“All the world’s a stage/ And all the men and women merely players”: what do you understand by this idea?
This line in Jacques soliloquy begins his exploration of human philosophy and the stages of human life. But this line alone is powerful and is filled with a fascinating image: the image that life itself is a performance that is put on the stage of the world and the actors—the people that are living their lives—begin and end their lives just as easily as walking on and off a stage during a performance.
This line really is fascinating. I mean, if the world truly is “a stage”, does that mean we are all living life according to our audience’s pleasure or are we all living life in order to convey a particular message? And, if we are performing, are we performing only when other people can see what we are doing, hence the audience? Or are we always performing regardless of who can see? These are all deep questions, some that are just too ridiculous to even comprehend, whilst others are worth considering.
Silvano Pagano 