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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.
Then the whining schoolboy, 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 canon'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 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.
Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
(As You Like It, 2. 7. 139-167) |
to mewl (archaic): to cry
to puke: to
vomit.
bearded like the pard: with a beard like a priest
capon: a
castrated and fattened cock;considered a delicacy
wise saws: well-tried
proverbs (clichés perhaps), contrasted
with
modern examples.
pantaloon:
trousers (archaic)
A
reference to the figure of Pantalone in the Italian
Commedia dell' Arte tradition. The trousers from the earlier years
are now
much too big for his bony body.
sans (French): without
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I. Shakespeare speaks of seven ages in our
lives. Which?
Find
and either highlight them or list them below.
 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. last scene of all
II. What is characteristic of each of them?
- in Shakespeare's opinion
- in your own opinion (Hopefully,
your opinion is different
from Shakespeare's.
He is not serious; the play is a comedy.)
III. Which of the ages do you find best
for yourself? Why?
IV. What are the
many parts we play
in these seven acts of our lives?
e.g. as the infant you can be:
- a son / a daughter
- a brother / a sister
- a grandson / a granddaughter, etc.
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