Why Claire is the most annoying character in Outlander
Claire may be one half of the magical Claire/Jamie romance, but that doesn’t stop her from being annoying a lot of the time.
Outlander is one of those book/TV series where the characters are definitely flawed. They act out of duty, but lose their honor. They refuse to do something because of honor, but that leads to people close to them getting hurt. However, there are times that they never learn from their mistakes.
While Claire has some positive character traits, her lack of development in one particular area makes her the most annoying character of the series. As a show-first fan, it’s something that may change later in the books but is something that definitely needs to develop eventually.
What’s the major flaw? It’s her lack of acceptance of 18th century views.
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20th century views don’t work in 18th century worlds
Everyone knows that the views and beliefs of today haven’t always been the views and beliefs. Opinions change. Within the 20th century, some of the biggest changes happened. Women gained the vote in many parts of the Western world, women and minorities gained steps towards equality, technology developed to allow the development of cars, computers, and much more. Most importantly, education is widely available to all.
With education brings more informed opinions and views. People know more about the way the wind and water are affected. It’s easier to know more about disease and how some medical treatments actually made individuals worth.
The views of the 18th century have developed considerably, so it’s not surprising that Claire thinks and feels differently. One of the issues is that she can’t understand the way people think and form opinions in the 18th century. She can’t appreciate the fact that education isn’t widely available and most people wouldn’t even know how to read and write, apart from maybe their own name!
Because of her education from the future, she views her opinion as far more superior. It’s making it harder for people to trust her and accept her in the 18th century. It’s not surprising that she doesn’t make many friends!
She couldn’t even accept the captain’s explanation
While before Claire’s attitude has been tolerated, the most recent episode has made it very hard to forget this character flaw. Despite the captain explaining why he allowed the crew to believe the superstitions on ships, Claire refused to accept that they made sense or were real. She continued to argue, when she could have just appreciated the fact that the captain explained to her at all.
Yes, there are going to be times to challenge views and opinions. One of those was when Jamie strapped her with a belt in Season 1. However, Claire needs to learn when to just accept the views and beliefs of the 18th century, especially if she wants to remain there with Jamie. It’s undoubtedly going to be difficult but it will be worth it for a slightly easier life in the past.
There are so many positives to her character, but this flaw is something she needs to be called out on. Jamie would be the likely person to do this, but if Murtagh returns he would be an excellent person to say it like it is.
Next: 5 best lines from Outlander Season 3, Episode 9
Do you find Claire’s character flaw slightly grating? Would you like to see something change? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Outlander Season 3 continues on Sundays at 8/7c on Starz.