Day 7

 

Day 7 – Shakespeare & Plato

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Shakespeare: As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7

“All the world’s a stage” — Jaques’ meditation on the seven ages of man

Context:
In the Forest of Arden, the melancholy Jaques delivers this famous speech. Though from a comedy, it carries the weight of tragedy: human life reduced to seven acts, from infant to old age. It’s a rare moment of philosophical reflection within Shakespeare’s comedies.

Extract (~35 lines):

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.
Then the whining schoolboy, 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.

Reflection prompts:

• Copy the phrase “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
• Do you hear this as cynical (life reduced to roles) or tender (each age acknowledged)?
• Compare with Othello’s farewell yesterday: both frame life as performance, but one at the end, one surveying the whole.

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Plato: Phaedrus

The first speech: Lysias on why the non-lover is preferable

Context:
Phaedrus begins by repeating Lysias’ written speech. It argues — somewhat tongue-in-cheek — that one should favor a rational, non-lover over a passionate lover. Why? Because lovers are unstable, jealous, and irrational. Non-lovers are steadier, calmer, and more reliable. Socrates listens, amused.

Extract (~3–4 paragraphs, Jowett translation, public domain):

“I say that the non-lover ought to be preferred to the lover. For the lover is led by passion and is not of sound mind, while the non-lover is master of himself and is guided by reason. And passion, being a kind of madness, brings harm both to itself and to others.

“Further, the lover values you less when his desire has cooled, but the non-lover remains constant, because he acts from judgment, not from impulse. And the lover envies those who are dear to you, and is the cause of great enmities; but the non-lover lives in friendship, untroubled by jealousy.

“Moreover, the lover flatters you to excess, while the non-lover is frank and speaks the truth. The lover, wishing to please, is often driven to concealment, while the non-lover, having nothing to conceal, lives in simplicity.

“Therefore, in choosing between a lover and a non-lover, one should choose the non-lover, for he is more likely to confer benefits and less likely to bring harm. Such is my discourse, which I hope you will remember.”

Reflection prompts:

• Copy the phrase “The lover is led by passion and is not of sound mind.”
• Do you find this satire convincing, or is it deliberately one-sided?
• Compare with Jaques’ “seven ages”: both are reductive sketches of human life and love. What’s gained, what’s lost in such broad portraits?

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✨ Today’s resonance:
Jaques flattens life into a sequence of roles; Lysias flattens love into a choice between passion and reason. Both speak with irony, both beg to be challenged. Tomorrow, Socrates will do just that — with his own playful yet profound reply.