# The English — What’s Wrong with the World character guide

> The English in What’s Wrong with the World by G. K. Chesterton.

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** their, theirs

**First appearance:** 0001-what-s-wrong-with-the-world

## Who they are

The English people, discussed as a national and cultural collective.

## Relationships

### [Mrs. Jones](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/characters/mrs_jones)

_social_

Mrs. Jones represents a domestic or common perspective in contrast to the broader English identity.

### [Charles I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/characters/charles_i)

_psychological_

Charles I's relationship with the English is one of historical tension and symbolic conflict.

## In the story

### [IV: The Fear of the Past](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/iv-the-fear-of-the-past)

Implied as the audience and subject of the critique of modern imperial and futurist attitudes.

### [The Unfinished Temple](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/v-the-unfinished-temple)

Criticized for their theory that wealth protects against political corruption, contrasting with the revolutionary ideal of poverty.

### [VI: The Enemies of Property](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/vi-the-enemies-of-property)

Referenced in the context of the French Revolution and the ideal of the poor man uppermost.

### [IX: History of Hudge and Gudge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/ix-history-of-hudge-and-gudge)

Described as almost the only people in Europe without peasant proprietorship, governed by an oligarchy.

### [X: Oppression by Optimism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/x-oppression-by-optimism)

Referenced as the ordinary Englishman who is pacified by optimistic explanations from the aristocracy.

### [XI: The Homelessness of Jones](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/xi-the-homelessness-of-jones)

The ordinary Englishman who has been duped out of his old possessions and dreams of an ordinary home.

### [Part II: Imperialism: Or the Mistake About Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/part-ii-imperialism-or-the-mistake-about-man)

Referenced as a nation prone to the sentimental imperialism Chesterton criticizes.

### [I: The Charm of Jingoism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/i-the-charm-of-jingoism)

Described as a poetical and optimistic people whose Empire is vague, sympathetic, distant, and dear, but ultimately a weakness.

### [II: Wisdom and the Weather](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/ii-wisdom-and-the-weather)

Implied as the cultural context for the discussion of clubs, regiments, and weather customs.

### [The Insane Necessity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/iv-the-insane-necessity)

Referenced as the people whom the House of Commons truly represents in its love of leisure and debate.

### [The Emancipation of Domesticity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/iii-the-emancipation-of-domesticity)

Implied in the reference to the French King's saying about women varying; the narrator contrasts French and English views.

### [II: The Tribal Terror](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/ii-the-tribal-terror)

Implied as the audience for popular science and the subject of the creeping return to savagery through realism and problem plays.

### [The Humility of Mrs. Grundy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/vii-the-humility-of-mrs-grundy)

The English poor are described as quick-witted and over-civilized, bombarded by commercial and political propaganda.

### [The Broken Rainbow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/viii-the-broken-rainbow)

Implied in the critique of flying a flag on Empire Day as un-English, and in the discussion of modern patriotism.

### [The Need for Narrowness](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/ix-the-need-for-narrowness)

Implied as the society whose institutions (public schools, Parliament, churches) are being discussed and critiqued.

### [X: The Case for the Public Schools](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/x-the-case-for-the-public-schools)

Referenced as the English aristocratic schools and the English officer, embodying the public school product.

### [XI: The School for Hypocrites](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/xi-the-school-for-hypocrites)

Described as having a character weakness of untruthfulness, particularly in public schools and the political system.

### [III: The Dreadful Duty of Gudge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/iii-the-dreadful-duty-of-gudge)

The English people are described as too poor to be domestic, yet more domestic than the governing class.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/characters/the_english
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/characters