Outlander Meta on Jamie Fraser and possessiveness

[altocello]

Hey all, I’ve been really quiet on LJ for a while now. This is largely due to an excessively crazy summer (I still owe you all a post about Italy, which was FAB), and being busy with art for ACBB, school starting up, and me falling head over heels for a new show called Outlander. I’ve been reblogging all the things over on Tumblr with jelazakazone, and squeeing with her and anyone else who will listen. I’ve got it so bad that when she posed a question over there it got me thinking and I’m actually writing up a little post about those thoughts.

OK, so I don’t usually write up meta things. I do love to read them, but I never write them (so this is a new thing for me. Be gentle). And a lifetime of reading various grades of sci-fi/fantasy means that I’m the type of reader/watcher who has made a habit of hanging up my disbelief on the coat hook by the entrance to any form of fiction, be it book, TV, film, or theater.

But what draws me and keeps me is characters. I love a complicated character. And they don’t get a whole lot more complicated than James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser. Well, OK, they probably do, but he’s complicated enough.

For those not in the know (which was me until about a month ago), Outlander was originally a series of books written by Diana Gabaldon that, for reasons I’ve still not quite figured out, got filed in the “romance” section of the bookstore, which is the only reason that I hadn’t heard of it before this summer. There are 8 of them now, and I’m making fantastic headway in devouring them. If you want to know more, I’m sure wikipedia would be a help, or you could visit the author’s webpage here. The thing that got me into the books was the TV series that’s airing on Starz. Well, actually it was Jela that got me into watching it, lol. Jela, and the kilts. But I digress.

From here on out, I’ll assume that anyone still reading knows what I’m talking about.

So. The thing that I’ve been musing about. There’s a fantastic meta on Tumblr about Jamie’s character in terms of homophobia, anachronistic behavior, feminism, how Jamie’s character turns feminine roles in romance on theirs heads by being a man in that role, and other wonderful things. You should go read it. I’ll wait here until you’re done.

Back? OK, I’m going to send you away again briefly, because then there’s this post, which has an incredibly sexy set of photos, a few quotes, and a very good question from Jela. And the reason it got me thinking is that I had exactly, EXACTLY, the same thought when I read that part of the book.

And you know, I think it has to do with kinks. There are things that we wouldn’t necessarily entertain doing in real life that we can explore through the lens of fiction; this extreme possessiveness to the point of sexual violence is one of them for me. I will admit that dub/non-con is something that I do enjoy to read, if it’s well written, but I have a very solid grasp of the fact that in real life it’s rape. I’m not going to explore rape in real life; it has real life consequences and is a Bad Thing.

Now, the sexual relations between Jamie and Claire veer back and forth across that line, but I interpret them as being mainly consensual. It’s complicated, but I just do. There are times when they’re incandescently angry with each other, and angry sex happens. And sometimes it’s very close to hate sex, because to say that Jamie and Claire have strong tempers is the understatement of the century. They’re just passionate, in a way that we don’t generally allow ourselves to be in RL. You could go so far as to say it’s one of several defining traits in each of them. By and large, though, Jamie is a considerate lover, and so is Claire. And even this early in their forced marriage you can see that.

Whereas, what Black Jack Randall does to Jamie is outright Rape. Captial R. But that’s a whole ‘nother meta that I’m really not up to right now.

Back to the possessiveness though. The interesting part of this particular scene is that they are actually staking a claim on each other, it’s not just him. I think that this particular bit of dialogue, and the actions that go with it, is about the fact that Jamie wants to possess Claire utterly because she already owns him, heart and soul. She doesn’t know it yet, but she does. And he feels the need to leave his mark on her, in her; he wants to provoke her into admitting that she wants to possess him as well. I think it cut him deeply that she’d consider letting him sleep with Laoghire; here he is, head over heels for her, and she’s saying he can sleep with someone he has no strong feelings for. I don’t know that Jamie understood how much Claire hated saying that he could. So maybe another element to this is that we know that Claire is subconsciously relieved to have him be so possessive of her? And here he is, upset that she’s not jealous of him. LOL. How complicated can you get?

So, possessiveness kink. I know at least one person who had a spouse who was pathologically possessive. And that’s not sexy at all. And I’m still not sure why it’s so appealing in a fic, except that perhaps this is very honest, straightforward possessiveness. This isn’t behind the back, spying on her every move, keeping her trapped. This is establishing that he’s got a right to her, and she to him. He says that it’s because they’re married, which would go along with the morals and standards of the 18th century. We know it’s more than that; maybe he’s not willing to say it out loud, new to each other as they are. But I mean, really, the best part of this relationship is the depth of the connection between these two; it literally crosses time and space. They both own each other’s souls, and this is, I think, our first real glimpse of that terrifying depth. So yeah, we lap it up, because it’s our chance to explore those depths without drowning ourselves.

Comments

[sp-owl.livejournal.com]

I've read all the books and I've seen the first show. I've read the books as they've come out, so it's been a lot time since I've looked at someone of them. I seem to recall a scene where Jamie spanks Claire? Maybe with a hairbrush? I know he was really forceful for a while.

