This paper rereads “leisure” in the writings of Dorothy Wordsworth (1771–1855) and Gu Taiqing (1799–1877) through feminist ethics of care and a life course perspective. Rather than treating leisure and labour as a rigid binary, it argues that leisure is shaped by ongoing relationships of care and by the shifting demands of different life stages. Drawing on journals, letters, and poetry, the study examines how changing material circumstances and care responsibilities shape what kinds of leisure become possible—and what forms of creativity and self-expression each writer is able to pursue. By tracing how both women negotiate constraint and actively expand the space available for writing, the paper highlights leisure as a relational practice and foregrounds its stakes within nineteenth-century gender norms. It also offers a historically grounded perspective on the enduring tension between care and creative life, suggesting that aesthetic and intellectual engagement may emerge not despite care obligations, but through sustained and meaningful engagement with them.