Elements Of Romanticism In Percy Bysshe Shelly's Ozymandias

In “Ozymandias,” Percy Bysshe Shelly applies an element of Romanticism to suggest that artworks preserve the inner self of human beings. The poet develops the sculpture of Ozymandias as a physical representation of an inner self. He develops such representation by conveying that the physical characteristics of the sculpture embodies the “passions” of both the sculptor and Ozymandias (Shelly 6). One element of Romanticism is that the inner self and the outside world are connected to each other. Hence, the sculpture (inner self) and the surrounding nature of the sculpture (outside world) are connected to each other. The surrounding nature of the sculpture is described as a “desert,” which reflects a lonely inner self (3). Shelly does not directly say, but a number of scholars suspect that he is asserting his criticism of …show more content…
The poet is suggesting that a part of both of their inner self had been lonely. It is only the lonely part of their inner self that “remains” (12). And their lonely self continues to exist because it was captured within a piece of artwork (the sculpture). Shelly is, thus, suggesting that “works” of art preserve only a part of our inner self. Other parts of our inner self are perhaps captured by artworks, but they erode away as time progresses. The erosion is implied by the fact that the sculpture (the inner self) is described to be breaking apart: “trunkless legs” and “decay of colossal wreck” (2, 13). Shelly is encouraging us to not look at artworks for a holistic representation of the people, place, and the affairs of the time. It is interesting because a number of modern art historian, such as John Berger (in “Ways of Seeing”) imply a similar argument. In “Ode to a Nightingale,” John Keats applies two elements of Romanticism to demonstrate that individuals are able to reason by imagining. The poet uses archaic diction, which is an element of Romanticism, along with modern