Ozymandias and my last duchess comparison essay grade 9

“Ozymandias” is a sonnet, a fourteen-line poem metered in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is unusual for a sonnet of this era; it does not fit a conventional Petrarchan pattern, this suggests that things are out of place. Ozymandias’ rule is no longer and time has distorted all of his achievements and power he used to have.

In ‘Ozymandias’ it starts with “I met a traveler from an antique land” the verb “met” suggests that the speaker wants to distance himself from the description of Ozymandias by time and space therefore the readers refer to this poem by being a political poem as Shelley attacks the ruler for misusing their power.

Browning uses the form of a dramatic monologue to allow the Duke’s cruelty to become evident, while Shelley uses a sonnet (traditionally a love poem) to portray a similar level of callousness from Ozymandias.

The question that I will use for the comparison essay is: Compare the way control is exerted in both poems. Both Ozymandias by Shelley and My Last Duchess by Browning have powerful personas who exert control over their respective areas of control.