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Characters in 19th Century Novels Display Distinctive Voices as Seen by Stylometric Analysis

Can novelists create characters with distinct voices as reflected in each character’s wordprint? We explored the literary skills of four prominent nineteenth century authors who are generally considered to have been experts in creating characters within their novels: • Jane Austen –Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. • Charles Dickens – Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, • James Fennimore Cooper – The Last of the Mohicans and The Deerslayer, • Mark Twain – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Applying stylometric analysis using non-contextual words and principle components analysis, we found: The voice of the narrator in each novel was different than the characters in the novel, and the narrator’s voice did not match the author’s own wordprint voice. • Each author’s characters were distinctively different amongst themselves and also different from other authors’ characters. • The authors displayed varying ability to create distinctive characters, with Dickens’ characters being the most distinctive followed by Twain’s, Austens’ and Cooper’s. We conclude that talented authors can create characters with distinctive voices and that authors have differing ability to do so.