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Essay on The Superego Behind the Id in Ozymandias

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The Superego Behind the Id in Ozymandias

"Ozymandias" written by Percy Shelley, represents the psychological forces of the id as well as the superego, as a charceter in a poem, and as a poetic work. In the poem we encounter a traveler. He brings a message from the desert. There is a statue that exists alone among the rocks and sand. Stamped on the pedestal of that statue are these words, "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

We can gather from his warning that Ozymandias, as a man, was controlled by his Id. His cockiness is evident. The statue reads "Look upon my works and despair." Despair at the fact that you cannot be as great as him. "I am king of kings." He proclaims a bold …show more content…

Those that seek gold, the merchant traders, the romantic wanders, the explorers, anyone that has left their world for one of nature, the domain of the id, beware. That is why the statue of Ozymandias stands. To act as the voice of reason and to bear a warning to those that dare to defy their world, and God. Look upon his works and despair at what his pride has brought him. They must not follow the path he led or else they too may meet the horrible, forgotten, and mysterious end of the proud "King of Kings."

That, then, leads me to the author, the great romantic Percy Shelley. In Romantics are people ruled by their id. They are continuously trying to find that rush of adrenaline, trying to locate the next high and risking life and limb to obtain it. They wish for a return to nature. They give in to impulses, sexual for example. Percy gives in to his id when he runs off with Mary. They gallivant all over Europe. Percy is truly a man controlled by his id. Maybe that is why he wrote Ozymandias. That poem is a cry from his superego. It warns him of the life he is leading and what will come of it. He probably unconsciously wrote this poem to tell himself that he is going down a path of destruction that will cause him to end up like Ozymandias.

Though it appears that the superego was dominant throughout the work it wasn't very effective. If the poem was a call from Shelley's superego it didn't change him one bit. He still follwed his id and would

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