Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley

Question 1

when was this poem written?

Answer 1

1817

Question 2

themes?

Answer 2

• power - the power Ozymandias thinks and the power of time and nature which is superior to him
• nature - the natural world has outlasted Ozymandias
• love - Ozymandias loves himself
• time - time that has taken power away from Ozymandias
• man
• religion - Ozymandias thinks he is superior to God

Question 3

poet context

Answer 3

• lived between 1792 and 1822
• he was well-educated; he went to Eton, where he was bullied which led to him ‘retreating into his imagination’ and the University of Oxford
• was expelled from Oxford within a year for promoting atheist views
• had a troubled relationship with his parents, particularly his father, who was a member of parliament
• his parents rejected his beliefs, which included vegetarianism, political radicalism and sexual freedom
• his political views were said to be partly inspired by the French Revolution
• he had a complicated love life, and had children with two women - the second woman, Mary Shelley, wrote Frankenstein
• was friends with many other writers, including Lord Byron
• is considered to be one of the most influential Romantic poets of all time

Question 4

Ozymandias context

Answer 4

• was also known as Rameses II of Egypt
• the Egyptian pharaoh (a God on Earth), head of the government, leader of the army
• ruled Egypt from his teens into his 90s - one of the greatest pharaohs ever
• had many statues and structures built in his honour
• part of the statue was acquired by the British museum in the 1800s, and Shelley wrote the poem in anticipation of it