Analysis of "Seven Ages of Man" by William Shakespeare.

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Seven Ages of Man

By William Shakespeare.

Seven Ages of man is a poem written by William Shakespeare. It's actually a speech given by one of his characters named Jacques in his play As You Like it. Jacques is a pessimistic character who the poet uses to portray the life of a man in seven different parts.

The first line of the poem "All the worlds a stage is a metaphor in which the world is associated with a stage. It is also the central metaphor around which the entire poem revolves. The next few lines also use similar terminology related to theatre. The word "All" in the first line establishes universality and we are told that men everywhere go through the same phases of life. The next line "...Just like actors, men and women in this world are not free to do as they will and are directed and controlled by their destiny.

And just like actors in a play, the people make their appearances and go away i.e. they are born into this world and die. Because Jacques looks more towards the negative, he mentions death as in "exit" first and then