Quelle est l'origine de cette expression ?
Quelle est l’origine de l’expression « All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players » ?
Ce vers vient de la pièce de Shakespeare As You Like It, 1600 :
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. And 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 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 slipper’d 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.
[Traduction : Le monde entier est une scène, et tous les hommes et femmes n’y sont que des acteurs, avec leurs entrées et leurs sorties. Chacun y joue plusieurs rôles au fil des sept âges de la vie : nourrisson, écolier réticent, amoureux soupirant, soldat querelleur, juge bien nourri, vieillard aux habits trop larges et à la voix redevenue enfantine, puis la seconde enfance, faite d’oubli, sans dents, sans yeux, sans goût, sans rien.]
Prononcé par Jaques, ce monologue compare la vie humaine à une pièce en sept actes.