The Devil’s Mark was the moment Claire’s attitude in the past annoyed me

Over the years, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser. Outlander Season 1, Episode 11 was the moment it really started.

Claire Fraser is one of those characters I have a love/hate relationship with. Sometimes I’m completely on her side and love that she stands up for herself. Other times, she annoys the hell out of me. During my rewatch of Outlander Season 1, I’ve realized that Episode 11 is when it really started.

Up to this point, Claire was still finding her feet. It’s important to remember that up to the point of her marrying Jamie, only about six weeks had passed. That’s not a lot of time to acclimatize yourself to the past. However, the events with Black Jack Randall and almost being raped by deserters should have made a point of the danger in the time.

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By Episode 11, she should have started realizing the type of people she was around. Even Jamie made a point of explaining why the people of Cranesmuir were so superstitious. They’d known nothing else, unlike Jamie, Claire, Geillis, and a few others. Even those who had seen more, like Dougal, were still superstitious people.

So, when it came to the witch trials, Claire really should have known what to expect. While books wouldn’t have been wildly available, Claire would have understood the dangers of being accused of witchcraft. Considering her upbringing, she should have heard stories about witch trials, superstitions, and much more.

The idea of arguing with witnesses and the judges during the trial was ridiculous. She made the situation worse for herself. At least Geillis stood silent and remained somewhat respectful. Whether it was out of fear or understanding, it’s not clear but she waited and held her tongue.

This was the start of Claire’s lack of understanding of the past really started to grate on me. She couldn’t accept that she alone couldn’t change what people thought. These superstitions and beliefs were from years of development and learning. What did she expect to do in one day?

Yes, it’s hard to hold your tongue when there’s someone ignorant around you, but this wasn’t a case of ignorance for the sake of it. The people of the time didn’t know any different and they were fearful of people who tested the way of life and the beliefs.

It was all downhill from this point. Claire has never really learned when to keep her 20th-century opinions to herself. Outlander Season 4 irritated me to no end with her high-and-mighty view of slavery at the time. Yes, we all know that slavery was bad, but she couldn’t change the situation.

This is the point where I prefer the book version of the character over the show version. At least in the book, Claire understood she couldn’t change things but asked for the slaves to do things as little as possible. She didn’t want to contribute but knew there was nothing she could do to make things easier for them on the plantations. I wish the show version of the character was more like the book version in this aspect.

What did you think of Claire during Outlander Season 1, Episode 11? Which version of the character have you preferred over the years? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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