] Carol Shields suggested in an interview that Austen left them out as a sign of respect for their role. Other novels used them as comical relief.

by Carol Shields' comments on this in her biography. I agree with the arguments above that there was anyway no reason for JA to include the servants as characters - she was writing about a particular stratum after all - but I also liked the idea that she avoided using them as sort of fodder. I agree that it shows respect.