Englishness as a concept is difficult to describe. It's a bit like jelly (jello) - that harder you squeeze it, the more it squirms through your fingers. You probably know Englishness when you see it though ...
In Richard II Shakespeare described England like this :
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars
This other Eden, demi-paradise
This fortress built by Nature for herself”
However this is the place, not the people.
Englishness of is not often described directly, but in more indirect ways. An example of Englishness is the concept of the gentleman. Ideals such as ‘fair play’, coolness, kindness, love of pets and animals, artistic creativity and gentleness. These all illustrate Englishness.
However for each of the aforementioned there is another side of the coin which actually shows us that the concept of englishness is in fact a paradox. For example compare the idea of insularity and kindness with the historical reality of the British empire, the world's largest empire which covered a third of the Earth’s surface and included twenty five percent of her people. While English people are indeed kind, especially to the disadvantaged they have, as a race the a huge propensity for violence - note the number of armed conflicts the country has been involved in.
Englishness is an idea that is in plain sight and yet remains a complex paradox.
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