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 xi
... thing ) , as the ' leisured classes ' ; and we form an image of them , reinforced by colourful screen adaptations , sitting in elegant drawing - rooms , strolling along Geor- gian crescents or driving up the gravel sweep of large ...
... thing ) , as the ' leisured classes ' ; and we form an image of them , reinforced by colourful screen adaptations , sitting in elegant drawing - rooms , strolling along Geor- gian crescents or driving up the gravel sweep of large ...
Page xii
... things with which the contemporary reader would have been perfectly well acquainted , the details of dance figures , card games , embroidery and other activities are rarely given ; and it can be illuminating to examine them with some ...
... things with which the contemporary reader would have been perfectly well acquainted , the details of dance figures , card games , embroidery and other activities are rarely given ; and it can be illuminating to examine them with some ...
Page 2
... things , however , are clear indications of change . Even the distinctions that determine Emma's own narrow circle are not as rigid as they may seem . Mr Weston , formerly of the county militia , comes from a family that has acquired ...
... things , however , are clear indications of change . Even the distinctions that determine Emma's own narrow circle are not as rigid as they may seem . Mr Weston , formerly of the county militia , comes from a family that has acquired ...
Page 9
... things of life , which can be safely compromised on in the interest of social harmony , while cold meat stands in for the fundamentals of human conduct . The cold meat part of life cannot be tampered with , as Mr Knightley knows ...
... things of life , which can be safely compromised on in the interest of social harmony , while cold meat stands in for the fundamentals of human conduct . The cold meat part of life cannot be tampered with , as Mr Knightley knows ...
Page 10
... things to think of ( ' I know gentlemen do not like morning visits ' , says Miss Bates , presciently antici- pating Mr Elton's ill - mannered irruption in her parlour , when he is hot and cross from having had a fruitless walk to ...
... things to think of ( ' I know gentlemen do not like morning visits ' , says Miss Bates , presciently antici- pating Mr Elton's ill - mannered irruption in her parlour , when he is hot and cross from having had a fruitless walk to ...
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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