In the last 50 years, leisure has changed dramatically. "Modern" leisure is only perceived as being excessive because of the standard to which it is compared, though the people of this modern era are not the first to compare their leisure to the leisure of those before them .In George Eliot's novel Adam Bede, Eliot presents her views of leisure of her time, and leisure that has lost its place in the eyes of "modern" people. Throughout the selected passage, Eliot reflects on "old Leisure" by personifying it as being simple; slow paced and pure, while conveying the leisure of her time as eager, intellectually elevated, and fervent to be entertained. .
Eliot's nostalgic reminiscence of the simplicity, purity, and comfort of "old leisure" is explicitly presented through her message of how "leisure is gone." Eliot opens her views of old leisure by personifying it as a "stout broad [backed] gentleman." In her view, old leisure was pure; ignorant but content. Old leisure had no need for the influx of conflicting views, so "he only read on newspaper." Eliot states, "Life was not a task, but a sinecure," for the mundane tasks of each day were free of demand and stress. Eliot's embodiment of an entire era of leisure into a single person illustrates her wistfulness for the simple and slow paced atmosphere that was present only in the time of old leisure. Vivid images are used to describe leisure of this time as being surrounded by "country pleasant seats and homesteads." Eliot suggest that old leisure needed nothing more than the "scent of apricots warmed by the morning sunshine" and "summer pears." With these calming images, Eliot paints a portrait of old Leisure as being completely relaxed and at ease, unadulterated by the incursion of deadlines, schedules, and uncertainties. In the time of old leisure, the "prayers were short" , the wagons were slow, and the peddlers "brought bargains to the door.
