Ozymadias

?
View mindmap
  • Ozymadias
    • "Shatter'd visage"
      • Ironic - even a powerful human can't control the damaging effects
        • Irony - There's nothing left to show for the ruler's arrogant boasting or his great civilisation. The ruined statue can be seen as a symbol for the temporary nature of political power or human achievement. Shelley's use of irony reflects his hatred of oppression and his belief that it is possible to overturn social and political power.
    • "I met a traveller from an antique land"
      • Shelley frames the poem  as a story to make it clear that the narrator has only  heard about the statue not seen it. This emphasises how unimportant Ozymandias is now.
    • "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone"
      • Emphasises size and stature but also shows that the statue is incomplete.
    • "Stand in the desert"
      • The setting suggests an absence of life and vitality.
    • "Sneer of cold command"
      • The sculptor understood the arrogance of the ruler.
    • "Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things"
      • Having "survive" and "lifeless" on the same line hints out how art can outlast human power, but the ruined statue shows that ultimately art can't immortalise power.
      • LANGUAGE OF POWER - the poem focuses on the power of Ozymandias, representing human power. However his power has been lost and is only lost and is only visible through the power of art. Ultimately, nature has ruined the statue, showing that nature and time have more power than anything else
    • "King of Kings ... Ye mighty
      • Arrogant and boastful - he is challenging other rulers.
        • ANGRY LANGUAGE - the tyranny of the ruler is suggested through aggressive language.
    • "Despair"
      • IRONY - he tells other rulers to"despair" because of the size and grandeur of his work, but in fact they should despair because their power is temporary and ultimately unimportant, like his
    • "Round the decay of that colossal wreck
      • The ruined statue shows how human achievements are insignificant compared to the passing of time.
    • "Boundless and bear, the lone and leve
      • Alliteration - emphasises the feeling of the empty space in the desert.
    • "Stretch far away"
      • The desert is vast and survive far longer than the broken statue, emphasise the insignificance of the statue  of the Ozymandias.

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar English Literature resources:

See all English Literature resources »See all AQA Anthology resources »