Ncert Guess Questions | Cbse English Literature Reader | Class IX, The Seven Ages by William Shakespeare

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Class 9, Interact in English Literature Reader - English (Communicative)

THE SEVEN AGES by William Shakespeare

Class 9 Expected Questions with Answers

(following CBSE CCE questions pattern)

Question.1: Why did the poet in the poem The Seven Stages say the world like a drama stage ? OR, How is the world like a drama stage ?

Answer: The world is like a stage in which the drama of life is enacted. Here God is the director as he controls everything on this stage. Men and women, as the poet says are merely the players in the drama of life. They appear on the stage, play their roles and exit. Like a real drama stage life has also its ‘entrance’ and ‘exit’. The ‘entrance’ and ‘exit’ on the stage of life refer to ‘birth’ and ‘death’. As a drama is divided into acts, human life can be divided into seven stages, each having its specific role and characteristics.

Question.2: In what sense are men and women merely players on the stage of life ?
Answer: In the drama of life, men and women are characters playing different roles. They make their entrance at birth and their exit in death. They play their allotted roles with competence in as actors and actresses play their roles in a drama.

Question.3: What is Shakespeare’s concept of life ?
Answer: Shakespeare says that human life is like the drama enacted on the stage. All human beings are actors and actresses. They play their allotted roles on the stage and then make an exit. They play seven roles depending on their age and these are seven stages of life.

Question.4: What is the significance of ‘entrance’ and ‘exit’ in the poem The Seven Ages ?

Answer: As actors men and women play seven roles in the stages of life. The birth is the ‘entrance’ of an actor or actress on the stage and he or she leaves the stage in death and this has been referred as ‘exit’.

Question.5: What message does the poem The Seven Ages convey ? OR What is the theme of this poem ?

Answer: The poem The Seven Ages underlines the fact that human life is nothing but a drama. Men and women are merely actors and actresses, who appear on the stage of the world for a while and then quit for ever. They appear, play their assigned roles after which they exit. Therefore, we should not attach too much importance to human life. We should only try to live different roles as well as we can. We should accept death as the ultimate reality. If we realize the true nature of our life, we will not be given to arrogance, vanity or hypocrisy. We should be polite and humble knowing that we have been sent to this world to play specific roles. We have nothing at our disposal.

Question.6: What according to you are stages of a person’s life ? What characteristics would you associate with each stage ? OR, Write in brief the seven stages of life.

Answer: A person’s life can be divided into seven stages.

1. The first stage is that of an infant who is dependent on others, cries and vomits milk.

2. The next stage is that of a school-going childhood. His face looks very fresh and shining. With a school bag he walks slowly and unwillingly to the school.

3. In the third stage, the boy grows into a lover who leaves deep sighs in absence of his beloved. He writes songs and poems in praise of the beauty of his beloved.

4. Now he is a fierce soldier who is ready to even sacrifice his life for the sake of honour. He is rash and seeks short-lived reputation at the risk of his life.

5. The fifth stage that man plays is that of a justice. He is well-fed, prosperous. He is full of wise maxims and impress others with his wisdom.

6. In this stage he grows old, becomes weak and thin. He looks funny with spectacles on his nose and in his loose leggings which he has preserved carefully from his youthful days.

Further study -

The Seven Ages by William Shakespeare (NCERT CBSE Class 9 English Literature Reader)