Topic: power of memory

Thesis statement: Initially, Browning’s poem - my last duchess - could be used to portray the
superiority of males, however , both Browning and Shelley, present the power of memory
through the narrators fury when recalling his ‘unfaithful’ wife and the destruction of the
Pharaohs ancient art.

1 Introduction:
General: 18th century = romantics / patriarchal society + transient power
Specific: romantic period = male gaze + focus on outcasts of society / corrupt leader
Thesis: male privilege / superiority + power of memory + ancient art/ transient power

2 Male privilege / superiority:

Objectification - MLD: lack of authority + publicly displayed her + wealth = legitimate power
O: art = power + shows wealth = legitimate power
Hubris - O: ⬆ power = ⬆ hubris / vulnerability
MLD: shows off painting of wife + painter = asserts his wealth
Violence - O:‘’look on my words… and despair’’= arrogance + uses achievements to make
others fearful = ⬆ power through conflict
MLD: ‘’then all smiles stopped altogether’’ = killed her/ took away her power = transient
female agency

3 art / transient power:

Art: O: art = transient power + time vs art
MLD: art = possession + power / ‘’looking as if she were alive’’ = male gaze reduces them to
beauty + desire
Power: O: statue represents power = eroded/ broken overtime ➡ ⬇ power
MLD: dutchess stops obeying ➡ ⬆ power/ independence
Manipulation: O: conditioned to believe he will always have power ⤴ power ⬇ overtime
MLD: duke is manipulative/ controlling = chooses everything for her/ when she disobeyed
she was killed

4 power of memory:
Nature: eternal life/ outlives art + erodes it
art: O: transient art = inscription bare as desert
MLD: the art is done after her death / the duke described everything by memory= its
unreliable
O: semantic field of desert
MLD: Semantic field of observation

The romantics of the eighteenth century discussed the difficulties faced living in a patriarchal
society and showed the ephemerality of power (in humanity). Shelley and Browning utilise
these hardships to illustrate the significance of the male gaze and the tyrannical leaders,
who corrupt and destroy their countries. Initially Browning’s poem - my last duchess - could
only be used to show the superiority of males, however both poets present the power of
memory through the duke's fury when recalling his ‘unfaithful’ wife and the destruction of the
pharaoh’s ancient art.

Through the objectification of women, we can see the power and hubris of males, who use
violence to get their way. Throughout Ozymandius there is a constant competition between
time and art, which is used to display the power of the tyrannical pharoah. Similarly, the duke
utilises the artwork he has displayed in his house (of his deceased wife) to assert his wealth.
He shows ‘’ [his] last duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she was alive’’, which could
be used to show how he objectifies her and , in a way, how she is a product of the male
gaze. In contrast, Shelley - not only uses the ‘’ shattered visage’’ to show the arrogance of
aristocrats - but exposes the vulnerability of leaders when they become too conceited.
Additionally, Ozymandius tells his subjects to ‘’ look on [his] word, ye mighty, and despair!’’.
This could possibly illustrate how he uses his achievements to make them obey him and
bring them fear from his power. Likewise, the duchess is killed as a consequence of
disobeying the duke and is stripped of all power and control. This shows how Browning may
aim to expose the dangers of patriarchy, however Shelley focuses on tyrannical leaders and
the mistreatment of the lower class.

Both poets illustrate the transience of power through art, which is eroded overtime, and give
the owners possession and control over it. In Ozymandias the art represents his power,
which decreases overtime as the statue is eroded while left alone, ‘’boundless and bare’’, in
the ‘’lone and level sands stretch far away’’. This shows how puny the ‘’colossal wreck’’ is
when compared to the never-ending desert. However in - My Last Duchess - the artwork
shows the possession and power of the duke over his lover and how the male gaze reduces
women to beauty and desire. But, before her murder, the duchess begins to disobey him
which gives her ephemeral independence, which is also taken by her manipulative husband,
who chooses everything for her. Similar to this, it can be argued that Ozymandius has been
conditioned to believe in ‘eternal power’ , yet both poems prove this wrong.