Essay On Ozymandias 'And My Last Duchess'

‘Ozymandias’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ are both poems about the pride of men and how it always leads to ruin. ‘Ozymandias’ looks at the pride of men as opposed to Nature, and declares it a foolish notion, mocking humanity as whole. ‘My Last Duchess’ looks at the pride of men in contrast to emotions and portrays it as a dangerous force, describing pride as an insinuating sickness of the mind.
The initial imagery in ‘Ozymandias’ emphasizes the broken remnants of the monument as the aftereffects of pride. The monument is described as ‘Two vast trunkless legs of stone’, contrasting the present state of the statue to its grand past. It creates an odd image of a broken statue and yet the statue was built so that even its remains are vast. It implies that Nature destroyed it, creating a similar tone to classical myths, where the arrogant are struck down by the gods. The adjective of ‘Half-sunk’ connotes that the monument is almost completely forgotten and consigned to oblivion. This introduces the concept of the inevitability of time

His ‘wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command’ constructs the traditional image of snobbery, pride, and arrogance, connoting that the king thought himself powerful and used that power to control others. The hard ‘c’ alliteration in ‘cold command’ implies the king’s harsh personality. Usage of the word ‘cold’ signifies that the king was unapproachable and haughty. The king’s description as the ‘king of kings’ emphasizes his hubris as he describes himself as the absolute power. When he declares “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”, the capitalisation of ‘Mighty’ connotes that Ozymandias is boasting to God, claiming that whatever God will accomplish will pale in comparison to Ozymandias’ works. The ending image encapsulates the idea of Ozymandias as the classically prideful character that compares themselves to the gods and finds the gods