Shakespeare

Jacques soliloquy in Shakespeare "As You Like It" is all about the stages of life. In the soliloquy he states that everyone goes through seven stages from infancy to old age. Jacques states that there are seven stages, he does not talk about unexpected death. There are several situations in life that determine a persons fate such as accidents, illnesses, and birth defects which prevent you from reaching the next stage of life.

The first and most well known fatal accident occurs in cars. Car accidents are caused by wreck less drivers mainly drivers, who are young and inexperienced. In the soliloquy where he says "jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, seeking the bubble reputation" he is talking about the fearlessness in young men before they hit middle age. It is that fearlessness that young men have behind the wheel that can cause their death and the death of others. In addition to accidents, illnesses are another major cause of unexpected death.

A terminal illness can happen to anyone in any stage of life. You often hear of middle aged people suddenly dying of a heart attack or a terminal illness that a doctor has discovered is already in its final stages. Another unexpected death and probably the most devastating is an infant dying from a birth defect.

Parents always pray for their babies to be born healthy but in some instances it is not the case. There are many different types of birth defects some with treatments but many without cures.

For these three reasons Jacques's soliloquy of the stages of life is not exactly true. A person might get through their teenage years and move on to adulthood, but it does not mean they will make it to old age. In some very tragic cases, they will not make it in their first few days of life.