Ozymandias and My Last Duchess

• Both Ozymandias and My Last Duchess criticise the corruption of power by excessively prideful individuals and explore how, ultimately, this pride and power is undermined by forces more powerful than themselves
• Similarities:

  Topic sentence - Both poems show the effects of power and how it corrupts, as well as how power can be undermined

  • In Ozymandias, the poet shows a loss of power over time and in competition with nature, as the character is surrounded by desert which is a symbol of nature and time
  • Similarly, My Last Duchess shows the duke’s power constantly undermined by the enjambment, caesura and single stanza
• Similarities:

  Topic sentence - Both poems show the effects of power and how it corrupts, as well as how power can be undermined

  • Shelley describes Ozymandias' “ sneer of cold command ” as if to suggest that he is a cruel and heartless leader, only concerned with his own power and the immortality it will bring
  • The Duke in “My Last Duchess” is similarly concerned with his own power and status. Although the monologue is meant to replicate a conversation, there is no opportunity for anyone else to speak
• Similarities:

  Topic sentence - Both poems show the effects of power and how it corrupts, as well as how power can be undermined

  • Ozymandias might have had “ cold command ” of his “ lands ”, just like the Duke “ gave commands ”
  • Browning writes the monologue to show the Duke’s self-obsession and that he is not interested in anyone’s views other than his own
• Similarities:

  Topic sentence - Both poems show the effects of power and how it corrupts, as well as how power can be undermined

  • The temporary nature of power is contrasted in both poems with the permanence of sculpture and art, as shown by the sculptor in Ozymandias and the painter in My Last Duchess
• Similarities:

  Topic sentence - Both poems show the effects of power and how it corrupts, as well as how power can be undermined
• Similarities:

  Topic sentence - Both poets are concerned with how, in the wrong hands, power corrupts and how rulers are excessively prideful
• Similarities:

  Topic sentence - Both poets are concerned with how, in the wrong hands, power corrupts and how rulers are excessively prideful

  • This is expressed in Ozymandias through the form of a sonnet, as it is a love poem to show the king’s love for himself
  • In My Last Duchess, the duke loves his “ nine hundred-year-old name ” and feels entitled to authority and control because of it
• Similarities:

  Topic sentence - Both poets are concerned with how, in the wrong hands, power corrupts and how rulers are excessively prideful

  • It could be argued that both figures of power are ultimately left with nothing
  • In Ozymandias, the “ lone and level sands stretch far away ”
  • The Duke is left with a statue of “ Neptune ” which is made of cold bronze
• Differences:

  Topic sentence - While both poets suggest that pride and power lead to oppression, the subjects of the oppression are different in each poem.
• Differences:

  Topic sentence - While both poets suggest that pride and power lead to oppression, the subjects of the oppression are different in each poem.

  • In Ozymandias, the statue is used as a symbol for all institutions or figures of power
  • In My Last Duchess, the Duchess is shown as the symbol of oppression – “ then all smiles stopped ”