Music & the Regency: The Jane Austen Heroines Spotify Series (with Playlist Links!)

Sarah Hurley
May 5
4 min read

The Sense of Hearing (c. 1744-1747), by Philippe Mercier. Source: Yale University. — *The Sense of Hearing* (c. 1744-1747), by Philippe Mercier. Source: Yale University.

If you’ve been keeping up with Jane Austen & Company—which, like JASP, is another off-shoot of the Jane Austen Collaborative—you’ll know that our most recent series of YouTube livestreams focused on music in Jane Austen’s time. These free public lectures ranged in topic from Italian castrati to women's musical education in Regency England. If you missed them, recordings are available for free on the Jane Austen & Co. website and JASP YouTube channel.

In support of the Music & the Regency series, I’ve spent the last couple of months curating a selection of Spotify playlists (yes, Jane Austen & Co. has an official Spotify account!) inspired by the leading ladies of Jane Austen’s six completed novels. Each playlist contains a unique blend of soundtrack, classical, and contemporary music intended to capture the distinct spirit of its designated heroine. Keep reading to learn why I chose the songs I did for each of the distinctive young women starring in Austen’s six iconic novels.

Marianne Dashwood

Aside from containing several songs from the Sense and Sensibility (1995) film soundtrack, Marianne’s playlist is heavy on artists popular among teens today—lots of Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, and ESPECIALLY Taylor Swift. From “Enchanted” to "hoax" to “The Black Dog,” Swift’s sweeping, emotional discography perfectly captures the essence of sixteen-year-old Marianne Dashwood.

Elinor Dashwood

Unlike her sister’s, Elinor Dashwood’s playlist is much more reserved and low-key, drawing inspiration from vintage love tunes of the 1950s. Sandwiched between classical pieces and a few modern pop songs, the voices of Nat King Cole, The Penguins, and Johnny Tillotson embody the simple, easy kind of romance I imagine Elinor desired—and eventually won—with Edward Ferrars.

Catherine Morland

Dramatic, spine-tingling piano pieces set the scene as Catherine Morland creeps through shadowy corridors at night. Dreamy, theatrical selections from Florence + The Machine and Lana Del Rey lend a voice to Catherine’s macabre imagination. And my favorite pick, “The Music of the Night” from The Phantom of the Opera, encapsulates everything this novel-obsessed heroine must have felt as she entered Northanger Abbey for the first time.

Emma Woodhouse

Emma Woodhouse has such a fun, distinctive personality, and I knew right away that the theme guiding her playlist would be “handsome, clever, and rich.” For that reason, Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” Hall and Oates’s “Rich Girl,” and orchestral covers of “Material Girl” and “thank u, next” were immediate must-adds. And what better song than Taylor Swift’s “Mastermind” to represent the ultimate Austenian matchmaker?

Anne Elliot

Anne Elliot is often referred to as Austen’s most mature heroine, so I wanted her musical selections to feel similarly mature. Wistful acoustic and piano covers of songs like Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time,” Adele’s “When We Were Young,” and Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” emphasize Anne’s regret over the past, while other instrumental pieces provide the perfect backdrop for long, contemplative walks along the Lyme Regis coastline.

Fanny Price

Fanny Price’s playlist is full of musical pining—that’s right, we’ve got early-2000s radio hits from Colbie Caillat, Sara Bareilles, and Taylor Swift, as well as some deeper cuts from Lizzy McAlpine and James Arthur. Her instrumental selections are traditional, like herself—such as “The Duke of Kent’s Waltz,” which is a particular favorite at JASP’s annual Regency ball—or else inspired by the travels of her brother William, a naval midshipman.

Elizabeth Bennet

Believe it or not, Elizabeth Bennet’s playlist was the most difficult to put together. As I tried to imagine what kind of music dear Lizzy would listen to in the twenty-first century, I was overwhelmed by the barrage of ideas and opinions emanating from all corners of Austen fandom. As with Jane Austen herself, it seems that everyone possesses their own “private Lizzy,” a version of the character they’ve built up in their head with her own likes and dislikes—her own appearance and tastes. How could I possibly manage to capture a heroine with so many lives through a collection of only fifteen songs?

Ultimately, I realized I didn’t need to capture a singular version of Elizabeth Bennet known to Austen-lovers everywhere—I just needed to draw upon my own. My own dear Lizzy is first and foremost defined by her sense of humor, yielding songs like Hozier’s “Someone New” and Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” as well as her fierce courage and defiance in the face of unjust authority. A little bit vintage, a little bit romantic, and 100% sassy-yet-classy, Lizzy’s playlist might not be exactly what you’re expecting, but I hope you’ll give it a fair chance.

Thanks for listening, dear readers! If you enjoyed the Austen Heroines Playlist Series, we invite you to join us for Jane Austen & Company’s Music & the Regency: pt. 2, another free YouTube livestream series coming Fall 2025. You won’t want to miss it!

We invite you to join us for JASP 2025: Sensibility and Domesticity on June 19-22 in historic New Bern, North Carolina. The Jane Austen Summer Program is designed to appeal to anyone with a passion for all things Jane Austen. Attendees include people from all walks of life, as well as established scholars, high school teachers, and students from middle school through graduate school. Register for JASP 2025 today!