‘Ozymandias’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ Flashcards Preview

Power and Conflict poetry > ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ > Flashcards

Flashcards in ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ Deck (5)
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1
Q

Ozymandias - Context (5)

A
  • Shelley was a romantic Poet
  • Romanticism was a movement in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s
  • Romantic poets believed in emotion rather than reason and particularly focused on the power of nature
  • Shelley also disliked monarchies, absolute power and the oppression of ordinary people
  • His radical political views were inspired by the events of the French Revolution, where the monarchy was overthrown
2
Q

What is Ozymandias about? (4)

A
  • The narrator meets a traveller who tells him about a statue standing in the middle of the desert
  • It’s the statue of a king who ruled over an ancient civilisation
  • His face is proud and he arrogantly boasts about how powerful he is in an inscription on the statues base
  • However. the statue has fallen down and crumbled away so that only the ruins remain
3
Q

My Last Duchess - Context (5)

A
  • Browning was born in England but lived in Italy for many years
  • He was fascinated by the Italian Renaissance (14th - 16th C) - a period in which the arts flourished
  • The poem is based upon Duke Alfonso II of Ferrara
  • Duke Alfonso’s wife, Lucrezia, died in suspicious circumstances - there were rumours that she was poisoned
  • Hearing about this event probably inspired Browning to write this poem
4
Q

What is My Last Duchess About? (4)

A
  • The Duke proudly points out the portrait of the Duchess (his former wife) to a visitor
  • The Duke was angered by the Duchess’s flirtatious behaviour - she was friendly towards everyone and he was annoyed that she treated him just like anyone else
  • He acted to stop the Duchess’s flirtatious behaviour, but he doesn’t say how he did this - there are hints that he had her murdered
  • The Duke and his guest walk away from the painting and the reader discovers that the Duke’s visitor has come to arrange the Duke’s next marriage
5
Q

How do the poets use form to portray power?

A

Browning uses rhyming couplets to show the Duke’s desire for control but the enjambment suggests he gets carried away with his anger and passions
Shelley uses a sonnet form, however it doesn’t follow a regular sonnet rhyme scheme, perhaps reflecting the way that human power and structures can be destroyed