ozymandias vs my last duchess essay

Mr Hanson's English

Discovering english and film, comparing my last duchess with ozymandias.

Here are the slides from this week’s lessons. The PPT is available here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8c2fmlz1vqopfv7/My%20Last%20Duchess%20form%20and%20structure.pptx?dl=0

We began with a short refresher on the poem:

The next lesson was centred on the use of structural features – caesura in particular, so it’s worth thinking about what we mean by structure and form. This analogy was useful:

This was a useful activity in getting students to think about punctuation and line breaks.

We selected a few lines from the poem and explored the ways in which caesura contributes to meaning:

This is the slide I showed to explain dramatic monologue. Thank you to  http://www.rlwclarke.net/Courses/LITS2002/2001-2002/LN12Browning.htm

Finally, here is a grid which contains some details for comparison. One thing I’ve added here is the idea that the Duke is emasculated by his wife. He cannot cope with what he sees as her wandering eyes and it is interesting that he makes a big deal about the ‘bough of cherries some officious fool/Broke in the orchard for her’. Now cherries are a symbol of sexuality and so there is a clear suggestion here that the Duke felt, well, incompetent around his wife.

https://victoriangenderandsexuality.wikispaces.com/My+Last+Duchess+–+notes Some other web-sites:

http://les-drt.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/sublime-power-of-art-in-shelleys.html

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Ozymandias/My Last Duchess Essay

Both Ozymandias and My Last Duchess explore rulers looking down on people. In Ozymandias, Shelley tells the story of a traveller who comes across a statue of an ancient ruler. Shelley makes clear the ancient ruler looked down on his people by writing ‘sneer of cold command’. This imagery helps the reader to imagine the facial expression of the statue, which gives the reader an indication of the kind of ruler Ozymandias was. Shelley’s use of the word ‘sneer’ implies that Ozymandias looked down on his people. Shelley’s use of the words ‘cold command’ suggest that he was a heartless, unkind ruler who did not show any warmth towards his people. This is similar in My Last Duchess. In My Last Duchess, Browning tells the story of a Duke, who becomes obsessively jealous of his wife, so has her killed. Browning makes clear that the Duke looks down on his wife by writing ‘I choose never to stoop’. In other words, Browning is suggesting that the Duke sees his wife as less intelligent and less important than him and doesn’t want to stoop down to her level. Rather than discussing his jealousy with her, he chooses not to stoop and doesn’t give her the opportunity to speak with him about his feelings. This reflects a view among many Victorian men at the time, who viewed their wives as their property rather than their equal. Browning’s repetition of the word ‘stoop’ in the Duke’s words emphasises how arrogant and stubborn he is. It is clear in both poems that the ruler believes they are far better than other people.

Both poems explore arrogance. In Ozymandias, Shelley makes clear the ruler was arrogant by writing that he had the words ‘king of kings’ written on the base of his statue. Not only did Ozymandias have a statue erected for himself, but he also chose to describe himself as the best king on the base of the statue, which indicates how arrogant he was. Shelley uses the arrogance of Ozymandias to criticise other leaders, such as King George, who was king of England at the time Shelley was writing. This is similar in My Last Duchess. In My Last Duchess, Browning presents the Duke as arrogant by having him refer to his ‘nine-hundred’ year old name as a ‘gift’. Browning’s use of the word ‘gift’ demonstrates that the Duke believes his wife should see their marriage as a present that has been given to her. The words ‘nine-hundred’ imply that he thinks she should be particularly grateful because his family have years of wealth and status attached to their name. Through presenting the Duke in this way, Browning highlights the inequality between men and women in the Victorian era. It is clear that the woman was expected to be grateful if she married a wealthy man. Both poets use their poems to criticise issues in society at the time they were writing.

