The Seven Ages of Man by William Shakespeare The Seven stages of a man’s life according to

Shakespeare are as follows:

Introduction:
Stage One: Infancy
The Seven Ages of Man, also known as “All the world’s a
stage” is a dialogue from the English playwright William “At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse’s
Shakespeare’s comedy ‘As you like it.’ The dialogue arms.”
takes place in Scene VII of Act 2 where the dreamy
philosopher Jacques is talking to Duke Senior and The first stage of life is birth. All life begins with birth.
Orlando in the forest of Arden. They’re having dinner When a child is born, it is completely oblivious to the
when Duke Senior confesses to Jacques that he and his cares of the world. Infants don’t do much; they are
dependent on their mother and caretakers. So, we see
men are alone and unhappy whereas the whole world is
full of joy. that the speaker establishes the first stage of life as the
stage of dependency. Infants have no other way of
The ‘Seven ages of man’ is the reply Jacques gives to calling out other than their cry. Also, they cannot eat
Duke Senior. The purpose of this reply is partly to and are dependent on their mother’s milk. They often
console the sad Duke Senior and partly to tell the vomit.
audience of the play that unhappiness is a part of life
and that we all go through certain stages of life. The This stage of life extend till the infant is old enough to
extract is also regarded as the character’s comment on go to school.
the futility of life. Stage two: Childhood
Line-by-line explanation of the poem “Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel And
shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to
“All the world’s a stage,”
school.”
Shakespeare is comparing the world to a stage which
must’ve naturally appealed to him since he was a
playwright. He finds a similarity between the world and The infant grows into a child. He no longer needs the
the stage as in the stage is full of action just like the complete attention of his parents and custodians and
world. they send him to school to educate him in the ways of
the world. But the infant who has seen only love and
“All men and women are merely players.”
adoration from his immediate environment looks
Shakespeare says that all men and women are actors on reluctantly towards this change. He whines and cries
the stage of the world in the play of life. and throws tantrums to avoid separation from his
parents. The parents, however know what is best for
“They have their exits and entrances.” their ward and they force him to go to school. They
The speaker is talking about life and death and how dress him in the school uniform and give him a satchel
they are inevitable. What we should pay attention to and make him ready for school. The little child however
here is the plural form of the words ‘exits’ and is unwilling to go to school.
‘entrances.’ The speaker isn’t talking only about life and
death. He is talking about human relationships as well.
People come and go in our lives, relations are made, This description of the second stage of a person’s life is
broken and re-established. again a generalization by the writer as even in his time it
was only a select few who could afford education. Most
“And one man in his time plays many parts. His acts of the children were either home-schooled or learned
being seven ages.” their way about the world from observation.
It means the different roles we play in life as a
child, a parent, a sibling, a spouse, etc. The latter part of
the line says that a person plays these several parts Stage three: Adolescence
stretched over seven acts which are seven different
ages. This is again a Play analogy. We see a clever “And then the lover,
association between plays and life in this introductory Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
part of the dialogue.
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow.”

THE AGES:
Next, the educated youth is in the height of teenage Then the soldier, as he goes into middle-age, is seen as
when adolescence sets in. The erstwhile child now a judge passing on judgement and protecting the
weaves the dreams of love. He witnesses new changes people with law and order. This again is a
in his mind and body and feels differently than he’s generalization; the professions chosen by Shakespeare
done before. His heart is set on love and he pines for his in the dialogue are not necessarily how people lived
mistress. He writes and sings sad ballads for his their life, nor is it any indicator that the same order is
mistress, exalting her beauty and form. For the lover followed in the professions.
the world is all roses and cherry blossom; he sees
beauty in every aspect of life. This is the period in a
person’s life when he witnesses beauty and the feeling The justice is shown as round-bellied, well-to-do man;
of amorous love and infatuation. eating chicken which the speaker humorously says is
lined in his belly in the form of fat. His eyes are severe
and his beard is of a formal cut, which suggests his stern
We should also try not to forget here that the male lead nature. He is full of wisdom and modern examples
of the play Orlando is in the third age of his life. We can where they are relevant; he carries about his part
see it from the fact that he is deeply in love with imparting knowledge and carrying out the duty of
Rosalind who is the protagonist of the play, but is justice.
unsuccessful in expressing his love for her.

Stage Four: Youth

Stage Six: Senescence
“Then a soldier,
“The sixth age shifts
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
Seeking the bubble reputation
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
Even in the cannon’s mouth.”
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

