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.William Shakespeare – All the world’s a stage (from As You Like It 2/7)
I believe the first two lines of the above poem are well known to most of you. The first line has even become clichéed.
But do you know where the idea that all the world’s a stage came from?
Have you ever used the word “person” to refer to another human being?
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c.1225, from O.Fr. persone “human being” (12c., Fr. personne), from L. persona “human being,” originally “character in a drama, mask,” possibly borrowed from Etruscan phersu “mask.”
The use of the world “person” in the English (and all other European languages) language to signify a human human individual is, probably, unintentionally appropriate – as it is our usage of it in referring to another human being. As the etymology of the word betrays, “persona” really means “a player’s mask,” and it is quite certain that no one shows himself as he is, but that each wears a mask and plays a “role,” throughout the length of its life.
Generally speaking, the whole of social life is a continual comedy, which the worthy find insipid, while the stupid delight in it greatly.
photo by: kennythompson1987