Both poems explore power, but Ozymandias has lost his power. Shelley makes clear Ozymandias no longer has power by describing his statue as a ‘colossal wreck’. This imagery helps the reader to imagine that the statue has been destroyed and lies in pieces on the sand. Shelley’s use of the word ‘colossal’ represents how huge Ozymandias’s power was when he was still alive. Shelley’s use of the word ‘wreck’ not only helps the reader to imagine the destroyed statue but also refers to how little power Ozymandias still has. Shelley gives the reader a very clear message about the power of nature versus the power of humankind.Through the fact that the statue has been destroyed by nature, Shelley clearly indicates that nature is far more powerful. In contrast, the Duke is still in power in My Last Duchess. Browning conveys that the Duke maintained his power by writing ‘I gave commands, then all smiles stopped’. In other words, the Duke is proudly claiming that he had his wife murdered in order to prevent her from speaking to other men. Browning’s use of the words ‘gave commands’ indicate that the Duke was not willing to kill his wife himself; he used the power he had to have someone else kill her. Browning seems to be criticising the power that wealthy men had Victorian society through the Duke’s tyrannical actions.

Shelley’s sonnet and Browning’s dramatic monologue explore ideas about power and inequalities that reflect the times in which they were writing. In Ozymandias, Shelley presents a once powerful ruler whose control and reign does not last, while Browning’s Duke shows no sign of losing any of his power. In ‘My Last Duchess’, Browning criticises the superiority, power and arrogance that many upper class Victorian men demonstrated over their wives, while Shelley’s poem seems to suggest that while rulers- such as George IV- may seem all powerful, their rules will not last.

Both Ozymandias and My Last Duchess explore rulers who feel superior to those around them. In Ozymandias, Shelley tells the story of a traveller who comes across a statue of an ancient ruler, emphasising that the ancient ruler looked down on his people by writing ‘sneer of cold command’. This imagery helps the reader to imagine the facial expression of the statue, which gives the reader an indication of the kind of ruler Ozymandias was. The alliterative ‘cold command’ implies that Ozymandias was a heartless and unfeeling ruler who did not show any warmth towards his people. By telling the reader that the statue’s facial expression is a ‘sneer’, Shelley suggests that not only that the ruler does not care about his subjects, but he feels superior to them. Similarly, in My Last Duchess, Browning’s Duke shows a visitor the portrait of his deceased wife, implying that he had her killed because she did not behave as he wanted. The poem, a dramatic monologue from the Duke’s perspective, continually shows the Duke’s feelings of superiority to those around him and to his wife. When the Duke declares, ‘I choose never to stoop’, Browning implies that the Duke feels that he is more intelligent and important than his wife, and that he has the power and luxury to ‘choose’ not to ‘stoop’ and lower himself to her level, rather than discuss his feelings of jealousy with his wife. Browning repeats the verb ‘stoop’ in order to emphasise the Duke’s stubborn nature and feeling of superiority over his wife. In this way, Browning may be criticising patriarchal Victorian society, where rich men often viewed wives as part of their property rather than as equals. It is clear that in both poems, the writers present rulers who believe they are far better than those around them. But while Shelley’s ruler becomes a ‘wreck’ in the sand, Browning does not offer a glimpse of a world without the Duke in power and suggests that he will continue to behave this way with his next wife.

As well as presenting their feelings of superiority, both poets also present rulers who are arrogant. In Ozymandias, Shelley illustrates the arrogance of the ruler through the inscription on his statue: ‘king of kings’. Not only did Ozymandias have a statue erected for himself to show off his power and might, but he also chose to describe himself ‘king’ among kings, implying that he is better than all other rules. This phrase is also used several times in the Bible to describe Jesus, the son of God, and through this allusion, Shelley emphasises the total and ironic arrogance of Ozymandias, whose rule ends and whose power fades. Shelley uses the arrogance of Ozymandias to criticise other leaders, such as King George, who was king of England at the time Shelley was writing. The speaker in Browning’s poem is also presented as arrogant when Browning has the Duke describe his ‘nine-hundred year old’ name as a ‘gift’. By choosing the image of a ‘gift’, Browning highlights that the Duke believes any wife should see their marriage as a huge honour that has been bestowed upon her. Browning has the Duke take care to include the age of his family name- ‘nine-hundred’ years old- to imply that his wife should have been particularly grateful to have married into a family with such years of wealth and status attached to their name. By presenting the Duke’s arrogance and pride in his family name, Browning highlights the inequality between men and women in the Victorian era, where women were expected to be grateful for marrying wealthy men, and these men could use their wealth and status to control their wives. Both poets, through the arrogance of Ozymandias and the Duke, criticise issues in society at the time they were writing.