The next age is that of a young soldier. The tender lover
slowly transforms into a soldier — a soldier in the And whistles in his sound.”
battlefield of life. Soldiers take up strange oaths of
allegiance and honour and live by them. The speaker
says that a soldier is bearded like a Panther. He is The sixth age, according to the speaker is the entry of
courageous, and full of vigour with a never-back-down the middle-aged man into senescence. The person
kind of attitude. They zealously protect their honour progressively becomes lean and frail. He looks like an
and don’t hesitate to quarrel in proving their point. old fool (pantaloon) in his ragged slippers (slippered).
The old age comes with a gradual weakening of the
At this stage of life, honour and reputation are very senses. An old man is often seen wearing corrective
valuable to them and they will ever prefer death to glasses and pouch on their side to carry their items.
guard their reputation. Thus, this age is marked with
courage and vigour and is the stage of life when a youth
becomes a man.
The youthful sinewy frame of the soldier now reduces
to the lean and bony stature of the old man. The
speaker makes a humorous comment that the person’s
Stage Five: Mid-Life shrunken bottom saves a wide space for his equally
“And then the justice, shrunken legs in his hose. That is just another way to
say that the person becomes slim and lank. The once
In fair round belly with good capon lined, roaring and manly voice of the soldier and the
authoritative voice of the justice reduces in pitch and
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, volume, becoming something akin to child-like in the
Full of wise saws and modern instances; old man. His voice whistles as he talks. We see the
effect of time and age upon a person.
And so he plays his part.”
Stage seven: Dotage

“Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

The last of the ages is dotage leading into the finality of

death. The speaker calls it the ‘last scene of all’ in the
play of the person’s life on the stage of the world. We
see a continuation of the metaphor developed in the
former lines of the dialogue in this final section.
Shakespeare calls this journey of a person through the
seven ages a strange and eventful history. He describes
this final stage of life as a second childishness where the
person enters into forgetfulness. Dotage causes a loss
of all senses and the person is left with nothing. We see
a return to dependency in this stage of life.

The final line is characteristic as it represents the

negative aspect of life and can be related to biblical
references. It is argued that Shakespeare chose the
seven stages of life to mimic the biblical reference to
the seven deadly sins, and in that respect the ‘sans
everything’ phase can be regarded as an experience of
hellish life. Thus, from Jacques’ soliloquy we witness a
journey from infancy to infirmity through the seven
ages of man.

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The Seven Ages of Man by William Shakespeare Stage 1, Infancy:

Introduction: A helpless baby, just crying and throwing up.

The Seven Ages of Man, also known as “All the world’s a

stage” is a dialogue from the English playwright William
Shakespeare’s comedy ‘As you like it.’ The dialogue Stage 2, Schoolboy/ Childhood
takes place in Scene VII of Act 2 where the dreamy This is where his formal education starts but he is not
philosopher Jacques is talking to Duke Senior and entirely happy with school. His mother is ambitious for
Orlando in the forest of Arden. They’re having dinner him and has washed his face thoroughly before sending
when Duke Senior confesses to Jacques that he and his him off to school but he goes very slowly and
men are alone and unhappy whereas the whole world is reluctantly.
full of joy.

The ‘Seven ages of man’ is the reply Jacques gives to

Duke Senior. The purpose of this reply is partly to Stage 3, Teenager/ Adolescence
console the sad Duke Senior and partly to tell the
He’s grown into his late teens and his main interest is
audience of the play that unhappiness is a part of life
girls. He’s likely to make a bit of a fool of himself with
and that we all go through certain stages of life. The
them. He is sentimental, sighing and writing poems to
extract is also regarded as the character’s comment on
girls, making himself a bit ridiculous.
the futility of life.

Line-by-line explanation of the poem

Stage 4, Young man:/Youth
“All the world’s a stage,”
He’s a bold and fearless soldier – passionate in the
Shakespeare is comparing the world to a stage which
causes he’s prepared to fight for and quickly springs
must’ve naturally appealed to him since he was a
into action. He works on developing his reputation and
playwright. He finds a similarity between the world and
takes risks to that end.
the stage as in the stage is full of action just like the
world.

“All men and women are merely players.” Stage 5, Middle aged:/ Mid-life
Shakespeare says that all men and women are actors on He regards himself as wise and experienced and doesn’t
the stage of the world in the play of life. mind sharing his views and ideas with anyone and likes
making speeches. He’s made a name for himself and is
“They have their exits and entrances.”
prosperous and respected. As a result of his success
The speaker is talking about life and death and how he’s become vain. He enjoys the finer things of life, like
they are inevitable. What we should pay attention to good food.
here is the plural form of the words ‘exits’ and
‘entrances.’ The speaker isn’t talking only about life and
death. He is talking about human relationships as well.
People come and go in our lives, relations are made,
broken and re-established. Stage 6, Old man/ Senescence

“And one man in his time plays many parts. His acts He is old and nothing like his former self – physically or
being seven ages.” mentally. He looks and behaves like an old man, dresses
like one and he has a thin piping voice now. His
It means the different roles we play in life as a influence slips away.
child, a parent, a sibling, a spouse, etc. The latter part of
the line says that a person plays these several parts
stretched over seven acts which are seven different
Stage 7, Dotage and death:
ages. This is again a Play analogy. We see a clever
association between plays and life in this introductory He loses his mind in senility. His hair and teeth fall out
part of the dialogue. and his sight goes. Then he loses everything as he sinks
into the oblivion of death.
Man has no control over his life. His preordained
life has been written down and he has no control
over it. He must pass through each of the stages
before he leaves the stage of life. And before
death, he musts play his part/ serve as written in
the script.

However he tries, in the end all that he’s acquired

will be lost as his material possessions and he
himself gets subsumed into oblivion and
unending darkness.