Review Poetry "Seven Ages of Man by William Shakespeare"

1. INTRODUCTION

The reason why I choose this poetry “Seven Ages of Man by William Shakespeare” is because the writer is the famous one who has many popular poems and he often called the English national poet. Beside of that, this poetry has a deep meaning about every man plays several parts during his life time. Each person has an entry into the world at birth and exits it at death.This poetry very interesting and describes the level of a person's life and it made in 1838.

Seven Ages Of Man by William Shakespeare

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and 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 cannon's mouth. And then the justice
In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd,
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 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 obvilion

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything

1.2 INTRINSIC ELEMENT

Structure:
The poem is composed in free verse. The style is narrative. The poem describes seven different stages of life in brief but has a powerful impact throughout.

Metaphor:
*All the world’s a stage
*And all men and women are merely players
*seeking the bubble reputation (reputation has been termed as short-lived like a bubble)

Simile:
*Sighing like furnace
*creeping like a snail

Alliteration:
*shrunk shank
*plays his part

1.3 EXTRINSIC ELEMENT

William Shakespeare, often called the English national poet, is widely considered the greatest dramatist of all time. Shakespeare though no birth records exist, church records indicate that a he was baptized at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 26, 1564. He was the third child of John Shakespeare, a leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a local landed heiress. He had two older sisters, Joan and Judith, and three younger brothers, Gilbert, Richard and Edmund. He married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582, in Worcester, in Canterbury Province. In early 1585, the couple had twins, Judith and Hamnet, completing the family. Following this gap in the record, the first definite mention of Shakespeare is in 1592 as an established London actor and playwright, mocked by a contemporary as a "Shake-scene." The same writer alludes to one of Shakespeare's earliest history plays, Henry VI, Part 3, which must already have been performed. Shakespeare prospered financially from his partnership in the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men), as well as from his writing and acting. He invested much of his wealth in real-estate purchases in Stratford and bought the second-largest house in town, New Place, in 1597.Among the last plays that Shakespeare worked on was The Two Noble Kinsmen, which he wrote with a frequent collaborator, John Fletcher, most likely in 1613. He died on April 23, 1616.

1.4 EXPLANATION
The man in the poem goes through these stages all expressed in a sardonic when not bitter tone:

1. Infancy: In this stage he is a helpless baby and knows little.
2. Whining Schoolboy: It is in that stage of life that he begins to go to school. He is unwilling to leave the protected environment of his home as he is still not confident enough to exercise his own discretion.
3. The Lover: In this stage he is always maudlin, expressing his love in a fatuous manner. He makes himself ridiculous in trying to express his feelings.
4. Soldier = Young Man : He’s a bold and fearless soldier – passionate in the causes he’s prepared to fight for and quickly springs into action. He works on developing his reputation and takes risks to that end.
5. Justice or judge = Middle aged: He regards himself as wise and experienced and doesn’t mind sharing his views and ideas with anyone and likes making speeches. He’s made a name for himself and is prosperous and respected. As a result of his success he’s become vain. He enjoys the finer things of life, like good food.
6. Pantaloon = Old man: He is old and nothing like his former self – physically or mentally. He looks and behaves like an old man, dresses like one and he has a thin piping voice now. His influence slips away.
7. Second childishness = Extreme old age or a second childhood :Like babies very old men are dependent on others and have no teeth. The old man loses his memory, hearing and control of his senses before dying.

1.5 CONCLUSION

This monologue compares the world with a stage in a theatre. Men and women are the actors or players on this stage.

Actors playing roles have entrances and exits during a performance. Life also has its entrances and exits people are born and die and pass in and out of our lives. Just as an actor plays a variety of roles in life, so too do men and women play different roles or pass through different stages or seven ages of their lives.The speech then focuses on the experience of men. However it is also possible to consider how the lives of women might be divided into seven ages or stages.

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. 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. From the agile soldier, he goes on to become a judge whose waistline grows as he becomes 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. 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.

GLOSSARY

ballad : a story told through a song

capon : a castrated rooster, a luxury food

hose : stockings

lean : thin

mewling : crying or whining

modern instances : new judgements or decisions

oblivion: nothingness

pantaloon: refers to the sixth stage of life, the character of Pantalone is a weak old man from Italian comedy. Pantaloon was sixteenth century slang for an old man and is similar to “geezer”.

pard: a big cat such as a leopard or panther

pipe: a musical instrument like a recorder with a high pitched tone

puking: vomiting

sans: the French word for “without

satchel: a school bag

severe: harsh or stern

treble: the high voice of a small boy

wise saws: wise sayings or proverbs