? In his poem “All the World’s a Stage,” William Shakespeare breaks life down into seven or ‘acts’. These can be summed up as: infant, schoolboy, teenager, soldier, justice, old man, and finally death. As the poem progresses so does time, in each stage Shakespeare describes both physically and emotionally the change from the previous stage. In each stage Shakespeare uses imagery and similes to show that change is inevitable. One way Shakespeare uses figurative language to show that change is inevitable is through imagery. Shakespeare’s strong descriptions help the reader visualize the ongoing change. For instance, when Shakespeare says “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” he clearly shows a difference between the fifth and sixth age. The man going from having a “fair round belly” to being described as “lean,” and “shrunk” clearly shows change. Shakespeare describes each stage of life so vividly he clearly wanted to show that change is inevitable. This is very evident when each stage is looked at almost as if it is a separate poem from the whole. This allows you to really examine each age and see how much change there is from beginning to end. Shakespeare continues to show change during each age by describing what each age is wearing, for instance when describing the second stage he describes a “shining morning face” but when describing the sixth stage he uses the phrase “lean and slippered pantaloon” this showed how much he changed from a young schoolboy to being a senior citizen. Another way Shakespeare uses figurative language to show that change is inevitable is through his use of similes. In the poem Shakespeare compares each act to an object or animal that is known for having a certain trait or certain traits. For instance when Shakespeare says the schoolboy is