Leisure

In the passage "Leisure", the author George Elliot suggests that as society has moved on, true leisure has started to disappear. In this modern world, people do not appreciate the past. Leisure has shifted, not necessarily in a negative way, but it is different now. George Elliot presents nostalgia towards modern leisure. Elliot’s use of descriptive diction to enhance ones imagination juxtaposes modern to old leisure with the help of drastic details and irony. These details help personify old and new leisure to show the true essence of both old and modern leisure. George Eliot uses personification to create two people from her beliefs on old and new leisure. She explains the new leisure leads a hurried and busy life, while old leisure lives through each moment. It is a relaxing, and slower way of life. Eliot characterizes old leisure as a “contemplative, rather stout gentlemen, or excellent digestion”, and in his thoughts old leisure provides more self-satisfaction to a person than modern leisure does. In the past it only took “one newspaper” > Old leisure was simple and true, but in modern leisure life has become a job, something they have to try for. Modern leisure is more of a workaholic while old leisure is characterized as a pure and innocent person. Elliot constantly plays with imagery to convey his true emotions about Old and New Leisure. He writes that old leisure “lives chiefly in the country; among pleasant seats and homesteads, and was fond of sauntering by the fruit-tree wall, and scenting the apricots when they warmed by the morning sunshine” creating a scenery that portrays old leisure as relaxing and calm and perfect. On the other hand Modern Leisure is exemplified as a time for “scientific theorizing, and cursory peeps through microscopes” which creates an image of a busy lifestyle. The technology and new advancements being developed are switching the ideal lifestyle to a fast and busy form of life. Although Elliot creates an utopian image of old leisure, she is not dissing modern leisure. She may prefer old leisure more, but through her imagery and personification of the two, she clearly states that modern leisure also has some positives to it such as being more aware of the outside world through media. Old leisure is more calm and simple, while modern leisure is busy and a fast lifestyle. .