ozymandias

Question 1

“ozymandias”

Answer 1

• simple one-word title, narrows the focus on the poem onto a simple person

Question 2

“vast and trunkless legs”

Answer 2

the statue is barely standing, the rest is ruined and missing, suggesting that it is being eaten away by time and the desert, a futile struggle to survive where nobody is around to care

Question 3

“sneer of cold command”

Answer 3

• suggests ozymandias’ character as powerful and arrogant - ironic as now there is nothing left
• almost as if he is mocking his subjects
• sense of superiority

Question 4

“king of kings”

Answer 4

• biblical language
• god-like - ironic as nobody knows of him
• arrogant

Question 5

“colossal wreck”

Answer 5

meaning vast or huge, is a metaphor for his ego rather than the statue

Question 6

context

Answer 6

• shelley was a radical, romantic (contrasting the enlightenment views) poet
• inspired by the french revolution

Question 7

poem’s message

Answer 7

• issues of power and conflict
• the decay reflects how exploits (actions/ achievements) which are impressive but not morally good will be criticised and forgotten about after they end
• explored conflict between man and and time and memory, as ozymandias was largely forgotten, although his memory will last forever
• power of art and words, as people may not remember ozymandias, but part of his statue remained, as well as the words on the inscription
• that power does not last forever

Question 8

perspective

Answer 8

first person, however narrator is never revealed (omniscient speaker)

Question 9

metaphors

Answer 9

• allegory (king george III and all figures of power)
• allows shelley to be separate from the character and have no consequences with what he wants to say

Question 10

symbolism

Answer 10

• desert: strips ozymandias of his legacy (barren, empty, featureless wasteland)
• sand: represents time, and how it can erase the power of man

Question 11

focus of power and pride

Answer 11

• criticising power
• negative semantic field surrounding this theme (“wrinkled”, “shattered”, “frown”, “sunk”, “sneer”)
• the speaker is criticising ozymandias and all he has, suggesting that those with power are deluded in their belief of the supremacy of their power

Question 12

shelley’s message

Answer 12

• poem reflects the oppression of powerful leader and the transience (temporariness) of man’s power
• mocking rulers
• criticising systems in which individuals are given so much power and despite their abuse of it, they cannot be removed as there is no alternative

Question 13

comparison with tissue

Answer 13

• ozymandias: misassignment of power to humans, not god
• tissue: misassignment of power the leaders and individuals, not time/ nature/ art
• similarities: both show a loss or undermining towards human power
• differences: shelley sees loss of power as inevitable and natural whereas dharker tries to offer solution and a new way to treat power

Question 14

comparison with the prelude

Answer 14

• similarities: both display nature as more powerful than mankind; in ozymandias, human power is shown as weak and transient and lost due to time and nature. in the the prelude, failed attempts of mankind to overpower and manipulate a force beyond its control are displayed; theme of pride
• differences: whilst both poets explore how pride is unfounded because of human power and is inferior to the power on nature, they are presented in different ways. the prelude: the overwhelming power of nature leads to the speaker’s loss ability to describe his world. ozymandias: the power is conveyed through the symbolism of power and time

Question 15

themes

Answer 15

• power of humans
• power of nature
• negative emotions - pride