I recently watched and read Pride and Prejudice for the first time.  It was very interesting.  One thing that I've been thinking about is this piece of conversation:

"It is amazing to me," said Bingley, "how young ladies can have patience to be so very accomplished, as they all are."

"All young ladies accomplished!  My dear Charles, what do you mean?"  (Note: This is Darcy speaking)

"Yes, all of them, I think.  They all paint tables, cover skreens and net purses.  I scarcely know any one who cannot do all this, and I am sure I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time, without being informed that she was very accomplished."

"Your list of the common extent of accomplishments," said Darcy, "has too much truth.  The word is applied to many a woman who deserves it no otherwise than by netting a purse or covering a skreen.  But I am far from agreeing with you in your estimation of ladies in general.  I cannot boast of knowing more than half a dozen, in the whole range of my acquantience, that are really accomplished."

"Nor I, I am sure," said Miss Bingley.

"Then," observed Elizabeth, "you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished woman."

"Yes; I do comprehend a great deal in it."

"Oh! certainly," cried his faithful assistant (note: this is Miss Bingley), "no one can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with.  A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess 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."

"All this she must possess," added Darcy, "and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."

Okay, back to the present.  Isn't it interesting how many young ladies at that time were, to one degree or another, "accomplished"?  How about nowadays?  How many skills does the average young lady (or teenager as they are now called) possess?  I'm not just talking about from their list.  How many girls of today have the skills necessary to properly care for a household?  How many can hold intelligent conversations, write essays, read deep non-fiction books, take care of children, defend the faith, sew, knit/crochet, etc, etc.  I'm not saying I can answer 'yes' to all of the above!  They are just questions to consider.

Also, let's take a look at their list:

-Paint tables, cover skreens (I think that translates into screens), and net purses  Interesting skills :).  Who knows?  They may come in handy but I would not put them near the top of my list. 

Thorough knowledge of:

-Music   I personally think it is a good idea to at least have a knowledge of music even if you don't play.  If you have the chance to learn an instrument, I would encourage you to do so!  It is truly wonderful to be able to play music.

-Singing  I think most people can sing though not equally well :).  It is nice to sing but I wouldn't put much emphasis on studying it.  (Unless this happens to be your special gift)

-Drawing  Drawing can actually be quite useful.  Many people use it: illustrators, cartoonists, designers (clothing, car, house, etc.), and more.  Even the police have use for it (criminal sketching)!  I personally have grown to enjoy drawing.

-Modern languages  This can obviously be useful; more so for some people than others (ex: missionaries in foreign countries, evangelists, import-export business, etc.).  For me, I'm learning Thai but I don't plan on learning a lot of different languages.

-and she must possess something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions.  It depends on what they (and we) mean by this.  If it's a proud (haughty) way of walking, talking, etc., then it's wrong.  We shouldn't be putting on "airs".  If they simply mean she does her best to be graceful, modest, gentle, and generally act and carry herself in a ladylike manner, then I think that is commendable. 

In addition:

-Extensive reading  I definitely agree with this one!  There is so much you can learn from reading a variety of books.  Everything from apologetics to missions to how to write fiction to cooking to drawing to world religions to history and so much more! 

Part 2 will be How do we define "accomplished"?  And why care?