QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 2.7
SPEAKER: Jaques
CONTEXT:
JAQUES
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 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 a 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 slippered 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.

DUTCH:
Heel de wereld is tooneel;
En mannen, vrouwen, allen, enkel spelers.

MORE:
CITED IN IRISH LAW: Ellis v Minister for Justice and Equality & Ors [2019] IESC 30 (15 May 2019)
CITED IN US LAW: Re. the definition of “mewling and puking”: Lett v Texas, 727 SW 2d 367, 371 (Tex. Crim. App. 1987)

“Policies of shutting people away for life or for ages within life, in Shakespeare’s sense, may be appropriate depending on the gravity of the crime”.
Bubble reputation=Empty, pointless reputation. Short-lived fame..
Referred to as The Seven Ages of Man monologue

Reference to the “justice, in fair round belly with good capon lined”: from the North Briton, no. 64: “a justice of peace is a human creature; yet, for half a dozen of chickens, will dispense with the whole dozen of penal statutes. These be the basket-justices…”.

Like furnace=Emitting smoke
Mewling=Feeble crying
Jealous in honour=Quick to feel honour has been slighted
Bubble reputation=Fleeting glory
Pard=Leopard
Pantaloon=Comedy figure of an old man (Italian)
Mere oblivion=Total forgetfulness, mentally blank
Compleat:
Wise saws=Sayings, precepts
Instances=Arguments or examples used in a defence
An old saw (for an old saying)=Een oud zeggen
Furnace=Een oven
Bubble=Waterblaaas, waterbel, beuzeling
Oblivion=Vergeeting, vergeetenheid
Pantaloon=Een Hans=worst, een gek

Burgersdijk notes:
Heel de wereld is tooneel enz. In Sh.’s schouwburg, de Globe, was de spreuk van Petronius (die onder keizer Nero leefde) te lezen: Totus mundus agit histrionem. De gedachte is meermalen uitgesproken, vroeger ook reeds door Sh. zelven in “den Koopman van Venetie”, 1. 1. Men herinnert zich ook Vondels:
„De weerelt is een speeltooneel,
Elk speelt zijn rol en krijght zijn deel.”
In zeven levenstrappen. De verdeeling van het leven in zeven bedrijven is reeds zeer oud en wordt aan Hippocrates toegeschreven; zij is in overeenstemming met het aantal planeten (zon, maan en vijf planeten).
En net geknipten baard. Van de snede, die den rechter past, in tegenstelling met den wilden, niet gekorten krijgsmansbaard.

Topics: still in use, cited in law, life, age/experience, invented or popularised