Part 2 Analysis of "All the World's a Stage"

Through analyzing and reading the poem, we can interpret that Shakespeare used words and techniques to portray his idea of the earth being a stage for performances and that we humans each individually play our own parts. For example, the extended metaphor used throughout the poem, which is comparing the entirety of the world to a stage, is showing us, readers, that everyone is unique and each given different chances to take up a variety of different roles. Everyone in this world plays a part in the major act, and we all experience the growth of ourselves from babies, to grandparents. This is much like the development of the characters in the plot.

First, here's a detailed break down of the bold lines mentioned in the previous post

In line 1 of stanza 1, it is written “All the world’s a stage”, which is also the title of the poem, but this Is one of the extended metaphors in this ballad. It compares the earth, the world, and life to a stage or a live performance in a theatre. The extended metaphor is carried on from line 1 to line 34 and is used to exemplify the theme of this ballad, which is showing that a person’s life is much like a theatre act.

“That ends this strange eventful history”. This is line 31 in this ballad, and it is relating to the feeling of life flashing before your eyes, and generally when things like this happen you gain memories of your past childhood and all experiences that you have treasured. At the moment you are about to pass away, your memories come flooding back to you and remind you of all the great fun you have had throughout your lifetime. This line is at the end of the ballad as it is the final stage of human life.

Shakespeare uses imagery throughout the ballad to give us readers a more vivid thought of what’s happening An example of imagery used in this poem would be in lines 9-10, “..creeping like a snail, unwillingly to school”, this gives us readers the image of the young schoolboy being a snail, sluggishly going to school.

“then a soldier, full of strange oaths” is lines 14-15, which describes the character in the ballad as a young adult who is full of life goals and is enthusiastic to persevere and achieve them. The term ‘soldier’ can be referred to as a young adult, as back in the olden days, many young people would often register before they were even at the proper age. As well as, during their time in the war they would promise to others they would make it back home after defeating the enemy.

In the 1st stanza and in line 3, Shakespeare has written “they have their exits and their entrances”, this correlates to the idea of life and how each individual and person has their birth and death.

“sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad, made to his mistress’ eyebrow” is lines 12-13, and this line is suggesting how when individuals reach their teenager years, as in ‘the lover’ they tend to get anxious and worried about many different things. This boy is feeling uneasy, pondering if the one he loves even admires him at all. “sighing like a furnace” is a metaphor which is implying that due to his anxiousness the boy is sighing heavily. “with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress's eyebrow” informs us that the boy is making a deep and sentimental ballad complimenting the girls’ eyebrows and features, as to him they are special.

The poem tells us all the different ways that life can be compared to a stage, as it is an extended metaphor. The use of assonance helps it roll on your tongue when you are reading it out, gives a source of entertainment, and puts emphasis on certain parts. There are also the small sections of rhyme, which again are for entertainment purposes. And the alliteration makes the poem flow smoother. The effects that these give us are mainly for entertainment purposes, and for a speaker to feel more comfortable reciting the poem. The effect of figurative language devices also allows us, readers, to picture and almost feel like we are in the story of which Shakespeare tells through his words.

thanks for tuning in and I hope you have a great day! :)