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. And then the whining school-boy, 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 slipper'd 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, 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. There are a lot of opinions concerning the proper division of man’s life. Someone names three stages, someone names four but according to Shakespeare or to be precise according to Jacques’ speech in As You Like It the life is divided into 7 ages. The first one is infancy, which judging by the Shakespeare’s words (“mewing & puking in nurse’s arms) is rather helpless and even somewhat disgracing. The second stage is school years, when everybody is willing to do anything except studying (“creeping like a snail unwillingly to school”). The third stage is probably the most beautiful, it is being a lover. Personally, I find it very interesting that Shakespeare probably believed that the only true age for real love is quite young, approximately between 14 and 20. Because if you look at his romantic characters, you’ll find out that almost all of them are rather young. Maybe it is because the person at this age is the most willing and able to do anything in the name of love. The fourth stage is a soldier. This part of life is full of foolish bravery and eagerness to prove your own honour. At this part of speech it becomes absolutely clear that Shakespeare wrote mainly about men’s life. Unfortunately. What were his ideas about women’s life will stay a mystery. The next, fifth stage of life is justice. All things considered, Shakespeare meant this part of maturity when one is the most experienced and sane. But at the same time he mocks at this idea, because the words and expressions he chooses for description are rather sarcastic. The sixth stage is so-called Pantaloon. The name actually means a clown. As this stage is last but one, it is natural that person of this age is described as lean and losing his manly voice. It is merely a transition to the last, seventh stage when person simply becomes a caricature of his own infancy, unable to remember anything and think clearly.
As for me, I think this version of man’s life is rather harsh and bitter, of course, there is some truth in it, but not all people live long enough to become a senile person, for example. And as for the soldier’s part, I personally know a few people who never suffered from teenage maximalism. So, I believe this version, as any others, is quite relative.