Shakespeare’s famous “All the world’s a stage” monologue clearly follows in this classical tradition. The monologue traces seven “acts” of life’s drama, corresponding to seven “ages,” in which the individual plays seven “parts.” Here (partly paraphrased) are the phases of life according to Shakespeare: 1. Infant 2. Schoolboy (“creeping like snail unwillingly to school”) 3. Lover 4. Soldier (“seeking the bubble reputation even in the cannon’s mouth”) 5. Judge (“full of wise saws and modern instances”) 6. Retirement 7. Senility/Dementia (“second childishness and mere oblivion”)
