Question Ans Class 10 Ch 1.4 Kumarbharati Maharashtra Board

All the World’s a Stage

ENGLISH WORKSHOP

1. Read the words in given clouds. Match them with what they signify.

Stage → Life
Characters → Roles played by human beings
Script → Story of Life
Dialogues → Conversation
Entry → Birth
Exit → Death

2. Read the poem carefully and complete the following table.

**Ages of Man**
Stage	Role	Qualities / Actions
Infant	1. Baby	1. Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms
Infant	2. Helpless child	2. Crying and throwing up
Schoolboy	1. Student	1. Whining with his satchel
Schoolboy	2. Reluctant learner	2. Creeping like snail unwillingly to school
Lover	1. Romantic	1. Sighing like furnace
Lover	2. Poet	2. Writing a woeful ballad to his mistress’ eyebrow
Soldier	1. Fighter	1. Full of strange oaths, bearded like the pard
Soldier	2. Brave man	2. Seeking bubble reputation in the cannon’s mouth
Justice	1. Judge	1. Fair round belly with good capon lined
Justice	2. Wise man	2. Full of wise saws and modern instances
Senior Citizen	1. Old man	1. Lean and slippered pantaloon with spectacles
Senior Citizen	2. Weak person	2. Shrunk shank, voice turning to childish treble
Second Childishness	1. Very old man	1. Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste
Second Childishness	2. Helpless again	2. Mere oblivion, unaware of surroundings

3. Write down in your own words the differences between the following stages of a man’s life.

2nd stage and 4th stage

The 2nd stage is the schoolboy who is young, unwilling to go to school, and whines with a satchel, showing innocence and reluctance.
The 4th stage is the soldier who is brave, full of energy, bearded, and risks his life for reputation, showing courage and action.

3rd stage and 5th stage

The 3rd stage is the lover who is emotional, sighs deeply, and writes sad poems for love, showing passion and youth.
The 5th stage is the justice who is mature, wise, fat from good food, and gives advice, showing calmness and authority.

1st stage and 7th (last) stage

The 1st stage is the infant who cries and vomits, fully dependent on others, showing the start of life.
The 7th stage is second childishness where the old man loses teeth, sight, and awareness, becoming helpless again, showing the end of life.

4. Pick out lines that contain Imagery (a picture created in the mind by using words) of the following people.

(a) Schoolboy (2nd stage)

“Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel / And shining morning face, creeping like snail / Unwillingly to school.”

(b) Soldier (4th stage)

“Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, / Seeking the bubble reputation / Even in the cannon’s mouth.”

“In fair round belly with good capon lined, / With eyes severe and beard of formal cut.”

(d) Senior citizen (6th stage)

“With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; / His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide / For his shrunk shank.”

5. You will notice that there is no Rhyme-scheme in the poem. It appears similar to the poem 1.1 ‘Where the Mind is Without Fear’ by Tagore.

However Tagore’s poem has no steady rhythm/meter either it is called Free Verse. Shakespeare uses lines with a steady rhythm of 5 beats in each. It is termed as Blank Verse. (No rhyme-scheme but uniformity in rhythm)
Copy the lines from “And all the men and women merely players” to “sudden and quick in quarrel”. Put a stress mark on each of the syllables stressed in the lines as – for example, And all the men and women merely players;

Answer

And áll the mén and wómen mérely pláyers;
They háve their éxits ánd their éntrances,
And óne man ín his tíme plays mány párts,
His ácts being séven áges. At fírst, the ínfant,
Méwling and púking ín the núrse’s árms.
Then thé whíning schóolboy, wíth his sátchel
And shíning mórning fáce, créeping like snáil
Unwíllingly to schóol. And thén the lóver,
Síghing like fúrnace, wíth a wóeful bállad
Máde to his místress’ éyebrow. Thén a sóldier,
Fúll of stránge óaths and béarded líke the párd,
Jéalous in hónour, súdden and quíck in quárrel,

6. Think and write on your own.

(a) What is the theme/central idea of this poem?

The theme of the poem is that life is like a play with seven stages, where every person plays different roles from birth to death, and each stage has its own qualities and actions.

(b) Which two stages of man, described by Shakespeare, sound humorous? Say why.

The 2nd stage (schoolboy) is humorous because the boy whines and moves slowly like a snail to avoid school, which is funny and relatable.
The 6th stage (senior citizen) is humorous because the old man wears loose clothes and his voice becomes weak and squeaky, creating a comical picture.

Old age can be cheerful by spending time with family, sharing stories, playing with grandchildren, staying active with hobbies, and living in a caring community.

7. (A) The poem is entirely metaphorical. Pick out the comparisons from the poem.

(a) World → A stage
(b) Actors → Men and women (players)
(c) Birth and death → Entrances and exits
(d) Schoolboy → Creeping like snail
(e) The lover’s sigh → Sighing like furnace
(f) Spotted leopard → Soldier’s beard (bearded like the pard)
(g) Last stage (old age) → Second childishness

7. (B) Pick out from the poem two examples of each.

(a) Simile

(1) “Creeping like snail”
(2) “Sighing like furnace”

(b) Onomatopoeia

(1) “Mewling”
(2) “Puking”

(1) “Shining morning face”
(2) “Sudden and quick in quarrel”

(d) Metaphor

(1) “All the world’s a stage”
(2) “Bubble reputation”

(e) Inversion

(1) “And all the men and women merely players” (normal: All the men and women are merely players)
(2) “Full of wise saws and modern instances” (normal: Full of wise sayings and modern examples)

(f) Transferred Epithet

(1) “Woeful ballad” (the lover, not the ballad, is woeful)
(2) “Shining morning face” (the boy, not the face, shines with youth)

8. Read the summary of the play ‘As You Like It’ by William Shakespeare using the Internet. Find out which character has narrated the above poem and on what occasion. Also, make a list of all the characters of the play.

The poem “All the World’s a Stage” is narrated by Jaques, a melancholic lord in the play As You Like It.
He speaks these lines in Act II, Scene VII, when he reflects on the stages of human life after meeting the exiled Duke Senior and his followers in the Forest of Arden.
List of characters in As You Like It:
- Duke Senior
- Duke Frederick
- Rosalind (Duke Senior’s daughter)
- Celia (Duke Frederick’s daughter)
- Orlando (young gentleman)
- Oliver (Orlando’s elder brother)
- Jaques (lord attending Duke Senior)
- Touchstone (a clown)
- Audrey (a country girl)
- Silvius (a shepherd)
- Phebe (a shepherdess)
- Corin (an old shepherd)
- Adam (servant to Oliver)
- Amiens (lord attending Duke Senior)
- Le Beau (a courtier)
- Charles (a wrestler)

9. Read the poem again and write an appreciation of the poem in a paragraph format.

The poem “All the World’s a Stage” by William Shakespeare is a beautiful and thought-provoking piece from his play As You Like It. It compares life to a stage where every person plays different roles through seven stages, from infancy to old age. The central idea is that life is temporary and follows a fixed pattern, like a drama with entrances (birth) and exits (death). Shakespeare uses vivid imagery, such as the “whining schoolboy creeping like snail” and the “soldier seeking the bubble reputation,” to paint clear pictures of each stage. The poem is written in blank verse, with a steady rhythm of five beats per line, giving it a musical flow without rhyme. It is full of literary devices like similes (“sighing like furnace”), metaphors (“world’s a stage”), and alliteration (“shining morning face”), making it rich and engaging. The tone shifts from humorous in the early stages to sad in the final “second childishness,” showing the cycle of life. I like this poem because it makes me think about life’s journey and how we all play our parts, making it both meaningful and relatable.