Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias" portrays a traveler's experience in the desert and his encounter with a fallen statue of an Egyptian pharaoh Ozymandias, also known as Ramses II of Egypt. The Egyptian pharaoh was a tyrant of his time, enslaving his subjects to work at his will and terrified others with his unforgettable policies, such as his oppression of the Jews. On the other hand, Shelley, a romanticist during the 1800's in England, favored revolutions and despised tyrants. He believed that despotism led to the downfall of the country by arousing dissatisfaction among the country’s citizens. With this idea, Shelley criticizes Ramses II, using satirical methods and by incorporating irony throughout the poem to ridicule the despot and his deceased contributions to the world.
Shelley satirizes Ozymandias through the traveler's perspective and his telling of his experience in the desert. The traveler claims he witnessed "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone/ Stand in......
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Approximate Word Count: 616
Approximate Pages: 3 (260 words per double-spaced page) |