Fitzwilliam Darcy's Accomplished Woman Spring
A response to the "get a hobby" discourse by looking at what Jane Austen's heroines did in their free time
“A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, all the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.”
Pride and Prejudice
Every time the ice begins to melt off the branch to reveal the bud, an accompanying feeling arises in me: to read regency/Victorian era novels, particularly pleasant and beautiful ones. Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, Howard’s End, and more spring to mind each spring. There is something about the style of writing about nature (likely influenced by the co-occurring transcendentalism movement’s emphasis on knowing the divine through knowing the earthly) that makes it feel that through a dose of these books each day, my vision becomes clearer to be present to the change of season.
Of all of these, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice remains a favorite, for its rambunctious, inappropriately hot-girl-walk loving Elizabeth, and the awe-struck and curmudgeonly Mr. Darcy.
We are in the early spring again, and the ice is finally beginning to melt. We just ended Get Off Your Phone February, and in that we tried to take time off of screens to build slower routines, rituals, and hobbies. As I look towards spring and the summer it starts to remind me of, what I most want to feel is present and energized. I want to have capacity to go on long hikes or walk for hours through small coastal towns. I want to feel like I’ve worked to sever the strength of the tie screens can have on me, and to be practiced at experiencing the sensation of awkwardness, annoyance, or uncertainty that having a life well lived often entails. I want to feel things as they happen, and create more capacity to have reverie in which I’m reflecting rather than consuming.
You, too, might be feeling this way. You, too, may want to use your hands and your feet and your mind more freely this spring, and are looking for little ways to start. I therefore present to you 20 ways to have a spring inspired by Mr. Darcy’s accomplished woman (including a few he didn’t mention that Miss Elizabeth Bennet lives out).
A Thorough Knowledge of Music & Singing…
Do you have an instrument locked up in a bag or box under your bed, gathering dust in the corner? What if you picked it back up this spring? I’m reminded of how much I at first hated, then loved, the routine of having to practice the piano for 30 minutes each day after school. Now, I think it was a beautiful way to let go and express away the stress of a high school day.
I now live in a larger city, but I used to live in a small town in the middle of Illinois (named Normal, Illinois, no less). There is live music everywhere in the world, and maybe it’s because we are all drawn to the pulse of it. Live music is almost always a good time, even if it ends up not being quite technically good. Think of the hilarity of Mary playing the pianoforte at the ball, or a really weird night at a dive bar. See some live music this spring.
Karaoke. Need I say more?
There’s something mindful and complete about listening to a whole album in a single afternoon, or over a week or month. When we have endless options, it becomes difficult to not be truncated with our listening. When we purposefully choose just one album to listen to as we fold laundry, or cook dinner, or walk, and maybe even choose one with a friend, we regain the pleasure of focusing only on one thing.
Drawing…
It’s CRAFT TIME. Consider setting up an “art studio” for yourself, like you might if you had a 5 year old daughter who every afternoon wanted to make something. Put this box or bag or basket next to where you spend your free time. Let yourself make things from what you have for the sake of itself. Think of how embroidery and hand-sewing were viewed in Austen’s time as ways to pass the slow afternoon.
Drawing and painting, specifically, are expressive but often we can get trapped thinking we have to do them well to do them at all. If you get trapped in this, try abstract or mess-making expression. Tell yourself you’re going to throw it out (or recycle) it anyway, so it is more a practice of feeling the paint, the paper, the crayon than about anything else.
I’m including scrapbooking, junk journaling, or sorting digital photos into printable albums or stacks here. Thrift stores have lots of old album or frames, and between your box of crafts and some of your favorite photos, I see a perfect Sunday afternoon for you.
Dancing…
Pick your favorite Tik Tok dance (mine is Sports Car currently), and try to learn it this week. Even if you think you can’t. Don’t film it. Let yourself learn it for fun, and hope it comes on sometime when you’re out at the club and suddenly the world is your stage (I’m thinking of karaoke again…).
As much as Barre, Pilates, Running, and other ways of exercise trend, this is your reminder that Zumba or a dance class at the gym (or studio, if formal dance doesn’t intimidate you!) with your silliest friend is both great exercise and a great time.
Wear casual clothes. Pick your two most dance-y friends. Go early to your favorite bar to dance at. Dance so hard you sweat your makeup off (I feel this is Kitty and Lydia’s energy at the Meryton Ball).
All the modern languages…
Pick a language you find interesting, sensual, fabulous. See if you can start to become familiar with the texture of the sounds of the language by finding some foreign films in the language of your choice.
Is there a culture that you’ve always been drawn to, or a place your great-great grandparents are from but you don’t really know much about? Find a novel set there, or a documentary, or non-fiction to explore places this spring. A plane ticket is one way, but not the only way into exploration.
She must possess a certain something in her air and her manner of walking…
The sudden freshness of spring air and 55 degrees calls for a resurgence of the Hot Girl Walk. Perhaps you even listen to a Jane Austen audiobook as you walk to really feel it. This spring in particular, please include as needed some strutting and stomping in your walk, as when Austen wrote about Elizabeth, her walking was quite unladylike (if you don’t know this lore, google it).
Find new places to walk in your town. Is there a park you’ve heard is lovely in the spring? A botanical gardens that has a rush of lilacs at the beginning of each May? A fancy estate or manor or historical building that begs to be meandered about and reflected upon (hello, Pemberly)? Find some new places to walk, and try not to drown it out completely with a podcast or scrolling.
Her Address and Expressions:
When you listen, listen well. There are so many beautiful beings that can be listened to in spring—the newly returned birds in nest, the crack of ice into water as they thaw, the slow return of green to the vegetation. We can listen to the earth more closely, and the scarcity of winter sharpens the proverbial ear for the emergence of sound.
When you listen to others, listen well. In the people around us—new to our lives and those as familiar as our own reflection—have endless mystery in them. Let spring be a season of listening before addressing.
Mrs. Darcy’s Bonus Accomplishments
Bring a book along at all times, especially when others insist that it is not worthwhile and want you only to take a turn about the room.
“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”
Be quick and ready to laugh with the absurdities of yourself and others, and the world around us. “I dearly love a laugh... I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can.
When given the chance to travel new grounds, take the chance (such as traveling the countryside with your aunt and uncle while recovering from a surprise proposal).
Keep your sisters and friends close, at all life points, and be there for them amidst their life changes, even when you don’t always agree with them.
Take care, and happy walking this spring.
xx, Margaret of Bad Art Every Day
I love this list! I’ve found myself enjoying playing the violin more now that I’m working on my PhD in biochemistry than I ever did when I was majoring in music. I’ve also rediscovered the joy of paint by numbers and a walk without a particular direction or goal. I would add one more thing to the list - writing letters. They are an excellent excuse to catch your friends up on the mundane minutiae of your day and one of the few places I can emulate Jane Austen’s writing style and sarcasm.