George Eliot described in her excerpt that leisure is no longer what it used to be. "Leisure is gone--gone where the spinning-wheels are gone." She explained that leisure had taken a more fast-paced and "eager" turn over the years, and "old leisure" exists no more. Eliot personified the more preferred, old leisure in a clever way in order to convey her message.
Through personification, Eliot displayed the old leisure to be simplistic, ideal, and free from the bustling plague of innovation. For example, the "old leisure" is described to be a stout gentleman who enjoyed the Sunday paper and the shorter, afternoon church sermons that allowed him to take naps. He enjoyed the little things and a quality of sleep only to be experienced by those who relaxed in the older form of leisure. This innocence and carefree experience contrasts greatly with the ambitious and innovative leisure of Eliot's day by which scholars apply their minds to some form of science and entrepreneurs dedicate themselves to some new scheme.
Although the leisure time in Eliot's day contrasted the "old leisure," free time in today's society is even worse. Lately, the average amount of free time spent by a normal student is hunting for a million scholarships for college or competing with their rivals in a mathematics competition. If the "old leisure" was personified as a stout, carefree gentleman, leisure today would be personified as a stressed and starving child who constantly works to make a name for himself.
I think that this essay is good. The only thing that I would add is to make it longer and focus on another example to talk about.
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