Mhairi Terra

ERX-205WX-02

LTC Ticen

Help Received: Works Cited

Civilizations and Culture Reflection: Britain and Individual Identity

The course of the last millennia has witnessed the rise and fall of countless nations and powers, conflicts and movements. However, the greatest arc of all was that of the small island nation that would eventually come to be called Great Britain. From early obscurity to its height as the largest empire the world has ever known, the breath and expanse of British influence and culture has shaped the globe. It comes as little surprise then, to find that the common issues of the human condition are addressed through English works, time and time again. Through the works I read this semester, I noted a running theme connecting the works. The question of individual identity, and of what comprises and influences a man’s self-identity, arose. What matters more, his values, or his actions?

            The concept of identity has been a key aspect of humanity’s reflection since the dawn of civilizations. The difficulty of defining self is a struggle that many have tried to answer, and English literature showcases history’s attempts and answers in many ways. One such response argues that values are the central method to shaping one’s own identity. To choose the man one wishes to become, embody the values you aspire to. Shakespeare’s Henry IV provides an example of this argument. The play, set in the medieval era, exists in a time when men held honor to the highest degree, it was their greatest trait. Having honor and living by it was expected and revered.  For example, in the play, “both Hal and Hotspur value and pursue honor, seeing it as a tangible object to strive for” (Terra, 1). Both men are prime examples of the ideal man in that respect; both abide by and respect that value of honor. It is an integral part of their self-identity, the value they place on a concept.

            However, that conviction of a value’s worth is contrasted not only within the same work of Shakespeare, but further along in time by other English writers. By reading Henry Wordsworth’s “Lines Left on a Seat in a Yew-tree”, I understood the argument underlying the importance and relevance of action over thought. Wordsworth’s nameless gentleman, for all his potential, doesn’t do anything with his life, and thus his identity, for the little he made of it, is defined not by his values but by his lack of action. “… The man’s life and the waste he made,” (Terra, 2) show him more than any values he aspired to. Another argument for the tangible value of action is apparent in Shakespeare’s comic Falstaff, the joking character for whom values such as honor hold little appeal. Falstaff is unique in Henry IV in that he alone completely discards the idea of honor as something to define him. He “rejects the concept of honor in itself is something worth fighting for” (Terra, 1). Falstaff is jaded, and throughout the course of his experience, has learned that actions speak louder than values when it comes to defining an identity.

            Despite the two arguments, however, there is an element to British culture that allows both to be true. The breadth of thinkers and writers from across Britain’s history and influence, the myriad theories and ideas encapsulate the possibility for both to be true, perhaps even at the same time. There is no clear method of defining identity, there never has been, and as such, it is a dilemma that will be broached and raised again, in both British culture and the world’s. What makes the British attempt so unique is the accessibility of the works and words of those who have tried. English today is the most widely spoken language in the world. Millions of people living in areas far from the small northern island where British culture sprung can read and contemplate the ideas and theories of English thought. The concept of identity remains so central a question, because there is no clear cut answer, and the method to figuring out what exactly identity means must keep evolving.

            Self-identity is an incredibly personal, massively important component of the lives of individuals. The values one chooses to strive for, and the actions one takes to achieve them, is key to our view of who we are and who we choose to be. Through my study of British literature, I’ve come to understand that despite that individual aspect to identity, the very pursuit of that identity ties together British – and global – culture as a whole. Everyone is searching for that definition of who they are, in the end.

WORKS CITED

Terra, Mhairi. “Analysis of “Lines upon a Seat in a Yew-tree” by William Wordsworth”.

Terra, Mhairi. “Falstaff on Honor: An Analysis of Roger Allam’s Falstaff”.