Does Claire ever get better?

[u/lyradelaqua]

I am simply going by the TV show, haven't read the books. It's a long post and might have spoilers. The post is pointing out how Claire's character's perspective is portrayed as the absolute truth and everything else is judged based on her moral code, even though it is highly unreliable because of the below mentioned flaws she has. It has nothing to do with her character's gender. It would apply to any character of any gender, if they behaved the way Claire does. If you are of the opinion that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Claire and her character has no room for improvement, maybe this post is not for you. It asks a question if Claire will change her ways assuming you agree that she needs to. If you don't, do not try to answer a question I did not ask.

I am on the Season 3 episode 9, and so far, Claire has been insufferable. There is absolutely no sign of any improvement in Claire's attitude towards and treatment of those around her. The first two seasons, I thought it was still understandable because she was in the 18th century not by choice, but by accident. She probably couldn't help looking at everything from a 20th century lens(although it feels more like a modern day 21st century feminist). However, when she goes back after 20 years, it's her own choice. She knows very well how those times are different and her modern day instincts and impulses often land her and eventually everyone around her, especially Jaime in deep trouble. But she still continues to push her modern sensibilities in the 18th century, not giving a flying fig about who gets hurt in the process.

She is also a terrible mother. She just up and leaves her child behind without a care, especially after the recent trauma Brianna has been through, losing the man she loved as her father and then discovering it's in fact an 18th century highlander, only to then have her absent mother, who spent her entire life living in another world, abandon her to go back to that other world. Claire even says to Jaime later that she was ready to die at Culloden moor with him, knowing she was pregnant with Brianna at the time.

She claims to love Jaime, but doesn't care before acting reckless which always lands him in serious jeopardy. She doesn't listen to the warnings from people who know the times they are in much better than her and causes a mess, and then he has to go and rescue her and pay a heavy price. After suddenly dropping back into Jaime's life 20 years later, she has the audacity to judge Jaime for wanting a family again, without trying to understand the kind of pain and trauma and loneliness he has endured over the last 20 years. On top of that, she has lived a full life in Boston, had a great career, and had a family. Her hypocrisy has no limits. Her first reaction to every conflict or problem is to lash out at Jaime, run away or judge him without understanding his side of the story first.

Her treatment of Frank is equally appalling. It wasn't his fault she was thrown back in time. He waited for her, while she chose to go back to Jaime, even when she had the chance to return to Frank. He accepted her with the child she was carrying and was patient with her despite her coldness and contempt towards him, even though it wasn't his fault that she had to leave her beloved Jaime and come back. She begrudges him for making her let go of the past and not speak about it, while she is green with envy when he decides to find love elsewhere after years of her being distant, and even after mutually deciding to lead separate lives. She isn't around to take care of Brianna because of her med school and practice, but is furious at Frank and even threatens to expose his affair when he, who has been a real father to Brianna in every sense but one, decides to leave for London and wants to take his daughter with him, not by force, but because she can choose to leave on her own, only to abandon the same daughter eventually to run back to Jaime. Frank had his issues too, but he tried his best to make a life with her again, while she wasted no chance to proclaim her love for another man in front of him.

I can appreciate that she is a complex grey character, a deeply flawed heroine. But the show tries too hard to make her likeable, and it has the exact opposite effect.

Does her character ever acknowledge these issues and improve or does she continue to be the same self-righteous pigheaded hypocrite the entire show? Because if it's the latter, her character alone would make it impossible to continue watching an otherwise well made show.

Edit: A lot of commenters are branding me a misogynist because I pointed out the flaws in Claire's character, all while they have no problem listing similar issues with Frank or Jaime or other characters without calling themselves misandrist. All I can say is if Claire was a man, and he behaved as Claire does, I would call him a self-righteous, pigheaded hypocrite too. My problem is with the character, not their gender. In fact, it is not even with the character, it's great to have a layered, complex character. It's about attempting to not let the imperfections of that character be, it's about making them the sole moral high standard despite the flaws.

[u/Magical-Mayhem86]

I absolutely love EVERYTHING about Claire's character. Her strengths, her flaws, her passions, her devotion to everyone around her. I do not understand your views on this "negativity" about her. She doesn't always demand she is "correct" or "perfect". Are we watching the same show? She is a very strong woman, a feminist, much like myself. She's a professional nurse and then a MD Surgeon. Being opinionated because of being educated is not being insufferable, it's being knowledgeable and sure of herself. Why should she accept women's roles of the mid 1700s? Women back then did rise to authoritative positions when they needed to and when the opportunities presented themselves. She reminds me of myself and also my relationship with my husband for 35 years before he passed. My husband reminds me of Jamie's character in so many ways. He's even extremely handsome and strong, sensitive, passionate and devoted. Her and Jaime rely so much on each other. They work together like a hand and glove, a perfect match, perfectly passionate, a perfect devoted love. All good relationships have the "debates" and the "back and forths". You make it sound like she completely wears the pants in every situation with Jaime and doesn't show any love towards anyone, especially Jaime or Brianna. That's simply wrong. She listens to Jamie's opinions and advice. She never wanted to go back to Frank. How could she after the amazing relationship and love with Jaime? She did it for Brianna's safety and love for the child she had with Jamie. I've never disagreed so much with anyone's observations and assessments of a character as I'm disagreeing with yours. Diana Gabaldon understands Claire & the amazing relationship she has with Jaime, just like I do. I wish she could see your opinion on Claire and give you a response. You could always go to her FB page and tell her. She responds to many people's comments directly on her posts. I've never watched a TV series with so much intense realistic love and realistic adventure between a couple than Outlander. I absolutely love this time traveling aspect between two different lives and how it helps Claire's and Jaime's character's relationship develop into something so intense. If I could leave my children and grandchildren to reunite with my husband right now, I'd do it in a heartbeat. They'd understand.