"all the world's a stage" meaning in English

See all the world's a stage in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Audio: en-au-all the world's a stage.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: Coined by the English playwright William Shakespeare (baptized 1564; died 1616) from the beginning of a monologue delivered by the character Jaques in Act II, scene vii, of the play As You Like It, believed to have been written in 1599: “All the world’s a stage, / And all the men and women, meerly Players; […]”. Etymology templates: {{coinage|en|William Shakespeare|nat=the English|occ=playwright}} Coined by the English playwright William Shakespeare, {{nb...}} […] Head templates: {{head|en|proverb|head=all the world's a stage}} all the world's a stage
  1. People have roles to play in life just as actors do in the theatre. Wikipedia link: As You Like It, First Folio, Martin Droeshout, William Shakespeare Translations (people have roles to play in life just as actors do in the theatre): le monde entier est un théâtre (French), színház az egész világ (Hungarian), tutto il mondo è paese (Italian), លោកិយទាំងមូលជាឆាកល្ខោន (lookəytĕəngmuulciəchaaklkhaon) (Khmer), весь мир - теа́тр, а лю́ди в нём актёры (vesʹ mir - teátr, a ljúdi v njom aktjóry) (Russian)

Download JSON data for all the world's a stage meaning in English (5.8kB)

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          "ref": "1766 May, “An Occasional Prologue and Epilogue, Compos'd for the Agreeable Surprize, a Comedy, Translated from the Comic Pieces of Mons[ieur] de Marivaux, and of the French Academy; and Perform'd, with Universal Applause, by the Young Gentlemen of Mr. Rule's Academy at Islington, for Whitsuntide, 1766, in the Presence of their Parents and Friends”, in The Jester's Magazine: Or, The Monthly Merry-maker, London: Printed and sold by S. Bladon, in Pater-noster-Row; J. Williams, in Fleet-Street; and J. Kingman, near the Royal-Exchange, published 1767, →OCLC, page 240",
          "text": "But ſtill, perhaps, 'tis ſomewhat new you'll ſay, / For School-Boys to attempt to act a Play. / Why ſhould the Attempt ſurprize! it ſuits our Age, / And more you know, that all the World's a Stage. / Of general Uſe indeed muſt ſeem this Art, / Since every Man was born to act his Part.",
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          "ref": "17 November 1972, Tom Prideaux, “All Heart and No Place to Go: Dude [theater review]”, in LIFE, volume 73, number 20, Chicago, Ill.: Time Inc., →ISSN, page 30",
          "text": "Now we meet singers who depict Earth, Moon, Bread, and a pair of actors, played gamely by William Redfield and Rae Allen, who were meant to promote the notion that all the world's a stage. […] The saying that all the world's a stage is true enough. But it doesn't follow conversely that the stage is the world. The stage is more demanding than the world, and its rules are even harsher. As Dude proves, it can't get by on good intentions.",
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          "text": "\"Joey, my husband, was torn between the stage and the law,\" Mari's mother said. \"I don't know which one won and which lost.\" / \"My dear, you know that all the world's a stage. Boards or bench. I'll get the drinks.\"",
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          "text": "This is not simply to rehash the rather meaningless notion that all human behaviour is performance, or even that ‘all the world’s a stage’, but instead to suggest that there is something in the appearing that takes place in the theatre that seems capable of activating in an audience a feeling of our compromised, alienated participation in the political and economic relations that make us appear to be who we are.",
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          "sense": "people have roles to play in life just as actors do in the theatre",
          "word": "le monde entier est un théâtre"
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          "text": "Now we meet singers who depict Earth, Moon, Bread, and a pair of actors, played gamely by William Redfield and Rae Allen, who were meant to promote the notion that all the world's a stage. […] The saying that all the world's a stage is true enough. But it doesn't follow conversely that the stage is the world. The stage is more demanding than the world, and its rules are even harsher. As Dude proves, it can't get by on good intentions.",
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          "text": "This is not simply to rehash the rather meaningless notion that all human behaviour is performance, or even that ‘all the world’s a stage’, but instead to suggest that there is something in the appearing that takes place in the theatre that seems capable of activating in an audience a feeling of our compromised, alienated participation in the political and economic relations that make us appear to be who we are.",
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "people have roles to play in life just as actors do in the theatre",
      "word": "le monde entier est un théâtre"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "people have roles to play in life just as actors do in the theatre",
      "word": "színház az egész világ"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "people have roles to play in life just as actors do in the theatre",
      "word": "tutto il mondo è paese"
    },
    {
      "code": "km",
      "lang": "Khmer",
      "roman": "lookəytĕəngmuulciəchaaklkhaon",
      "sense": "people have roles to play in life just as actors do in the theatre",
      "word": "លោកិយទាំងមូលជាឆាកល្ខោន"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "vesʹ mir - teátr, a ljúdi v njom aktjóry",
      "sense": "people have roles to play in life just as actors do in the theatre",
      "word": "весь мир - теа́тр, а лю́ди в нём актёры"
    }
  ],
  "word": "all the world's a stage"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-03-12 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-03-01 using wiktextract (68773ab and 5f6ddbb). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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