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A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man"
A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man"
A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man"
Ebook34 pages24 minutes

A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man"

By Gale and Cengage

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A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 2, 2016
ISBN9781535832908
A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man"

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    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man" - Gale

    10

    Seven Ages of Man

    William Shakespeare

    1623

    Introduction

    William Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man is a speech from his comedy As You Like It. The lines may have been written as early 1599, but the play did not appear in print until the First Folio was published in 1623. (A folio is a book that measures about fifteen inches tall, which consists of folded sheets of paper nested together in six quires and hand-sewn.) The play As You Like It shows the influences of earlier pastoral poetry, but its plot also suggests the court intrigue and economic disorder of the late Elizabethan Age. Both of these influences are evident in the excerpted part, called Seven Ages of Man. These twenty-seven lines are a monologue from act 2, scene 7, lines 138 to 165. As You Like It is written in blank verse, that is, unrhymed iambic pentameter.

    The famous monologue Seven Ages of Man describes the several roles that men play during their lives. Regardless of social class, all people age, and as they do so they enact many of the same roles, but except for the infant this speech describes those that only apply to men. In the monologue, each role is described in terms of speech: the infant mews, the schoolboy whines, the lover sings, the soldier swears, the justice speaks, the old man's voice wavers, and finally as he nears death, his voice is silenced. As You Like It is included in all complete editions of Shakespeare, such as The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works (2005). As You Like It has also been published separately, for example, by Norton, Oxford, and Arden, all of which include extensive commentary and annotations.

    Author Biography

    William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, the third child and first son born to John Shakespeare, a leather worker and merchant, and Mary Arden, the daughter of a prosperous farmer. One of eight children, Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564. April 23 is the traditional date observed for both his birth

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