Ozymandias and My Last Duchess

Question 1

Comparison 1

Answer 1

Both poems explore the abuse of power from two male figures.

Question 2

Comparison 2

Answer 2

Both poems also demonstrate how power is a corrupting force, as both characters are megalomaniacs who thrive on control.

Question 3

Comparison 3

Answer 3

Both poems explore the theme of art and mortality.

Question 4

Ozymandias 1

Answer 4

In Ozymandias, this is evident through how Ozymandias abuses the power he holds over his subjects when he was alive.

Question 5

My Last Duchess 1

Answer 5

However, in My Last Duchess, this is evident through how the Duke abuses his power he has as a male to control his wife.

Question 6

Ozymandias 2

Answer 6

In Ozymandias, this is clearly shown by the arrogance of Ozymandias.

Question 7

My Last Duchess 2

Answer 7

Similarly, in My Last Duchess this is also shown by the arrogance of the Duke.

Question 8

Ozymandias 3

Answer 8

In Ozymandias, this is evident through the power in life which is contrasted with the lack of power in death, as Ozymandias tries to use the statue to maintain power after death, however his legacy is destroyed by nature.

Question 9

My Last Duchess 3

Answer 9

In Contrast, in My Last Duchess, this is explored through the power that the Duke holds after the death of his wife, which is juxtaposed by the powerlessness in life.

Question 10

Ozymandias 1 - Quotes

Answer 10

“cold command”
“sneer”
“wrinkled lip”

Question 11

My Last Duchess 1 - Quotes

Answer 11

“I gave commands”
“all smiles stopped”
“I chose never to stoop”

Question 12

Ozymandias 2 - Quotes

Answer 12

“my name is Ozymandias”

“look up on my works, ye mighty, and despair”

Question 13

My Last Duchess 2 - Quotes

Answer 13

“Neptune taming a seahorse”

“my gift of a nine-hundred-year-old name”

Question 14

Ozymandias 3 - Quotes

Answer 14

“nothing beside remains”
“lone and level sands”
“decay of that colossal wreck”

Question 15

My Last Duchess 3 - Quotes

Answer 15

“that’s my last Duchess on the wall”

“the curtain I have drawn for you”

Question 16

“cold command”

Answer 16

-alliterative repetition of harsh ‘c’ sound, imitate harsh rule of ozy
-plethora of negative language
-malicous and cruel leader
“cold” - constrast hot climate of desert - suggests doesn’t belong
-human power unnatural

Question 17

“sneer”

Answer 17

• cn mocking smile
• demonstrates malicious cruelty
• cruel+harsh leader
• mocks own subjects
• arrogance, confidence + sense of superiority

Question 18

“wrinkled lip”

Answer 18

• illustrates grimacing, perhaps in disgust
• demonnstrates king’s disgregard for subjects - inferior
• enables to exploit/torture sunjects with no empathy or remorse due to abuse of power
• shelley show danger of one person having so much power as it can easily corrupt an individual and lead to inevitable abuse of power

Question 19

“my name is Ozymandias, king of kings”

Answer 19

• hubristic tone - takes excessive pride in power
• insists on announcing his name so he can continue to maintain power, even after death
• biblical allusions suggests arrogance/narcisiticic
• shelley criticises leaders and their egotistial self view
• believes he omnipotent like God

Question 20

“look upon my works ye mighty and despair”

Answer 20

• authoritative command which firstly highlights his oppressive nature
• ironic as we later see that, just like every other human, he is forgotten about

Question 21

“nothing beside remains”

Answer 21

• jxt previous hyperbolic statement with the emptiness of the land
• nature transcends power of humans as all man-made objets, no matter how strong will all be destroyed over time

Question 22

“lone and level sands”

Answer 22

-statue ext metaphor for human power
“lone” - cruelty only remembrance
“level” - adj monotonous+ featureless, no sign of his legacy
-alt. could suggest we are all “level” in death as we all have nothing, no matter how rich or powerful a person was in their lifetime
-sand covered statue, nature transcends everything, despite perceived power of leaders
-could allude to phrase “sand of time” - covered all - overtime ozy legacy has become almost erased demonstrating temporary nature of human power

Question 23

“decay of that colossal wreck”

Answer 23

“decay” - cn something that has been abandonded
art remains, memory has not - powerlessness in death
nature has began to break down statue, showing how nature transcends the power of humans, including any form of art made

Question 24

“I gave commands, and all smiles stopped”

Answer 24

-seems to tell us that Duke ordered wife’s murder
-excess of power, free to abuse due to status and wealth
-use of language here is cold - lack of emotion - even more chilling
“commands”– patriarchal, he is in control - power has no limit - he has the ability to kill & feels no emotional reaction
-ambiguity of his actions makes them more unsettling - left to wonder exactly what he did
-suggests irrational jealousy got the better of him

Question 25

“I chose never to stoop”

Answer 25

• hubristic, views himself on a societal pedestal
• rep of “stoop” - indicates he feels clearly superior to wife (+ perhaps women in general)
• arguing with woman futile - so far below him + incapable of rational thinking
• arrogant and egotistical

Question 26

“Neptune taming a seahorse”

Answer 26

-“Neptune” – god of the sea - onsiders himself highly like a God/King
- women there to be controlled
“taming” - dehumanising, cn animal, women without men are nothing, no remorse for implied murder
-seahorse small and weak - suggests that this image alludes to how he controlled (or tried to control) the Duchess

Question 27

“my gift of a nine-hundred-year-old name”

Answer 27

-highlights his family history – he holds power and authority through his name alone
-possessive pronoun ‘my’ highlights his self importance and arrogance
“gift” cn generosity
-further reinforces how arrogant the Duke is, dislikes how Duchess doesn’t consider his family name as important as he does
-angry that she doesn’t value his wealth & status and therefore believes she doesn’t appreciate him enough
-highlights undisguised arrogance & pride
-+portrays the idea that in years to come this corruption will still be occurring unless anything changes

Question 28

“that’s my last Duchess painted on the wall”

Answer 28

“my” - possessive prononun, first line of the poem immediately emphasises controlling and possessive nature of Duke
-painting symbolic of Duke’s controlling nature
-Duchess will remain in his house forever - she is trapped & obectified
-uses art to maintain complete power and control over wife even in death
“last” - may imply multiple, lack of identity and objectification highlights how he views women as mere posssessions

Question 29

“the curtain I have drawn for you”

Answer 29

• links to “her looks went everywhere” - he now controls who can and cannot see her face as he alone controls the curtain
• rep of personal pronoun “i” - alludes to narcissistic self view and the power over wife in death, indicating the humiliation he may have felt as he struggled to maintain power over the duchesssses’ “looks” in life