Jane Austen and LeisureJane Austen's novels portray a leisured society of gentlemen and ladies who do not need to work. Even the minority of clergymen, soldiers and sailors - men with professions - are almost never seen working. Jane Austen herself, despite responsibility for some domestic tasks, wrote as a woman of leisure. Yet leisure, the distinguishing mark of a gentleman, was not meant to be an excuse for idleness. The proper use of leisure to fulfil duties, to read and to think, and above all to pursue social relations in a world where family and marriage for the propertied was of central importance, was a vital test of character. |
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Page vii
... . 11 Hastings , print c . 1800 . 12 Brighton Races , c . 1790 , engraved for the Graphic , A Trip to Brighton , 1880 . 13 Setting dog and partridge , engraving 1810 . 14 Drawing Cover , engraving by J. Wheeble , 1794 Illustrations.
... . 11 Hastings , print c . 1800 . 12 Brighton Races , c . 1790 , engraved for the Graphic , A Trip to Brighton , 1880 . 13 Setting dog and partridge , engraving 1810 . 14 Drawing Cover , engraving by J. Wheeble , 1794 Illustrations.
Page viii
David Selwyn. 14 Drawing Cover , engraving by J. Wheeble , 1794 , in Peter Beckford , Thoughts upon Hare and Fox Hunting . ( British Library ) 15 Finding the Hare , engraving by J. Wheeble , 1796 , in Peter Beckford , Thoughts upon Hare ...
David Selwyn. 14 Drawing Cover , engraving by J. Wheeble , 1794 , in Peter Beckford , Thoughts upon Hare and Fox Hunting . ( British Library ) 15 Finding the Hare , engraving by J. Wheeble , 1796 , in Peter Beckford , Thoughts upon Hare ...
Page ix
... drawing from Edward Edwards ' A Practical Treatise of Perspective ( 1803 ) . Page from The Artist's Vade - Mecum : being the Whole Art of Drawing Taught in a New Work ( 1776 ) ii 5 67 80 83 86 Title page to B. Thomas ( pseudonym of ...
... drawing from Edward Edwards ' A Practical Treatise of Perspective ( 1803 ) . Page from The Artist's Vade - Mecum : being the Whole Art of Drawing Taught in a New Work ( 1776 ) ii 5 67 80 83 86 Title page to B. Thomas ( pseudonym of ...
Page xi
... drawing - rooms , strolling along Geor- gian crescents or driving up the gravel sweep of large country houses , doing very little except engaging in conversation and occasionally sewing or playing cards . Work is done by servants ...
... drawing - rooms , strolling along Geor- gian crescents or driving up the gravel sweep of large country houses , doing very little except engaging in conversation and occasionally sewing or playing cards . Work is done by servants ...
Page xxi
... drawing , singing , playing and dancing . The last of these was of great importance as a social activity and , in that dances were equally popular at balls in private houses and assemblies in local towns , it bridged the domestic and ...
... drawing , singing , playing and dancing . The last of these was of great importance as a social activity and , in that dances were equally popular at balls in private houses and assemblies in local towns , it bridged the domestic and ...
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Common terms and phrases
amusement assemblies aunt Austen-Leigh ball Bath Bennet brother Captain Wentworth cards Cassandra characters charade Charles Chawton Country Dancing course daughter delightful Donwell Edmund eighteenth century Elton Emma Emma Watson Emma's Fanny Burney feel Frank Churchill gardens give Godmersham Harriet Henry heroine Highbury hunting Ibid James Edward Jane Austen Jane Austen Society Jane Fairfax John kind Knightley Knightley's Lady Bertram later Lefroy leisure letter lived London look Lord Lybbe Powys Lyme Mansfield Park Marianne marry Martha Lloyd Mary Crawford Mary Lloyd Miss Bates moral needlework never niece night Northanger Abbey novel party perhaps pianoforte play pleasure poem popular Pride and Prejudice resort Sanditon scene seaside Sense and Sensibility sister social Steventon taste theatre theatricals thing Thomas Tilney Tom Bertram verse Weston wife woman Woodhouse writing young ladies