Shakespeare’s Life and Death in As You Like It

The seven ages of man speech are well known from Shakespeare’s As You Like It. It often is applied to refer to a view of the world and how each person defines his or her place in it. While this interpretation is certainly valid, Jacques refers rather to the roles in which each person inhabits throughout the stages of life, rather than the diversity each stage can take. He speaks far more broadly, but nearly each statement he makes can be interpreted in numerous ways. Collectively, he describes the evolution each person takes in their life cycle, the changes they experience, the phases they go through and the identities they form before the inevitable surrender to death’s embrace. His words demonstrate that the life of each person is dynamic and unique, but the only true certainty is the arrival at the grave.

Jacques speaks of the seven ages of man, the first two of which are the formative years representing infancy and childhood. He says, “At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms; / Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel / And shining morning face, creeping like snail / Unwillingly to school” (II. vii. 143-46), depicting the chaos and discovery of early life as well as the apprehension to proceed toward what must be done. The third stage, however, is where life truly begins to unfold. “And then the lover,” he says, “Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad / Made to his mistress' eyebrow” (II. vii. 147-49) describing the development of true and deeply felt emotion where passion and fury collide as control of such feelings is not yet mastered. One of the more striking phrases speaks of these emotions as a “woeful ballad” as if foreshadowing the impending decline where pain truly makes its debut into each person’s life.

In describing the next stage as a soldier, Jacques opines the formation of belief and allegiance during the early adult years. At this time, ideas are formed and changed, directions are taken and retaken and the true path we all tread is searched for, and hopefully eventually discovered. The lines, “Full of strange oaths. . .Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel” (II. vii. 150-51) refer to the development of one’s personality. Choosing alliances and breaking them on a whim. Staunchly arguing one’s views only to change them a moment later, such are the characteristics in developing oneself as a person. The next stage, justice represents finding one’s path and the comfort often found in conformity. It is at this point where death becomes a major factor in life. Jacques observes, “In fair round belly with good capon lin'd, / With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, / Full of wise saws and modern instances” (II. vii. 143-46) suggesting the arrival at comfort and the slow death of idealism and individuality. He then addresses wisdom, the sixth age, where the life’s path is celebrated or lamented, “His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide / For his shrunk shank” (II. vii. 160-61) describing the wither and decline of not only the body, but of the self as well. The world now seems frightening and large where it once appeared there for the taking, and death lurks in the shadows. Finally, life returns to the chaos and confusion that was present in birth. Death plays its cruel hand and ushers each person to the grave, regardless if they are prepared or deserving. Jacques alludes to the end, “mere oblivion; / Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing” (II. vii. 165-66) showing that death takes each one of us and everything from us.

The seven ages of man can be seen as a mere description of the stages of life or a roadmap of how one can create their own legacy. Throughout it all, however, death permeates the picture. While it is true that as Jacques observed, “All the world’s a stage, / And all the men and women merely players” (II. vii. 139-40), not everyone gets the chance to fully play their part.

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. Edited by Sylvan Barnet, New York: Signet, 1967. Print.