Jane Austen and leisure

the long version

"Jane Austen's novels portray a leisured society of gentlemen and ladies who do not need to work. 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."--BOOK JACKET. "The smooth working of society depended on a round of visits, dinners and evening parties, sometimes enlivened by cards, music, dancing or amateur theatricals; and there were also regular outings to balls and assemblies, plays and concerts. Bath and other spas were active centres of entertainment of all kinds; and the seaside resort was steadily growing in importance. Jane Austen experienced all these herself and put them to good use in her novels; but she also registered the act that quiet, solitary pursuits such as reading, walking or the inevitable needlework might be more to the taste of a Fanny Price or an Anne Elliot. Male characters employ their leisure in a number of sports, often glimpsed offstage - shooting, hunting, racing, gaming."--BOOK JACKET. "Jane Austen and Leisure identifies leisure and its use as a central characteristic of Jane Austen's work."--BOOK JACKET.