Ozymandias Analysed Essay

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Bloom (2009: 18) suggests that Ozymandias was a “product of ancient Egyptian culture’s obsession” with personal survival thus the plethora of tombs, statues, pyramids and monuments. This allows us to comprehend the origins of the arrogant hubris that made Ozymandias who he was. “Frown, and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command” in line 4 and 5 allude to the unquestionable power that he wielded over his people. “Frown” indicates that Ozymandias was an angry person and extremely demanding towards his subjects. The phrase “wrinkled lip” connotes a harsh and heartless attitude towards others. The “sneer of cold command” indicates the disparaging manner in which he would give orders according to his whims and desires. “Well those passions read” in line 6 suggests that the sculptor has correctly depicted the characteristics and persona of Ozymandias in the sculpture. Furthermore, Ozymandias refers to himself as “king of kings” in line 10 i.e. someone with absolute authority, power and will. Historically we know that Ozymandias (Ramses II) claimed to be God. The Holy Quraan also mentions Ozymandias’ claim to be God over his people (Ch79:24, Saheeh International). Islamically the title of King of Kings is reserved for God Almighty alone. Thus we can see that his arrogance and ego reached such a level that he thought of himself as god and forgot that he was a mere mortal. His disdainful challenge to the mighty of the world, allude to his excessive arrogance and pride. This bottomless pit of pride, arrogance, haughtiness and self-consuming narcissism is so apparent that it has been used by many an author as a metaphor when comparing and analyzing characters as illustrated by Allison (2012: 106) for the character of “Daniel Dillion” in “The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom”. The poet uses this juxtaposition in order to add vividness and to enhance the contrast

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