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                                  (LETTERHEAD)                      Exhibit 23.1

                         Consent of Independent Auditors


The Board of Directors
Aetna Life and Casualty Company:

We consent to incorporation by reference in the Registration Statement of Aetna
Life and Casualty Company on Form S-8 registering shares to be issued pursuant
to the Aetna Life and Casualty Company 1994 Stock Incentive Plan of our report
dated February 7, 1995, relating to the consolidated balance sheets of Aetna
Life and Casualty Company and Subsidiaries as of December 31, 1994 and 1993 and
the related consolidated statements of income, shareholders' equity, and cash
flows and related schedules for each of the years in the three-year period ended
December 31, 1994, which reports appear in or are incorporated by reference in
the December 31, 1994 annual report on Form 10-K of Aetna Life and Casualty
Company.

Our reports refer to changes in 1993 in the company's accounting for certain
investments in debt and equity securities, reinsurance of short-duration and
long-duration contracts, post-employment benefits, workers' compensation life
table indemnity reserves and retrospectively rated reinsurance contracts and to
changes in 1992 in the company's accounting for income taxes and postretirement
benefits other than pensions.


                                                 /S/ KPMG Peat Marwick LLP

Hartford, Connecticut
September 22, 1995


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