One of William Shakespeare’s most famous poems is found in the play entitled “As You Like It”, recited by the character Jacques. Most people have heard of the first few lines of the poem:
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players” Jacques (Act II, Scene VII, lines 139-140)
This poem is frequently quoted because it holds deep meaning in life (Garber 139). Shakespeare compares life to a seven act play. The poem consists of twenty eight lines and is written in a form of a sonnet. There are three different themes that can be found in this poem – performance, gender and the ability to change.
Shakespeare suggests in his poem that there is a higher being who acts as the playwright or script writer (Burrow). This can be God, or a creator who dictates each scene and the events that come in each human being’s life. The poem suggests that all people live according to a preordained script which no one has seen or heard. Each person has his own time to come and time to go. All the stages in life can be compared to scenes in a play. Life can change as quickly as a scene can end.
Jacques divides the stages of life into seven parts. He does this in a cynical and angry way. His words are hopeless and bitter. The poem is better understood when the whole play is taken into account. Jacques is made to sound a bit pretentious and full of himself while he recited this poem (Garber 139).
- Puking infant
- Annoying school boy
- Young, sighing lover
- The soldier
- The leader
- A silly old man who still tries to be young
- A very old man who has reverted back to his infant stage
The character Jacques is seen preoccupied contemplating the meaning of life. Thus, this poem is his own understanding of how life is. It is a depiction of the character’s perception of life. Later on in the play, Jacques is seen to further explore the subject with Duke Frederick. It is a curious interpretation of a character longing for more knowledge and answers (Burrow).
Macbeth actually has the same theme in one of his monologues regarding life. There is a resounding theme of hopelessness and a bit of anger. These words might be cliché, but it is done in a way that the speaker is reminding people that they are in a play, watching actors.
“Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing” (Macbeth 5.5.2)
The poem also suggests that people change the way they act depending on their audience (Baldwin 652). This goes deeper into the subject, by stating that not all people are sincere with their actions. The first few lines could be seen as a shallow meaning, stating that people come and go in life as if they were actors in a play. However, it could also mean that not everyone stays true to their role. There are people who change their persona or personality depending on their company or according to the poem, their audience.
Man has an ability to change in his life. He is given a part to play by the scriptwriter or creator; however, he can go through numerous changes. These changes can be emotional, physical, spiritual, political and even social. In the poem, this is described to be one of the strengths of man – his ability to change. Not all creatures on the earth have this kind of ability. Therefore, man has an advantage over all the beasts and the birds of the air (Baldwin 652). In the play, this is seen in Duke Frederick’s change of heart. Man has an ability to change his heart as well as his destiny. However, in the play, it is sometimes seen in with the help of magic.
The play is particularly interesting when seen in the perspective of gender and sexuality. This theme is evident in the comedy brought about by Rosalind trying to pass herself off as a man and by Ganymede pretending to be Rosalind, a woman. This would have been even more interesting during the time of Shakespeare when all actors in a play were men, even the parts of women. Therefore, it would have been difficult for a man to play a woman who was pretending to be a man. The element of pantomime comes up and playing around with the idea of sexuality and gender.
Works Cited
Baldwin, T. W. (1944). William Shakspere's Small Latine & Lesse Greek. 1. Urbana, Ill:
Burrow, J. A. (1986). The Ages of Man: A Study In Medieval Writing and Thought.
Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Garber, Marjorie B. (2008). Profiling Shakespeare. Routledge. p. 292.
William Shakespear. As You Like It Act 2, scene 7, 139–166.
