Question

What is the subject and theme of "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley?

Answer 1

Answer:

C. The subject is human vanity and the theme is that human vanity is destroyed by time.

Explanation:

The poem tells the story of a traveler who came upon the statue of Ozymandias (which was another name for Pharaoh Ramesses II). The poem's speaker is surprised by the vanity of Ozymandias , because near the statue was written "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

When the orator reads this, he watches the landscape around him and sees that there is nothing for Ozymandias to be proud of. The speaker realizes that Ozymandias may have been a great leader in the past and may have built an empire, but time has taken away all his achievements and all that remained was sand.

For this reason, we can conclude that the subject of the poem is human vanity and the theme is that human vanity is destroyed by time.

Answer 2

C. Human vanity and it's destruction over time