Ozymandias By Percy Bysshe Shelly

Question 1

What is the significance of the title “Ozymandias”

Answer 1

It is the Greek name for an Egyptian pharaoh- insignificance

Question 2

What is the poet trying to show through the poem “Ozymandias”

Answer 2

His dislike for people having great power and misusing it
-> Shelly was critical of the monarchy and sympathised with the French Revolution

Question 3

What form is “Ozymandias” in and why is it significant

Answer 3

Sonnet-
Sonnets are usually reserved for love poetry
-> shows the pharaohs narcissism
-> ironic at this poem criticises the pharaoh

Question 4

What is written on the statue

Answer 4

‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and dispair!’

Question 5

What poems could you compare “Ozymandias” to

Answer 5

London- cruel leaders causing their subjects to suffer

My Last Duchess- narcissism and its effects

Question 6

What does the first line of “Ozymandias” tell the reader about views on Egypt

Answer 6

“I met a traveller from an antique land”
“Antique”- insignificant legacy, no long powerful but is now fragile like an ancient artefact

Question 7

How does the physical appearance of the statue show how the subjects viewed the pharaoh

Answer 7

Extreme dislike-
“Frown”
“Wrinkled lip”
“Sneer of cold command”
- all made by the sculptor: intentional

Question 8

What techniques does Shelly use

Answer 8

Caesura, enjambment, irony, metaphor, assonance (alliteration)