Experts, can u pls give me the summary of the poem 'The Seven Ages '
Sutapa Chattaraj answered this
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Dk answered this
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. 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 teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything". It is one of Shakespeare's most frequently-quoted passages.
• Infancy: In this stage he is a baby
• Childhood: It is in this stage that he begins to go to school. He is reluctant to leave the protected environment of his home as he is still not confident enough to exercise his own discretion.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Old age: He begins to lose his charm — both physical and mental. He begins to become the brunt of others' jokes. He loses his firmness and assertiveness, and shrinks in stature and personality.
• Mental dementia and death: He loses his status and he becomes a non-entity. He becomes dependent on others like a child and is in need of constant support before finally dying.
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Aparna Yelne answered this
Widely acclaimed as a meditative poem, the Seven Ages by William Shakespeare captures the reality that a human being undergoes from birth to death. The poem mirrors the different stages in the life of a man and tries to universalise the feelings, moods and aspirations of human beings vis-a-vis the different stages of life. Replete with similes and metaphors, the poem shows Shakespeare's master craftsmanship as a poet other than a playwright. The poem opens with a profound observation loaded with meaning on the nature of the world we live in. The poet compares this world to a stage and men and women to the actors and actresses who have to play their roles as entrusted by Nature. As in a play, the playwright-poet mentions that our acts may be classified into the seven ages. We have simply to perform different roles in different ages as scripted by Nature. In the first stage, a human being is an infant. The infant pukes and murmurs in the nurse's arms. Subsequently, infancy gives way to the school going stage when a person having a face fresh, like the morning, walks reluctantly to the school with bags hanging on the shoulders. Post this stage, the stage of youth sets in when one experiences the feelings of love and romance. After this stage, an individual enters the phase when one has to fight against all odds like a soldier to make a living. At this stage he wants to be famous also. Having lived this stage, an individual enters a very mature phase when he assumes the role of a detached judge and advisor sharing wisdom and knowledge, gleaned from experience, with others. After this stage, the individual experiences the old age. His /her legs become thin and lean, voice starts trebling. At last, the poet describes how an individual enters the last stage of one's life which is comparable to second childhood. At this final stage , an individual without teeth, eyes, taste and everything, is once again dependent on others and having acted in so many roles gets ready to exit from the stage of this world through the process of death. |
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Swetha answered this
The poem commences with life being compared to a huge stage where all of us are only actors. Each person has an entry into the world at birth and exits it at death.According to Shakespeare, every man plays several parts during his life time. On the stage of life every man has seven acts. The first act of man is infancy. At this time all that the baby does is cry and puke on his nurse 's lap. After he goes through his infant life, he emerges as a school child who slings his bag over his shoulder and creeps most unwillingly to school.At the next stage in life, the young man is a lover who is busy composing ballads for his beloved and sighing deeply for her attention. He graduates into a bearded soldier who promises solemnly to guard his country. He is filled with national pride, is quick to be insulted and is always ready to spring up in defence. At this point of time he is more concerned with status and reputation. From the agile soldier, he goes on to become a judge whose waistline grows as he becomes fatter and fatter. He wears a short, formal beard and his eyes become intense. He is full of wisdom, speaking to everyone in a just and wise manner.After he has played this part, he goes into the sixth age. He becomes thin, wears spectacles, the skin around him hangs loosely. He is made fun of as being a funny old man. His youth has been left behind. His clothes hang loosely around him and his once manly voice turns into a high pitched, childish one. With this, man enters the last act where he experiences his second childhood as he becomes dependent on people once more. He is overcome by senility and forgetfulness, as he loses his faculties of sight, hearing, smell and taste, slowly but surely, and ultimately dies.
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Nikhil Joshi answered this
JAQUES, one of the characters in shakespeare 's play ' 'as you like it ' ' , divides man 's life into seven ages. he says all the world is a stage and all the men and women merely players in it. they enter this stage at the time of birth and leave it with their death. each man like the players in a drama plays many role in his life. his roles can be divided into seven ages.
first of all man plays the role of an infant. he cries in the arma of his nurse.then he plays the role of a school boy. every morining he leaves for school unwillingly. he has a shining face. in the third stage man plays the role of a lover. he writes ballad 's in praise of her beauty.
then he is a soldier.he is jealous oh honour.he is full of strange oaths and is very quick in quarell. to win fame or honour,he even go into the face of death. then he is a justice. he is fat bellyed and is very fond of eating. he has grave and serious eyes. he is full of wise maxims. he gives many modern instances. thus, a man plays this in the fifth stage.
in the sixth stage, he is thin and weak old man. he wears spectacles and has a pouch on his side. he has no longer his big manly voice, it becomes shrill like that of a child. when he speaks, he makes a whistling sound. the last age is second childishness, it ends the eventful history of man. in tis age, he loses his power of memory. he becomes very forgetful. he lives withput teeth, without eyes and without taste. infact he is without everything. :) :D
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Crumple Horned Nargle answered this
Widely acclaimed as a meditative poem, the Seven Ages by William Shakespeare captures the reality that a human being undergoes from birth to death. The poem mirrors the different stages in the life of a man and tries to universalise the feelings, moods and aspirations of human beings vis-a-vis the different stages of life. Replete with similes and metaphors, the poem shows Shakespeare's master craftsmanship as a poet other than a playwright. The poem opens with a profound observation loaded with meaning on the nature of the world we live in. The poet compares this world to a stage and men and women to the actors and actresses who have to play their roles as entrusted by Nature. As in a play, the playwright-poet mentions that our acts may be classified into the seven ages. We have simply to perform different roles in different ages as scripted by Nature. In the first stage, a human being is an infant. The infant pukes and murmurs in the nurse's arms. Subsequently, infancy gives way to the school going stage when a person having a face fresh, like the morning, walks reluctantly to the school with bags hanging on the shoulders. Post this stage, the stage of youth sets in when one experiences the feelings of love and romance. After this stage, an individual enters the phase when one has to fight against all odds like a soldier to make a living. At this stage he wants to be famous also. Having lived this stage, an individual enters a very mature phase when he assumes the role of a detached judge and advisor sharing wisdom and knowledge, gleaned from experience, with others. After this stage, the individual experiences the old age. His /her legs become thin and lean, voice starts trebling. At last, the poet describes how an individual enters the last stage of one's life which is comparable to second childhood. At this final stage , an individual without teeth, eyes, taste and everything, is once again dependent on others and having acted in so many roles gets ready to exit from the stage of this world through the process of death. this should help ;)
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