This famous monologue is spoken by Jaques. It contains arresting imagery and figures of speech to develop the central meta-phor: a person’s lifespan being a play in seven acts. These acts, “seven ages,” begin with “the infant Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms” and work through six further vivid verbal sketches, culminat-ing in “second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

As you like itAll the world’s a stage

Life is like a play, we merely go through the stages of

our life acting it out.

1st stage“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.

A formative time for the male race. While Shakespeare’s brat is nurtured by a nurse, who probably had several other brats to look after too, modern-day man

is breast-fed, adored and spoilt by his mother, leading to a life-long depen-

dence on the woman and/or fascination with large breasts, rather than some

scrotty offerings that have fed half the village.

1st stage

Infant

In this stage he is dependent on others and needs to be constantly attended to.

2st stageAnd then the whining school-boy, with his satchelAnd shining morning face, creeping like snailUnwillingly to school.

Early childhood follows the infancy stage, and

begins with toddler-hood when the child

begins speaking or taking steps independently.

While toddlerhood ends around age three when the child becomes less

dependent on paren-tal assistance for basic needs, early childhood

continues approximately through years seven or

eight. According to the National Association for the Education of Young Chil-dren, early childhood spans the human life from birth to age eight. Middle childhood begins at around age seven or eight, approximating primary school age and ends around puberty, the begin-ning of adolescence.

3rd stageAnd then the Lover,Sighing like furnace, with a woeful balladMade to his mistress’ eyebrow.

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.

♥

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4th stageThen 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.

The SoldierLeaving aside the few thousand men that actually do join the army aged 18, the majority of men have to direct their aggressive, man-killing urges else-where. Apart from that, Shakespeare’s description is pretty accurate. Full of strange oaths? Just your average football fan. Bearded like the pard? Student. Jealous in honour and quick in quarrel? Punch-up over mate’s girlfriend. Seeking the bubble reputa-tion, Even in the cannon’s mouth? Okay, it’s a while since I did English A Level, but I’d say this pretty much equates to that strange habit small blokes have of picking on the tallest guy in the pub.

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

The Justice

6th stageThe sixth age shifts into the lean and slipper’d

pantaloon, with spectacles on nose and pouch

on side; his youthful hose, well sav’d, a world

too wide for his shrunk shank; and his big

manly voice, turning again toward childish

treble, pipes and whistles in his sound.

PantaloonLooks a bit odd at first sight, but then we

find that a Pantaloon, instead of being a

type of trouser, is actually an “old wealthy

suitor”. Rich, retired and mean and miserly,

the pantaloon had a penchant for younger

women, despite the fact, as we can see

from Shakespeare’s original, he had specs,

love-handles, and was a bit spindly. Any of

your dad’s lecherous mates, then.

He begins to lose his charm, both physical and mental. He

begins to become the brunt of others’ jokes. He loses

his firmness and shrinks in stature and personality.

7th stage

Last scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history, is

second childishness and mere oblivion; sans teeth, sans eyes,

sans taste, sans everything.

Is a serious loss of

cognitive ability in a

previously-unimpaired

person, beyond what

might be expected from

normal aging. It may

be static, the result of

a unique global brain

injury, or progressive,

resulting in long-term

decline due to damage

or disease in the body.

Although dementia is

far more common in the

geriatric population, it

may occur in any stage

of adulthood.

ColophonContent: William Shakespeare monologue.Typefaces: Olduvai, Garamond, Bold Bold, Sun-day Morning Carage Sale, 28 Days Later, A Bite, Vitrina, Times New Ro man, Plumero Script, Stencil Std, Cap-ture it, PF Din, Bodoni, Bodoni Poster, Covington, Philosopher, Delicious and Circus Ornate.Design:Erick Melendez