THE SEVEN AGES
TITLE :
“The Seven Ages” is an apt title as the poem brings out the different roles that man plays in life. Starting right from infancy to the ripe age when man stands on the threshold of death, the entire span of life is divided into seven different stages. All these stages have been dealt with clearly and their details have been given. Hence the title is a well-chosen one.
THEME :
“The Seven Ages” is an analysis of life by Shakespeare. He takes this world to be a stage and men and women are actors who enact the drama of life. Just as a drama is divided into different acts, man‟s life is divided into seven different stages. All these different stages have specific characteristics and they are well-defined and distinct.
MESSAGE :
The poem is a cynical comment on the transitory phases of life and holds out a very significant lesson that we should live our different parts of life as well as we can in order to live a successful life. We should also accept death as the ultimate reality in life.
LITERARY DEVICES :
Simile: Examples :
● creeping like snail
The schoolboy does not want to go to school. He thinks by creeping like a snail, he will never reach the school. His slow pace reflects upon his reluctance to go to school.
● Sighing like furnace
A furnace is a fireplace with a blower to speed up combustion. The lover pines away and craves for his love. So he heaves deep sighs like the wind bag of a furnace.
● bearded like the pard
The soldier is as ferocious as a leopard. He also has a beard like that of the animal.
Metaphor
This is rather like a simile except that metaphor is an implied comparison, by which two things are compared without the use of „as‟ and „like‟. The poet does not say that one object is like another. He says it is another.
Example :
● bubble reputation
Reputation has been described as bubble because it is transitory (short-lived) by nature.
Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of successive words (initial alliteration) and within words (internal alliteration)
Examples :
● a world too wide („w‟ sound is repeated)
● For his shrunk shank („sh‟ sound is repeated)
Repetition
Poets often repeat single words or phrases, lines, and sometimes, even whole stanzas at intervals to create a musical effect; to emphasize a point; to draw the readers‟ attention or to lend unity to a piece.
Example :
In the last line of the poem the word „sans‟ is repeated four times to show that man is deprived of all his faculties in old age. The word emphasizes his helplessness.
RHYME SCHEME :
The poem is written in free verse; hence it has no rhyme scheme. However, it does have an inner music of its own.
I. Read the extracts and answer the following questions:
1.“And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress‟ eyebrow.”
a. Which stage is described in these lines?
b. Why has the lover been compared to a „sighing furnace‟?
c. Explain: „Made to his mistress‟ eyebrow.‟
d. Why is the lover‟s ballad a woeful one?
2. “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 canon‟s mouth.”
a. Why is the soldier compared to a pard?
b. What traits characterize this stage?
c. What is the importance of reputation for him?
d. Bring out the literary device in line 2 and line 4.
3.“And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part.”
a. Which stage of men‟s life has been described here?
b. Give the meaning of „good capon lined‟.
c. How does he display his wisdom?
d. What status does he enjoy at this stage?
IV. “Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
a. What is second childishness?
b. Why has it been called so?
c. What happens to man at this stage?
d. Why does the poet call life „strange eventful history‟?
II. Short answer questions (30-40 words) :
a. Explain :“…all the men and women merely players;
they have their exits and their entrances”
b. Draw a parallelism between human life and theatre stage.
c. Bring out a contrast between a judge and a soldier.
d. What are the similarities between the last stage and the first stage?
e. How does Shakespeare perceive a man in the sixth stage of his life?
III. Long answer question (100-120 words) :
1. “All the world‟s a stage
And all the men and women merely players
They have their exits and their entrances.”
Is human life truly a drama? What values do you think can make this drama full of happiness and joy?
Which one‟s can turn it into a tragedy?
2. On the basis of your understanding, of the poem, write a letter to your friend telling him/ her about
your understanding of the lines, “ All the world‟s a stage and all the men and women merely
players.” Let him/ her know the importance of one‟s life and how one should live.
Please click on below link to download CBSE Class 9 English The Seven Ages Worksheet
