school boy, a lover, a soldier, a judge, an old and senile person.
Question 25:
Describe the second stage of life as elaborated by Shakespeare in the poem ‘The Seven Ages’.
The second stage of life is the school-going age. The school boy sulks as he does not want to go to school. He walks to school as slowly as a snail. He has, of course, a bright face, like that of a sunny morning.
Question 26:
Explain the first stage of human life.
Infancy is the first stage of human life. An infant cries and vomits milk in the arms of his nurse. He is helpless and dependent.
Question 27:
What characteristics would you associate with the stage of a soldier ?
Energy, enthusiasm, rashness and patriotism are some of the characteristics of a soldier. A soldier can sacrifice even his life for short-lived reputation.
Question 28:
Explain the line ‘the lean and slippered pantaloon’.
The line reveals that in the sixth stage of life, man becomes quite lean and thin. He wears slippers. He looks a funny old man in his loose clothes.
Question 29:
Explain the stage of justice.
The stage of being a judge is perhaps the best. At this stage, man is prosperous and well-fed. He looks stern and impressive. He is full of wise sayings and examples from contemporary life to prove his point.
Question 30:
Compare the sixth stage with seventh stage.
The sixth stage is that in which man becomes old, weak and thin. In his loose clothes he looks funny. In the seventh stage he becomes senile. He enters into ‘second childishness’. He is as dependent upon others as a child. He has no teeth, no sense of taste and loses every mental faculty.