Deborah Yaffe2 days agoThe computer-generated Jane AustenIt’s Independence Day here in the United States. What better occasion to consider the question of how soon our computer overlords will...
Deborah Yaffe6 days agoFeeding the beastThe appetite for Jane Austen-adjacent content never seems to flag, at least in the Anglophiliac precincts of PBS. If you ate up Season...
Deborah YaffeJun 27That trailerDuring an overseas visit earlier this month, I was too swamped with family business to follow the news with my usual attention. This...
Deborah YaffeJun 23Regency stripteaseWhen I was a kid, I – or perhaps my sister -- owned a novelty pen bearing an image of Botticelli’s Venus in a bathing suit. (Or was it a...
Deborah YaffeJun 20She plays well at the palaceSeven years ago, we learned that Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall – aka the wife of Prince Charles and future queen consort of England – is a...
Deborah YaffeJun 16Putting down rootsOne hundred and twenty-five years ago, as Britain’s Queen Victoria marked a milestone sixty years on the throne, the proprietors of...
Deborah YaffeJun 13Recommended readingTo Janeites – indeed, to anyone who’s read semi-widely and who isn’t V.S. Naipaul – it’s obvious that women are capable of writing great...
Deborah YaffeJun 9Bonnetfest closeupIf you’re a Janeite who can’t make it to Cincinnati’s Taft Museum of Art this summer – and will therefore miss your chance for an...
Deborah YaffeJun 6On this day in 1811. . .Seventy-sixth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Jane Austen’s novels famously contain few detailed...
Deborah YaffeJun 2In the airThe zeitgeist is a peculiar thing. For decades – centuries, even – almost nobody makes a Pride and Prejudice update centered on same-sex...
Deborah YaffeMay 30High stakes, low stakesIn Jane Austen’s novels, the stakes of the courtship game could hardly be higher: Her heroines face irrevocable decisions that will...
Deborah YaffeMay 26AustenTokIf you’ve ever wondered whether the shortening of our collective attention span spells doom for the appreciation of Jane Austen's...