25 Days of Claire-mas Day 5: In defense of Claire wearing Frank’s ring

On the fifth day of Claire-mas, I’m looking at why Claire would continue to wear Frank’s ring despite his death. It’s time for a bit of a defense for her.

Claire continues to wear Frank’s wedding ring in Outlander. It’s also an important part of her in the books, so this isn’t just something that the show has changed. This is one of those subjects that is heavily debated among the fans.

I’m going to offer a defense for her wearing both Frank’s and Jamie’s rings. What I will say as well is that I just don’t know what I would do. I’d like to give an answer, but I’ve always found that when I think of what I’d do and then I land in a specific situation, things don’t play out the way I thought. None of us know what we’d really do unless we’re put in that situation—and I don’t quite think we’ll be in the exact same situation as Claire!

Claire-mas: The importance of both rings

I have to start with the fact that both Jamie’s and Frank’s rings are important to her. When she got back to her own time, she refused to take Jamie’s ring off. She couldn’t do it, as it would mean giving up that part of her. Even after 20 years, she continued to wear the ring Jamie gave her.

Jamie was dead at this point. She was 200 years ahead of him, so even though he didn’t die at Culloden, he was still dead. Yet, he wasn’t dead in her heart.

Now it’s working the other way. Claire is back in the past, and Frank is dead. He died in 1966, and there’s no way he’s alive in the 18th century. So, Claire should be able to just take her ring off. Yet, this ring is important to her. When she first gets back to Jamie, she has nothing else from her own time. She’s left everything behind, and that ring symbolizes all that she has left behind.

Part of Claire still loves Frank

Claire makes it clear in the books that a part of her is still with Frank. She still thinks about him now and then. In the TV series, she tells Frank’s body that she still loved him. It wasn’t the same type of love she had before going through the stones the first time. It also wasn’t the same type of love she had for Jamie. There was still love there, though.

The ring symbolizes that now. It’s the love she had for the man who helped her get to the stones in the first place. It’s the love for a man who raised Brianna and helped Claire achieve all the dreams she had. Frank didn’t have to do any of that. He could have claimed infidelity and divorced Claire, but he didn’t. There was always going to be a part of Claire that loved Frank for that.

Brianna is now in the past with Claire. Maybe there’s also an element of respect for her daughter in keeping both rings on. Brianna has two fathers. She acknowledges that a lot. Claire has two husbands, and the rings acknowledge that.

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