Understanding the text
a. Why does the poet compare the world with a stage?
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The poet compares the world to a stage because he likens all people as players in a play. These players take on various roles on this stage (world) and eventually depart (die).
b. What is the first stage in a human’s life? In what sense can it be a troubling stage?
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Infanthood is the first and earliest stage of human’s life. It's a worrying time since the baby is completely reliant on his or her mother for everything. A baby may scream and puke at any moment in a mother's arms.
c. Describe the second stage of life based on the poem.
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School-going boy is in the second phase of life. He's always whining and griping. His looks are as fresh as a new day when you see them. He drags his backpack and makes his way to school like a snail with reluctance.
d. Why is the last stage called second childhood?
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A person loses all of his senses and acts like a child at the last stage, so it is known as second childhood.
e. In what sense are we the players on the world stage?
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We are the players on the global stage, as we enter it when we are born, play different roles on stage like we live different lives along our lifespan and exit it when we die, much like players/performers on a stage.
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[Shriram Lamichhane]
Reference to the text
a. Explain the following lines:
In the provided words, the poet claims that life is similar to a theatre. Everyone is considered an actor who performs different roles in real life. Each actor enters the stage and performs his or her part in the play and exits at a time. Each person takes on various roles in the same way and leaves the stage that the actors on stage do.
b. Explain briefly the following sentences about the context.
These lines are similar to the roles performed on stage by actors and individuals in their daily lives. We all have various roles to perform, much like the characters in a play. A person's life is divided into seven stages, each with its own set of traits. In a play, each actor enters the stage, does his or her role, and then exits. We depart the stage of our life after we complete our roles. Similarly, we enter the world stage when we are born and exit it when we die.
Throughout his life, a man is bound to perform a variety of roles. The poet wants us to realise that life is like a stage for a play.
c. Read the given lines and answer the questions that follow.
i. Which stage of life is being referred to here by the poet?
The poet is referring to the period of life known as childhood.
ii. Which figure of speech has been employed in the second line?
In the second line, simile, a figure of speech in which the kid is likened to a snail using like, is used.
iii. Who is compared to the snail?
The snail is used to compare the schoolboy.
iv. Does the boy go to the school willingly?
No, the kid does not want to go to school. His hesitation could simply be compared to a snail moving towards his school.
d. Simile and metaphor are the two major poetic devices used in this poem. Explain citing examples of each.
A simile uses the terms "like" or "as" in place of comparisons. Direct analogies are used instead of using like or as in metaphors. Shakespeare has used such literary methods in this poem as well.
'All the world’s a stage,' and 'all the men and women merely players,' are metaphors used by Shakespeare because direct comparisons have been used in this context. Examples of similes in this poem are "Creeping like a snail" and "soldier... bearded like the pard" etc because of the usage of words ‘like’ and ‘as’.
e. Which style does the poet use to express his emotions about how he thinks that the world is a stage and all the people living in it are mere players?
The poet employs a narrative style to express his deepest feelings about how he views the world and the people who inhabit it as a stage on which all of us are mere actors or characters. He's explained the truth about human life where seven stages of the entire lifespan are shown in sequence like in the story.
F. What is the main theme of this poem?
Life and its seven phases are the central themes of this poem. Everyone is destined to play seven different roles throughout their lives. It conveys the notion that, in the end, we are powerless, just as we were before. Birth and death are other major themes as they symbolize the entrance and exit of the player, respectively. The poem depicts how a person begins their life as a child and ends it as a stage when he returns to being a child, completely unaware of what has happened.
