"I'm only me when I'm with you" This week on AP Taylor Swift, we're diving into an AP Lit favorite: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813). We trace Elizabeth and Jane Bennet's unshakeable sisterhood through "I'm Only Me When I'm With You," relive Darcy's catastrophically bad proposal through "Haunted," and land on "Lavender Haze" for a look at gossip, reputation, and what it means to fall in love in a world where marriage is a woman's only real option. Along the way: the literary canon, Regency courtship logistics, Bridgerton comparisons, and a debate about whether Elizabeth would be a Hinge girl.
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Songs Discussed
"I'm Only Me When I'm With You"
Taylor Swift, Track 12 (2006)
Written by: Taylor Swift, Robert Ellis Orrall, Angelo Petraglia
"Haunted"
Speak Now (2010) / Speak Now (Taylor's Version) (2023)
Written by: Taylor Swift
"Lavender Haze"
Midnights, Track 1 (2022)
Written by: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, Jahaan Sweet, Mark "Sounwave" Spears, Sam Dew, Zoë Kravitz
Honorable Mentions
Songs that almost made the cut, mentioned in conversation:
- "Better Man" — floated as an alternate for Darcy's proposal scene
- "Why'd You Have to Be So Mean" — floated as an alternate for Darcy and Elizabeth's early banter
Episode Highlights
(all timestamps approximate — please verify against the final audio before publishing)
[01:01] Setting the scene: Pride and Prejudice, published 1813, and "a truth universally acknowledged"
[06:48] "I'm Only Me When I'm With You" — Jenn's pick and the case for Jane and Elizabeth as the book's real love story
[30:36] "Haunted" — Maansi's pick, staged around the infamous first proposal
[48:24] "Lavender Haze" — Jodi's pick, tied to the novel's opening line about marriage
Mentioned in this episode:
Books
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen — Bookshop.org
Emma, Jane Austen — Bookshop.org
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë — Bookshop.org
Film & TV
Pride & Prejudice (2005) — JustWatch
Bridgerton — JustWatch
Theater
& Juliet (musical) — Official site
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This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.
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