I Am Quite at My Leisure: A Journey Through Jane Austen, Stardew Valley, and the Romanticization of Spare Time
by Ireland Headrick

Donald Sutherland sinks back in his chair, tears gated, eyebrows wild and raised, preparing to deliver Mr. Bennet’s final lines in Joe Wright’s 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. He is dressed in a voluminous white frock, his cravat wrapped up to the chin, his brown waistcoat buttoned almost, but not quite, to the top. In the generous light of a double-hung window, he sits underneath a dark-toned oil painting of a sheep. The desk in front of him is piled with books, suggesting an interest in reading, as well as a white orchid and a watering can, suggesting an interest in horticulture.