The Outside World Matters: Context and Feminism in Outlander and its Adaptation

Abstract

This paper argues that differences in context and medium influence the gender roles depicted in the narrative of Outlander. The novel Outlander was published in 1991 and tells the story of Claire Randall, a WWII nurse, who accidentally travels from 1945 to 1743. Twenty-three years later the television series was adapted, which is not only a change of medium but also of context. Consequently, differences occur between novel and series. Many scholars have done research on the gender roles in Outlander, but they did not examine the extent to which differences in time and medium influence gender roles of the adaptation. Through close reading and comparative analysis three moments in the narrative, which clearly display the gender roles, will be analysed, then novel and television series are compared. The analysis shows that the novel displays 1990s post-feminist influences such as nostalgia to more traditional gender roles and the forced seduction trope. The makers of the television series, arguably influenced by the MeToo movement, have adapted the series to appeal to a modern audience in various ways. Yet, the adaptation makes no comments on gender inequality in the original story.