Posted on by LA · 40 Comments

The Stages

Speech: “All the world’s a stage”

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE(from As You Like It, spoken by Jaques)
                                        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 lin’d,
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 sav’d, 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.

The above passage might be my very favorite Shakespeare. I love how he breaks down the stages of life. Pretty accurately I think.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the five stages of womanhood- (I only wrote five because I’ve yet to reach the others) I think that each decade adds new dimensions and layers to our lives, we learn and grow: adapt and change.

I highlighted the words that were most descriptive for Shakespeare as he broke down the ages. I used computer speak naming then 1.0, 2.0 etc.

What do you think the stages of life are?

How would you name them?

Posted on by LA · 87 Comments

To Be….Or Not

Did Shakespeare actually write what he was credited with writing?

For Christmas my daughter gave me a copy of “Shakespeare For Every Day of the Year” edited by Allie Esiri. (I am woefully behind on my reading this every day…). I also recently read “Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell, a fictional account of the death of Shakespeare’s son Hamnet, and subsequent reason for the play. AS such, I’ve been thinking about other plagued times…

Historically speaking, we know that Shakespeare had twins, one named Hamnet and we know he died. We also know that there is a play called “Hamlet”. As there was no Google back then, or TMZ, we can only delve so much into life at this time. Much of what we talk about is speculation. But, in a world where we consider whether or not there should be right answers in math, is there anything above speculation? What are facts? How do we know if we are interpreting things properly?

The works credited to Shakespeare are true masterpieces. The themes are still relevant today. People fall in love with those that theirparents don’t approve of, we stab each other in the back, suicide is still contemplated. Human nature really hasn’t changed all that much.

So when faced with a body of work as diverse and extraordinary as this, as we look at it hundreds of years later…

Does it matter who the author actually is?

Sure, the correct person should be credited for their work. Sure, it’s nice to know if something was taken from someone’s true life story.

But for the casual reader of this work…

Is it relevant?

So for today’s questions:

  1. Overall- Shakespeare yay or neigh?
  2. Who actually wrote it REALLY matters…?
  3. Who actually wrote it doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of the plays and sonnets…?
  4. Who’s is Shakespeare?
  5. Shakespeare should be cancelled because he is so totally not woke

Discuss: