The poem “All the World’s a Stage” has been penned by William Shakespeare.
This poem is taken from his play ‘As you like it’. Here he compares the world to a stage, where the drama of human life is enacted
Watch this video to understand the poem. Go through the word meanings, Appreciation and Figures of speech. It covers everything that you need for board exams.
Word meaning
merely: only, simply
players: actors
infant: newborn baby
Mewling: cry feebly
puking: Vomiting
whining: complaining
satchel: Bag
furnace: heater
woeful ballad: miserable song
oaths: promises
pard: leopard
bubble reputation: short fame
cannon’s mouth: facing great danger to life.
with good capon lined: with excess fat from careless eating habits
severe: hard
saws: sayings
instances: examples, cases
youthful hose: Closefitting covering for legs
shrunk: to become smaller, narrowed
shank: leg
treble: three times weaker
Second childishness: a return to the helpless, ignorant state of the child.
oblivion: the state of being unaware
sans: without
Appreciation
The poem All the World’s a Stage’ by William Shakespeare taken from Shakespeare’s play ‘As you like it. It is a monologue (a loud speech to oneself) by one of the characters in the play.
The poem is written in blank verse i.e. there is no rhyme scheme. but there is a steady rhythm of five beats (i.e. iambic pentameters each line. There are many figures of speech, like Simile, Alliteration and Repetition, but the one that stands out is Metaphor. In the lines, All the world’s a stage, And all men and women are merely players there is an implied comparison between two different things.
In this poem, Shakespeare compares life to a stage. He has divided life into seven stages each having its own varied qualities and features. The theme of the poem is the cycle of life. It tells us how one starts out as an infant, helpless, without understanding and ends the same way, without being aware of what is happening around one.
Figures of speech
- All the world’s a stage.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor
Explanation: Here, The poet has indirectly compared the world to the stage of the theatre.
- And all the men and women are merely players.
Figures of Speech: Alliteration
Explanation: Here, the sound of a is repeated for poetic effect.
- And one man in his time plays many parts.
Figures of Speech: Inversion
Explanation: Here, the order of the words has been changed. The correct order is “And one man plays many parts in his time”.
- They have their exits and entrances.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor
Explanation: Here, The poet has indirectly compared deaths and life to exits and entrances.
- At first, the infant, mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Figures of Speech: Onomatopoeia
Explanation: Here, The word mewling denotes the sound of the cry of an infant.
- creeping like a snail
Figures of Speech: Simile
Explanation: Here, the Poet has used a direct comparison between the schoolboy and snail.
- Sighing like a furnace
Figures of Speech: Simile
Explanation: Here, the Poet has used a direct comparison between the deep breath and furnace.
- Sighing like a furnace
Figures of Speech: Onomatopoeia
Explanation: Here, the word sighing denotes the sound of a lover’s deep breath which is similar to that of the furnace.
- Sighing like a furnace with a woeful ballad
Figures of Speech : Transferred epithet
Explanation: The epithet ‘woeful’ has been transferred from the lover to the ‘ballad’.
- with eyes severe and beard of formal cut.
Figures of Speech: Inversion
Explanation: Here, the order of the words has been changed for poetic effect. The correct order is “with severe eyes and formal cut beard.”.
- His youthful hose well saved a world too wide.
Figures of Speech: Transferred Epithet.
Explanation: Here, the epithet “youthful” has been transferred from the old main to hose.
- Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
Figures of Speech: Repetition
Explanation: Here, the word ‘sans’ has been repeated for poetic effect.
Question and Answer
- What do exits and entrances refer to?
Ans: The term exits and entrances refer to death and birth.
- Why is reputation like a bubble?
Ans: Reputation is like a bubble because one does useless things to create one’s reputation but it is short-lived can burst like a bubble.
Details about seven stages of Man’s life :
| Age Of Man | Role | Qualities/Action |
| 1 | Infant | 1. Crying 2. puking in the nurse’s arms. |
| 2 | Schoolboy(childhood) | 1. Shining morning face 2. Unwilling to go to school |
| 3 | Lover(teenage) | 1. Sighing like a furnace because of being in love. 2. write a woeful ballad for his mistress. |
| 4 | Soldier(Young Man) | 1. bearded like a leopard 2. seeking the bubble reputation. |
| 5 | Justice(Middle aged man) | 1. fair round belly, severe eyes and formal cut beard. 2. full of wise sayings and modern instances. |
| 6 | An elderly man | 1. lean, slippered pantaloon, spectacles on nose and pouch on side 2. big manly voice which turns weaker into the treble. |
| 7 | An old man | 1. Second childishness, oblivion 2. lost his teeth, eye-sight, taste. lives in a state of oblivion. |
If you like this post, share this post with your friends and do comment to us your views.
Other poems from the textbook of SSC Maharashtra Board
1.1 Where the mind is without fear | Explanation and appreciation | English Medium | Maharashtra Board
1.3 All the World’s a Stage | Explanation and appreciation | SSC Board | English Medium | Maharashtra Board
2.1 Animals | Explanation and appreciation | English Medium | Maharashtra Board
2.4 The pulley | Explanation and appreciation | English Medium | Maharashtra Board
3.1 Night of the scorpion | Explanation and appreciation | SSC English Medium | Maharashtra Board
4.4 The Height of the Ridiculous | Explanation and appreciation | SSC English Medium | Maharashtra Board
