Why Worry About the "Invisible Home"?

    Nina Auerbach seems to believe that men are the only things capable of bringing life and space to an "invisible home" and a "nonfamily." Although she does correctly argue that, in many instances throughout the novel, we do not have a true description of setting, it seems to me that she avoids one of the main purposes for such an act: such a description really is not very important.
     That may seem a strange thing to say, as setting can play a very important part in any tale, but with the circumstances the characters of Pride and Prejudice are in, with their estate being completely entailed away upon Mr. Bennet's death, a long, lengthy description of a house that could be left at any moment really isn't necessary. Auerbach states herself that Longbourn is "an inherently lost and already half-vanished mirage." This may be true, but to make it seem as though a new man passing through the door is the only thing that gives it spatial reasoning and makes it a "home" instead of an "invisible home" is only seeing half the story: the half that argues one needs to have a clear picture of "home" to understand a story.
     For much of the book we may not be able to close our eyes and picture exactly where Elizabeth and Jane are talking, but we have numerous lines of the conversations themselves. That is more of a strength than a weakness as it makes the reader focus in on the dialogue more. These conversations reveal scads of information about the characters, their relationships, and the story--more than a lengthy description of a room we may never see the inside of again ever could.
     This is a book based entirely upon relationships, as established by the first line, the first chapter, and every single scene Austen writes; not all of these relationships are male/female, either. There are many scenes written where it is exclusively Jane and Elizabeth, and their conversations establish their relationship as sisters as well as referencing their relationships to others (the Bingley sisters, Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy, etc.). Here, flowery descriptions of place would only get in the way by forcing the reader to picture where they are at instead of imagining their faces and understanding their emotions as they converse.
    Although there is no denying the male influence on this novel, to say that they bring in something the novel was lacking by providing a description of setting seems a rather forced view when dealing with a book based on character relationships.

Discussion Questions:
Going off of this, does the lack of  clear setting make it more difficult to read for anyone? Did anyone even notice? Or did the mind create places as the story went along?