The inscription on the statue says “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings, Look on my Works ye Mighty and Despair.” This is ironic because everything around the statue, or the “works” are in ruins. Both of these pieces of literature show the flaws of ambition. One flaw of ambition is that sometimes people can be overly ambitious. When one is too ambitious, ambition gets the better of a person. For example, in the poem “Ozymandias”, the king/ruler probably became too concerned with his power and he forgot about the prior goals he set.
Macbeth simply just let his ambition blind him. Ozymandias has the same mindset with that feeling of insuperability. “Look on my works ye, might and despair” (Ozymandias 11). This quote demonstrated the foolish arrogance of Ozymandias, and also holds some irony because everything around the statue or the so called “works” is in ruins. He wants everyone to know what he has done to show what a powerful man
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.
Shelley's poem "Ozymandias" is about a ruined statue of a powerful ruler who once controlled an ancient kingdom. Browning depicts that Ozymandias was a very harsh ruler - this is shown by the quote, “His sneer of cold command”, his “sneer” shows that Ozymandias somewhat abused his power because he was cruel leader; this leads the reader on to think that King Ozymandias was most liely a dictator in his ancient kingdom. “Cold command” is an example of harsh alliteration, the strong repetition of the letter ‘c’ at the start of both words once again gives a representation of power, “command” also represents the dictatorship of pharaos kingdom and the use of the word “cold” may show that by being a dictator and abusing power this can
We may go round our history books either lambasting or extolling powerful leaders, but we will always come to the conclusion that power does corrupt a man. The thirst for power is unbounded and the lamentable consequences often quash a man. Getting power is just the onset of melancholy, disaster, lugubriousness and sorrow. All the leaders throughout history were undoubtedly very strong and were feared but we often learn that they were sordid, uncouth, perpetrators, lascivious, perplexed and unscrupulous. They often committed a myriad of staggering sins and believed they were masters of perpetuity.
He begins the story by stating, “…I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me”. (Orwell 1936) With this assertion, he expresses his personal knowledge of the events that are about to unfold and immediately has the reader asking why the Burmese hated him. Using analogies and direct quotes, Orwell tells us that imperialism is an “evil thing” and he conveys his dislike toward the Empire for its mistreatment of the Burmese. With detailed imagery, he gains the readers sympathy for the Burmese when he writes, “The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of lock-up, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who have been flogged with bamboos”. (Orwell1936) At the same time however, he also voices his resentment toward the Burmese, “the evil-spirited little beast”, (Orwell 1936) for their
The “passions” of Ozymandias which are described would lead one to believe that this king of days gone by was someone who exuded intense emotions. The “visage” which is said to be shattered in line 5 is not shattered after all. A frown, a wrinkled lip and a sneer can still be seen on the fallen face. Even on stone, the king’s persona can be discerned through these expressions. The sculpture, in its day would have instilled fear in anyone due to its colossal size as well as facial expressions.
Later, he describes himself as "Deformed, unfinished, sent before his time into this breathing world, scarce half made up." The deformity, which has been shown to have been exaggerated or even deliberately faked in portraits of Richard III, is given as the source of his evil ways. He says that as he "cannot prove a lover" he is "determined to be a villain." While everybody makes fun of Richard, and thinks that he is not able to achieve anything, he shows everyone that even though he is handicapped, he can achieve the highest power, to be King. Richard overcompensates his inferiority.
Sympathy for Grendel Society shapes who we are. Grendel is viewed as a monstrous creature because of his actions. Grendel was only portraying what society had taught him. Grendel was both rejected and hated by man, which led him to be aggressive to fill the void in his heart. Grendel adapted because of the way he was treated by society which ultimately led to his destructive behavior.
These feelings towards a Government often occur in today’s society and the portrayal of this in V for Vendetta emphasises the discontent to the audience and presents us with a negative view on society as a whole; as it relates to people like Mugabe and his Government who control by fear and intimidation and are the centre of discontent. An extremely effective technique McTeigue used to present a negative view on society is dialogue. After the V destroys the Old Bailey the media report that the building was actually demolished for structural reasons. While watching this report on TV Evey’s co-worker exclaims, “Do you believe that load of bollocks?” This illustrates the unhappiness within the masses and the discontent they hold. Another example is a quote from Dascomb, “Our job is to report the news, not fabricate it... That's