This paper attempts to investigate the dynamic relationship between English nationality and masculinity represented in Carol Ann Duffy`s poetry, arguing that Duffy`s unique portrayal of everyday discourses reveals the often-violent emptiness of implicit stereotypes about Britain`s national identity and masculinity ideals. One of Duffy`s main concerns in her poetry was the construction of England`s nationality during the 1980s, when Thatcher`s government brought a number of economic and political changes. At the time of drastic social change, what the national discourse offered was a powerful vision of a strong England that pursued the most masculine and heroic virtues. However, Duffy was rather skeptical toward the public attempt to make a coherent English identity since she observed the fundamental contradictions and instability inherent in the construction of Englishness vis-avis heroic masculinity. While keenly observing how the hegemonic English nationality was being developed within everyday discourse, she shrewdly creates a social satire, utilizing the chance to criticize the publicly accepted gendered prescriptions of Englishness. Here, the poet`s use of laughter as a key element of her social criticism is worthy of attention since its universal and ambivalent character allows the readers to gain instant access to the counterculture.