I had a hard time studying Shakespeare, because his language was just so alien, so unlike the language we speak in modern times (I haven’t heard anyone swear “By my troth”; have you?), I was under the false impression that the concepts and sentiments they expressed were just as far removed from my day to day life.

How wrong I was. Even now, entrenched in the world of Kpop, I find that the ideas the bard touched upon are eternal. Take one of his most famous monologues, the one that claims:

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.

As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII

It’s hard to believe that the seven ages of man he touches on in this monologue—the infant, the whiny schoolboy, the lover, the soldier, the justice, the elder, and death—can all be illustrated by our very own cutie commander!

The Infant

The Whiny Schoolboy

The Lover

The Soldier

(I don't call him the cutie commander for nothing!)

The Justice

The Elder

Death

Shakespeare and Kim Sunggyu—who would have thought it?

This post approved by Kim “I think I’d make a good Hamster…uh, Hamlet” Sunggyu.

*Picture credits to their owners