Maharashtra Board Class 10 English Kumarbharti Unit One Chapter 1.4 All the Worlds a Stage PDF Download

1.4 All The World's a Stage

Warming Up!

1. Pair Work

Talk to your friend about all the things related to 'Seven.' For example: Seven wonders of the world.

Pair up with your partner and name those given below all of the under:

(a) The seven wonders of the world

(b) The seven continents

(c) The seven colours of the rainbow

(d) The seven notes of the music

(e) The seven seas of the world

2. Life is Often Compared to Many Things

Write down 7 things that life can be compared to and justify the comparison. For example:

(a) Life is a keyboard, because if you press the right keys you have typed a good destiny.

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

3. Match The Approximate Ages With The Stages

Teacher's Note

Our life has different stages like a play on stage. In India, our old people also have different needs and roles as they grow older, just like the stages described in Shakespeare's poem.

Exam Trick

Remember: Seven stages of life = Seven acts in a play. Just like a play has entry and exit, our life also has birth and death. Match the age with the stage correctly in your exams.

Points to Remember

Life has seven different stages from birth to old age.

Each stage has different roles and qualities.

Shakespeare compared the world to a stage where people are actors.

Entry means birth and exit means death in this comparison.

Every person plays many roles in their lifetime.

All The World's a Stage

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. 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 cannon's mouth. 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. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,

- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's prominent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".

This poem is taken from his play 'As you like it'. Here he compares the world to a stage, where the drama of human life is enacted.

Word Meanings

Players: actors

Puking: throwing up, vomitting

Satchel: school bag

Woeful ballad: sad poem/song

Pard: poetical short form of 'leopard'

Cannon's mouth: facing great danger to life

With good capon lined: with excess fat from careless eating habits

Saws: sayings

Youthful hose: closefitting covering for legs

Shank: legs (knee to ankle)

Teacher's Note

Shakespeare wrote this poem like 400 years ago, but it is still true today. A teacher, a student, a doctor, a farmer—everyone plays different roles in their life, just like actors on a stage in India or anywhere in the world.

Exam Trick

Remember: World = Stage. Men and women = Players/Actors. Birth = Entry. Death = Exit. This comparison will help you answer questions about the main idea of the poem.

Points to Remember

The poem compares our whole life to a theatre stage.

All humans are like actors playing different roles.

Birth is like entry on stage and death is like exit.

A person plays seven different roles during seven stages of life.

Each stage has its own qualities and actions.

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

- William Shakespeare

Word Meanings

Treble: (here) three times weaker than

Second childishness: a return to the helpless, ignorant state of a child

Oblivion: the state of being unaware or unconscious of surroundings and happenings

Sans: without

1. Read The Words in Given Clouds

Match them with what they signify.

2. Read The Poem Carefully and Complete The Following Table

Teacher's Note

Help your students fill the table by reading the poem carefully. For example, the first stage is an infant who cries and throws up. This table helps students understand the seven stages clearly.

Exam Trick

Remember: Read one stage carefully, then find its role and qualities in the poem. Write short answers—not long sentences. This will help you write the table quickly in the exam.

Points to Remember

Each age has a specific role in Shakespeare's poem.

The qualities change as we move from one stage to another.

The poem describes both good and bad qualities at different stages.

Stage 1 is helpless but stage 7 is also helpless—like a circle.

Read the poem line by line to find the exact role and qualities for each stage.

This is a preview of the first 3 pages. To get the complete book, click below.