[altocello.livejournal.com]

He beats her with his belt, but it's literally a disciplinary thing. He told her that he would give her a beating if she left where he put her and had to follow through when she did. I'm not saying I agree with it at all, but it is true to the morals of the time; he was her husband, responsible for her actions (dangerous to all of them, even if she didn't understand that at the time, and she'd been warned not to do it), and also responsible for "disciplining" her. The rest of the men in the band expected him to do it and would have thought less of Jamie if he hadn't. They also would not have forgiven Claire for her actions if there had been no consequence for them. She and Jamie have a good long palaver about it later in the chapter as she's working through her anger at him about it, and he swears an oath to her on his dirk that he would never raise a hand against her again.

Now, there are other things that happen and are discussed, but that's something for another meta on sadism. :D

[sp-owl.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I remember that now.
As for the series, I'm not sure how I like the actors in the roles yet, since I've only seen the first one. It was free, and the others aren't, so I'm not even sure when or if I'll watch the rest!
I'm reading Written in My Own Heart's Blood now.

[altocello.livejournal.com]

I've really enjoyed all of the episodes so far. We're on the mid-season hiatus at the moment, though how they can call it that when it's SEVEN FREAKING MONTHS LONG, I'll never know.

As for the books, I've managed to get to the last half of Drums of Autumn in 2 weeks, so I'm making good time. At this rate I'll be done before Halloween, lol.

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

Ok, I'm on board with your meta! I agree that he wants to possess Claire because he has surrendered himself entirely to her. I think that's what we find so sexy -- his absolute surrender. You are right, she owns him entirely and doesn't even know it. Mb I should go back and re-read that bit in the book for greater context, but I really have to pack. Blergh.

[altocello.livejournal.com]

YAY! I can't tell you how long it took me to dig deep enough to expose that nugget. I had to re-read two chapters because I got confused as to where the lashes with the belt happened in the story (darn), and then I had to read and re-read (again, darn) the pages around the actual tidbit with the argument and the follow-up with the possessive comment to get the context fixed in my head.

And it's kind of deeply personal to explore a kink like that, but in a good way. I'll have to poke around at things like that more often. It's enlightening.

I'm of the further opinion that his absolute surrender to Claire is yet another example of how his sexual experiences can be coded as feminine, like in the meta I referenced. And I think it's THAT part that we respond so strongly to.

I am going to go back and savour Book 1 as soon as I'm done with the whole series. I have to say that I love love love having voices to go with the words in the book; I hear Claire and Jaime so very clearly as I read them, thanks to Cait and Sam and their performances.

I hope your packing went well, and I hope that Sam rumbling "Mo Ghràidh" has lulled you to sleep. Have a wonderful time this weekend, and best wishes to your sister and her intended! *hugs*

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

I have had further thoughts, which I believe distill down to this:

We find it incredibly romantic/attractive that Jamie bares his soul for Claire and is completely honest with her and that he wants her with ALL OF HIS BEING. God, like, who wouldn't want that? I think we also love that he is so manly and isn't running around moping after her. He talks about not being able to live without her (I think he does, right?), but clearly he did ok by most people's standards without her for 20 years.

I'm kind of thinking out loud here. He is flame and she's the spark. We love that she's this amazing, self-sufficient woman and so strong and stubborn and that he loves her the more for it.

Maybe?

[altocello.livejournal.com]

I have thoughts too, and YES I agree, Jamie gives himself over, entire, and we love that idea. And we love that they're both independent enough on their own, but so much the stronger when they're together. We love that he's vulnerable, and that he loves her for being so strong and stubborn. It really is another example of the way he's inhabiting a role that's more often coded female, I think.

And that's why the second book was so hard for me to read, because they're each other's hearts, the life and breath that animates the other. Claire had to live with being widowed, despite having Brianna to give her purpose. Jamie only had the hope that they were alive; he didn't actually KNOW that she'd made it back safe and survived childbirth, he just couldn't let himself believe anything else. I think he merely survived. He went through the motions. As long as he had a purpose, someone to provide for (Lallybroch, his family and tenants), someone to protect (as Mac Dubh in Ardsmuir Prison), then he could put the one foot in front of the other. But when he didn't have that, when he was paroled and had to leave Willie, THEN he had no heart to keep him going. He became a harder and more reckless man; it didn't matter so much if he was caught printing sedition, it didn't matter so much if he was caught smuggling; he was willing to push the limits in ways that were beyond the bounds of safety, because it didn't matter, Claire and the child were lost to him. If he died or was caught it would just be what should have happened at Culloden, only come 20 years late.

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

I read the second book before I had kids. I think it would have made a different impression on me otherwise.

But yes, Jamie's vulnerability is another aspect of his personality that we often see as coded feminine and we lap it up.

You aren't up to book 8 yet, are you?

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Still making my way through book 5, but I've got books 6 and 7 in hand :D

Yeah, the whole miscarriage thing really broke me. I'm a weeper, but it's unusual even for me to have tears streaming down my face while reading a book. But having experienced that grief, I really felt that one in my bones. I had tears streaming down my face as Claire told the story of saying goodbye to Faith.

I did it again when I read the part with Jamie's moonlight Gaelic confession to his infant niece; we never find out for sure what he was saying, but my personal headcanon is that it was all the things that he never got to say to Faith, because he never got a goodbye like Claire did. You can tell that it's one of the great sorrows in his life, that he never even saw her.