Pride-and-Prejudice

sleep” (p. 54). In fact, the sorts of leisure activities characters engage in—card
playing, dancing, singing, piano playing, walking, conversation, letter writing,
reading—may be taken in particular instances to indicate their moral fiber and
social inclinations. Generally speaking, the exemplary character is one whose
leisure activities imply a willingness to balance private reflection against
community-minded sociability. At fault are such characters as Mr. Hurst,
whose leisure suggests he lacks a capacity for autonomous thought or action,
but also Mary, whose excessive attention to books and piano playing marks an
untoward self-absorption.
In contrast, Elizabeth and Darcy are both introspective and fully socialized,
even if Darcy refuses to be pleasant to those whom he considers his social
inferiors. Both are adept conversationalists, and their verbal sallies display
their intelligence, wit, and powers of perception. Elizabeth is also a competent
pianist—good enough to entertain company but not so exceptional as to take
herself seriously as an artist. Both Elizabeth and Darcy enjoy reading, which
should predispose Austen’s audience to like them. But Elizabeth is quick to
disown any pretension to being an intellectual, which is the flaw of her sister
Mary. By contrast, the unsympathetic Caroline Bingley seems incapable of
focusing on a book, and she pretends to enjoy reading only when she believes
it will help to impress Mr. Darcy. Mr. Bingley, for whom we feel a measure of
affection, does not read either, and we may take this fact as a sign that he
lacks the depth of his friend Darcy. Or course, Bingley must be worthy of the
heroine’s kind sister and cannot, therefore, be laughable or insipid, like Mr.
Hurst; rather, Bingley lacks substance in an amiable, happy-go-lucky way.
The characters’ discussion of inclinations toward reading also leads the
Netherfield set to render opinions on libraries. Mr. Darcy sees it as an
obligation to augment his family’s library collection “in such days as these”
(p. 39), an allusion, presumably, to the cultural decay of Britain wrought by
the rise of a philistine commercial society that forsakes the liberal arts in
favor of market culture. Caroline Bingley, by contrast, sees family libraries as
so much grand furniture. No doubt finding the book cover more valuable than
the book, she esteems Mr. Darcy’s library for its enhancement of the prestige
of the household.
Walking is the other leisure activity that clearly distinguishes Elizabeth
Bennet from Caroline Bingley, whose idea of exercise is to gossip as she
takes a turn about the drawing room or the shrubbery, and whose exertion is
entirely motivated by her romantic interest in Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth enjoys
solitary rambles that allow her time for reflection, so it is no hardship when
she takes a brisk three-mile walk through fields and over puddles to visit her