Both poems explore power, but while Ozymandias has lost his power, the Duke remains powerful. The forms of both poems allow the writers to suggest power and control: Shelley’s sonnet has a strict rhyme scheme and line length, mirroring the control that Ozymandias once had. On the other hand, Browning chooses to write a dramatic monologue so that the reader hears the Duke’s voice, but no other reply. We only hear his perspective. In a similar way to the rhyme scheme in Ozymandias, Browning uses rhyming couplets to mirror the control the Duke has over his wife. However, Shelley makes clear that Ozymandias is no longer powerful by describing his statue as a ‘colossal wreck’. This imagery helps the reader to imagine that the statue has been destroyed and lies in pieces on the sand. Shelley’s use of the adjective ‘colossal’ represents how huge Ozymandias’s power was when he was still alive, but the word ‘wreck’ makes clear to the reader that the statue- and Ozymandias’ power- has been destroyed. In a way typical for Romantic poets, Shelley was interested in the power of nature, and the poem Ozymandias illustrates that nature is far more powerful than humanity. Ozymandias may have been ‘mighty’ when he was alive, but since his death, nature has destroyed his statue and ‘nothing beside remains.’ In contrast, the Duke is still in power in My Last Duchess. Browning conveys that the Duke maintained his power by writing ‘I gave commands, then all smiles stopped’. In other words, the Duke is proudly claiming that he had his wife murdered in order to prevent her from speaking to other men. Browning’s use of the words ‘gave commands’ indicate that the Duke was not willing to kill his wife himself; he used the power he had to have someone else kill her. By controlling the portrait of his deceased wife, the Duke has ultimate power over her, which he wanted so much while she was alive. Furthermore, in the poem, the Duke is speaking to a messenger about a prospective second marriage, implying that not only gained power over his ‘last’ wife, but that he may well do the same thing in a second marriage. Browning seems to be criticising the power that wealthy men had Victorian society through the Duke’s tyrannical actions: he had his wife murdered when he thought he could not control her ‘smiles’ and he prefers her as a portrait so that he can completely possess and control her.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — My Last Duchess — The difference between “Ozymandias” by Percy Shelley and “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning

The Difference Between "Ozymandias" by Percy Shelley and "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning

• Categories: My Last Duchess Ozymandias Percy Bysshe Shelley Robert Browning

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Published: Feb 12, 2019

Words: 724 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

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GRADE 9 Example Essay - My Last Duchess and Ozymandias (Power and Conflict)

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

23 July 2023

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Grade 9 model essay for AQA English Literature Power and Conflict poetry, comparing 'My Last Duchess and ‘Ozymandias’. This was written by a Year 11 student and awarded full marks by a former AQA examiner.

Essay question: Compare the ways the poets explore human power in ‘My Last Duchess’ and one other poem

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GRADE 9 Example Essays - AQA Power and Conflict Poetry

Grade 9 model essays for AQA English Literature Power and Conflict poetry. All answers were awarded full marks by a former AQA examiner and written by a Year 11 student. Perfect for using in class as model answers, revision material or as a way to introduce students to the mark scheme for AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 2. Essay questions include: * Compare the ways the poets present the power of humans in **'My Last Duchess'** and one other poem * Compare the ways the poets present inner conflict in **'War Photographer'** and one other poem * Compare the ways the poets present the power of memory in **'The Emigrée'** and one other poem * Compare the ways the poets present the power of oppression in **'London'** and one other poem * Compare the ways the poets present conflict in **'Bayonet Charge'** and one other poem * Compare the ways the poets explore conflict in **'Poppies'** and one other poem

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