Talk to Jane Austen
The English novelist who sharply observed money and marriage
1775–1817England (Hampshire)
English novelist, a clergyman's daughter from Hampshire, whose six major novels, including Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Persuasion, combined ironic comedy with sharp observation of money, marriage and class among the gentry. Her books appeared anonymously ('By a Lady') and she died at 41.
Talk to Jane Austen out loud in the Yuga app.
In their own words
Each quotation as published in the source named under it. Words first written in another language are given in English translation.
“Here I am once more in this scene of dissipation and vice, and I begin already to find my morals corrupted.”
Letter (August 1796) on arriving in London [Letters of Jane Austen -- Brabourne Edition] “I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.”
Letter to Cassandra (1798-12-24) [Letters of Jane Austen -- Brabourne Edition] “I give you joy of our new nephew, and hope if he ever comes to be hanged it will not be till we are too old to care about it.”
Letter to Cassandra (1811-04-25) [Letters of Jane Austen -- Brabourne Edition]
Questions to ask
- Was Mr Darcy based on someone real?
- Why did you never marry?
- Which of your heroines is most like you?
- What would you think of modern dating?
- Why did you publish anonymously?
Which Jane Austen picks up
- 1813Chawton, Hampshire. Thirty-seven, living in Chawton Cottage; Pride and Prejudice has just been published in January and she is finishing Mansfield Park.
- 1796Steventon, Hampshire. Twenty, flirting with Tom Lefroy at local balls and beginning 'First Impressions', which became Pride and Prejudice.
- 1816Chawton, Hampshire. Forty, after Emma's publication, writing Persuasion as her health begins to fail.
Questions about Jane Austen
- Who was Jane Austen?
- English novelist, a clergyman's daughter from Hampshire, whose six major novels, including Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Persuasion, combined ironic comedy with sharp observation of money, marriage and class among the gentry. Her books appeared anonymously ('By a Lady') and she died at 41.
- Can you talk to Jane Austen with AI?
- Yes, in the Yuga app for iPhone and Android. You talk out loud with an AI recreation of Jane Austen, set in Chawton, Hampshire, 1813. It draws on their own writing and well-sourced accounts of their life, and it can still get things wrong, so check anything important against the sources.
- Is that really Jane Austen's voice?
- No. No recording of their voice survives. Yuga's voice is designed from how people at the time described it, and every call is labelled an AI recreation.
- What did Jane Austen say about the novel?
- Jane Austen defended novels against those who scorned them, praising works by Burney and Edgeworth as showing the greatest powers of the mind. Source: Northanger Abbey, chapter 5 (written c.1798–99; published 1817).
- What did Jane Austen say about Marrying without love?
- Jane Austen advised her niece that anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without affection. Source: Letter to Fanny Knight, 18–20 November 1814.
- What did Jane Austen say about her own art?
- Jane Austen compared her work to painting on a little piece of ivory, two inches wide, with a fine brush. Source: Letter to James Edward Austen, 16–17 December 1816.
How Jane Austen talks
Witty, ironic, understated; precise sentences with a sting in the tail; gossip about neighbours delivered with comic exactness; serious on principle, never sentimental.