Brief description of Ozymandias from a Marxist lens

Ozymandias – Marxist lens

Shelley initially begins this poem by introducing a single narrator – the first lines depict a scene which is now desolate but was once populated with a civilisation now viewed as ancient. The reader automatically becomes aware the poem is in relation to Egypt as Ozymandias is the Greek pronunciation of Ramesses II who reigned from 1279-1213 BC. This relates to the poem as a whole as ‘Ramessuem’ means house of a million years. The change in Ramesses’ name to Ozymandias highlights that the general European population had lacking knowledge in relation to Egyptian history or anything else Oriental and they therefore felt more comfortable naming things by the names that others who were more familiar to them had conjured up. The concept of a long-lasting object for example relates to Ozymandias himself as he aimed to ensure his legacy would live on for eternity. From a Marxist perspective, this concept is unobtainable and unreal to most people as the bourgeoisie dominate all elements of the superstructure and have the power to dictate what is remembered and what is not due to their influence on society. The name change for example by Europeans might not have been done with malicious intent, but it triggered the ideology of an acceptable practice in which westerners applied their own views and judgments onto eastern cultures. A Marxist would highlight this as an act by the bourgeoisie to control the superstructure and all elements of society. This society has many inequalities as it is unjust that figures of authority have power to dictate what is considered memorable and what can be forgotten. Everything we know is only what the bourgeois class decide to inform us, our whole lives could merely be an illusion cast upon us by higher powers.

The poem begins with the introduction of ‘a traveller from an antique land’ – it is unclear whether this traveller is a native to the ancient land or merely a returning tourist. The use of ‘antique’ evidently illustrates an incredibly old or ‘ancient’ land. For this reason, the traveller introduced may be viewed as a time-traveller as he now stands alone in this vast dessert; he appears more modern in comparison to his surroundings. It could be argued that Shelley represents this man as he is returning from a more modern society of his time (19th century) and he understands the historical context of Ozymandias himself due to Shelley’s broad education at Eton and Oxford.

Shelly derived from an aristocratic family, but this did not make him the type of man who favoured monotony. By the age of eighteen, he had collaborated with a friend to produce a pamphlet about Atheism which eventually resulted in his expulsion from Oxford University (Greenblatt 1732). Shelley’s history of rebellion against the norm, makes it easy to believe that he would begin to produce poetry about far off and interesting places that only he might have only ever heard of. Ozymandias is a sonnet, although it does not have the same, simple rhyme scheme or punctuation that most sonnets have. Some lines are split by full stops and the rhyme is irregular at times. Many people may argue that Shelley was rejecting the generic social conventions of accepting the status quo and adhering to what ‘should’ be done by disobeying basic rules like this. His acts of rebellion as a Romantic exemplify his objection to the inequalities within society. Marxists may respect Shelley for recognising the unfair social order, however Shelley himself was a member of the bourgeoisie and so a host of opposing Marxists do not believe his opinion was valid.