LEC052044 Amaan Raza Rizvi Critical Analysis of the Significance of Seven Ages of Man

 

Amaan Raza Rizvi

Professor Joseph Koyipalli

Academic Writing

14 January 2021

Critical Analysis of the Significance of Seven Ages of Man

As You Like It is the happiest play of Shakespeare, Bloom notes in his Shakespeare Through Ages (Introduction xi). The enchantment of the drama is propelled by episodes of wisdom, humorous and cynical. While Rosalind becomes an embodiment of wit through her jests on romance under her manly façade, characters like Touchstone and Jacques provide wonderful enactments of thoughtful observations on mundane experiences. One such enactment is that of Jacques- Seven Ages of Man. Describing the several stages that a human goes through from infancy to senility, Jacques offers a pensive remark on the dwindling nature of human life, and by extension of nature itself. Satirizing the upper class wavering morality, Seven Ages of Man reflects the nature of human civilization and social structures, particularly of  Elizabethan society.This however is not a complete, objective and all-inclusive remark, dealing with a niche privileged section of society, motivated by his self-pity.

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,

Shakespeare through these lines has exquisitely painted the nature of human life as a theatre. The fourth line is apparently confounding, whether a man bears behaviors distinctive to various stages at one point of time, or different characteristics at different age throughout his life. Bloom describes life signified in the song as a “downward spiral of life,” hinting at its degrading nature to a realm of nothingness. This is emphasized by the repetition of ‘sans’ in the last line (Bloom 25). The universal appeal of the song sequence is indubitably strong, “…indeed ev’ry where so lively, that the Thing he would represent stands full before you, and you possess ev’ry Part of it” (Rowe, vol. 2).  However, the absolute imagery of life cannot be summed up by these seven discrete images, as life is more like a spectrum with no defined boundaries:

.. His descriptions are pitiful and hopeless, and while most audiences would not agree that this is what comprises life, parts of the speech are inarguably true (for example, we do not control when we begin or end life) and cannot be dismissed so easily (Bloom 25).

The solemn song reflects the effect of trauma on human psyche. The drastically changed situation of the exile has inflicted Jacques too, making him draw lessons from every sylvan object. Being banished from the court after living a grand life of a courtier, Jacques struggles to survive amidst the “winter chides”. The reversal of circumstance has inflicted majorly his psyche, triggering his melancholy. Aftermath, he starts contemplating and moralizing mundane affairs like an injured deer. Jacques compares his own changed fortune to that of the changing roles of people as they are born and die. Life is like a drama according to him, and men and women changing their roles through different ages. He attempts to act profound through this reflection, as he tries to break out of the mortal constraints and ascend to a philosophical view of life. But there is a sense of humane superficiality, as he shares his sympathies, wishes, and moods, which are very much subjective aspects of life.  Ulrici observes:

His observations therefore are in most cases certainly meditative and profound, and he fancies that on their wings he will be able to rise far above the sphere of ordinary mortals; but he is not aware that this meditation when carefully examined is after all very superficial in its contradictory one-sidedness (p.18; vol. 5, ch. 2).

The song then again though represents social stratification, fails to talk about women in active role. It speaks explicitly about a ‘man’s’ life, as he moves through childhood, adolescence, knighthood, judiciary and ultimately to senility. Furthermore, it isn't even inclusive of whole male community but just an upper-class elite who constituted the aristocracy.  It can be juxtaposed with the absolute forbiddance of women on Elizabethan stage. Much as in actual theatre, the song reflects, the women in the real world apparently have a passive role, lurking in darkness represented by men. This however is incongruent to the theme of the play, which is driven by a heroine. In a way, it may be concluded that Shakespeare seeks to satirize the insignificance of women in the Elizabethan society, as men dominated them despite their caliber to generate trailblazing marvels. This may further be supported by Woolf's creation, Judith Shakespeare, who, as she argues, would have never got the deserved limelight due to her gender (pp. 52-54).

The song is universal to different ages and places, as a reflection of human society and worldly pursuit. It is, emphasis added no complete portrayal of human life, representing just a niche upper class. Then again, its subtle commentary on the deteriorating nature of life, and by an extension of the human morality offers it a universal appeal.  

Works Cited:

Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare Through Ages, edited by Pamela Loos, Infobase P, 2008. pp. 24-26.

Rowe, Nicholas. “The Argument of As You Like It.” The Works of Mr. William Shakespear, vol. 2, 1709.

Ulrici, Hermann. “As You Like It.” Shakespeare’s Dramatic Art, translated by Dora Schmitz, vol. 5, ch. 2, George Bell and Sons, 1876. p. 18.

Woolf, Virginia. Room of One's Own, ch. 3, Grafton P: Harper Collins, 1977. pp. 47-63.