The exact words
The speech
As You Like It is a comedy about exiles and lovers living in the Forest of Arden. Among them is Jaques, a lord who enjoys being sad and makes a hobby of it. When the exiled Duke remarks that the world is full of “woeful pageants,” Jaques picks up the image and runs with it: “All the world’s a stage, / And all the men and women merely players.”
He goes on to describe life as a play in seven acts. First the infant, “mewling and puking”; then the whining schoolboy “creeping like snail unwillingly to school”; the lover writing sad poems; the soldier “seeking the bubble reputation even in the cannon’s mouth”; the well-fed judge full of wise sayings; the old man in slippers with his voice turning childish again; and finally “second childishness and mere oblivion, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing.”
What it means, and how the play answers it
The speech is witty and unforgettable, but it is also bleak. Life is a script everyone follows, and it ends in nothing. Shakespeare does not leave it there. The moment Jaques finishes, the young hero Orlando walks in carrying his old servant Adam, who has given up his life savings to help him. The old man Jaques has just mocked is shown as loyal and loved, and the Duke welcomes both to his table.
The idea of the world as a theatre was not new. Ancient and medieval writers used it, and the Globe Theatre, which opened in 1599, is traditionally said to have had a Latin motto meaning “the whole world plays the actor.” Shakespeare’s gift was to turn the old metaphor into a portrait of a whole life in a few dozen lines.
How to use it
The opening lines suit any change of role: a retirement, a graduation, a new job. “One man in his time plays many parts” is especially useful for a send-off. Avoid quoting the last age at a birthday unless the audience has a good sense of humor.
What people get wrong
An uplifting line about life being a performance we should enjoy.
A cynical speech by the gloomy Jaques that ends with old age as “second childishness and mere oblivion.” The play then shows kindness to the old, answering him.
Timeline
- 1599The Globe Theatre opens in London. Its motto is traditionally said to have been a Latin phrase meaning “the whole world plays the actor.”
- c. 1599Shakespeare writes As You Like It, a comedy set in the Forest of Arden.
- Act 2, Scene 7Jaques delivers the seven ages speech, ending with old age “sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing.”
- Moments laterOrlando enters carrying his old servant Adam, an image of loyalty in old age that undercuts Jaques's bleak picture.
Use it in a speech
Questions people ask
Who says “All the world's a stage”?
Jaques, a melancholy lord living in exile in the Forest of Arden, in Act 2, Scene 7 of As You Like It.
What are the seven ages of man?
The infant, the schoolboy, the lover, the soldier, the justice, the old man in slippers, and finally extreme old age, “second childishness and mere oblivion.”
Did Shakespeare invent the idea?
No. Comparing the world to a theatre was an old idea going back to ancient writers, and the Globe Theatre, which opened in 1599, is traditionally said to have had a Latin motto on the theme.
Cite this quote
These cite the original source directly, so you can use them in an essay or paper. Always check your teacher's required style.