The top 3 Most ‘Influential ’ characters in Fleabag.
What characters have the most and least significance to Fleabag as a character?
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It is known that Fleabag as a character is not meant to be perceived as ‘perfect’ or in any way a ‘good person’, this is frequently shown in the small and larger actions that are committed in the series. In my opinion the relationships Fleabag shares with people throughout the series really help shape her growth throughout seasons one and two. Here is a list of people from most and least significance, and why their presence matters so incredibly much in the series. I have spent a long time preparing character analysis on this series, having read the script three times, watched the show 7 times and recently found the theatre live version to watch. The in-depth thoughts and characteristics i have built upon these characters is something i am so fond of and am unbelievably happy to share. (These are my opinions and criticisms are ALWAYS appreciate & Fleabag is free to watch on BBC iplayer.)
1. Claire
Credits- The Michigan Daily (2022)
You may think that Boo has the most significance to Fleabags story, and that I do not disagree with, although I personally believe that Fleabag and Claire always needed each other the most, despite their own mishaps and differences.
It is described in ‘The Michigan Daily’ that Claire and Fleabags relationship was the real ‘Love story’ of the series, with their relationship displaying the obvious events and downfalls of sisterhood and although it may be considered ‘bare minimum’ to care for your family at all times, they never failed to be there for each other when they were needed. The dynamic between the two shows the interaction between two sisters who are very obviously incredibly different, with Claire’s life looking as though she is put together, thorough and happy alongside Fleabags life looking messy, upsetting and ‘depressing’ but this was never completely the case, with Claire’s life slowly being more dictated by her husband Martin and the life he brought with him, throughout season one this slowly distanced them both, with it eventually disbanding their relationship at the end of season one after Fleabags confession to Claire about Martin’s attempt on ‘making a move’ to Fleabag on Claires birthday (Episode six). Martin then told Claire that Fleabag came onto him and that it was ‘the other way around’ despite Martin knowing this was not the case, he didn’t like Fleabag and he knew Fleabag didn’t like him (I will get into more about this). After Claire’s new found decision to go to ‘fucking Finland’, her once broad and set plan crumbled as she was re-united with her husband after the ‘Silent retreat’ in episode four, falling yet again for his tactics of manipulation that seemingly only Fleabag could see.
The ways in which love is shown between Fleabag and Claire is remarkable, the small ways that their care towards each other is portrayed makes the two of them such a likeable and laughable duo throughout the show. I believe that that the two as individuals are ridiculously different and would potentially, have they not have been related may not have liked each other if they were potential ‘acquaintances’. It’s obvious in the show that despite the girls differences, the interactions that they have are unforgettable as a watcher.
Throughout scenes, the girls interactions especially in season two are incredible, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Sian Clifford work so well together as sisters that the interactions in the show play as if they are ‘real’ people rather than characters. I think that is incredibly important when creating characters with a specific dynamic, the way that those characters are written and especially ‘acted out’ are key to making a character seem ‘real’ and this was done remarkably with them both.
The way Fleabag can see right through Claire’s emotion is something that happens repetitively in the show, with the recognition of her period by seeing her plaited hair, and how she was feeling after the miscarriage (season two) by the shoes she was wearing. It’s shown on many occasions that Fleabag recognises what is going on with Claire, as well as what is happening to her which she may not realise.
In conclusion the way Fleabag and Claire are written as not only characters, but sisters is remarkable. They really show the interactions between two sisters on two completely different paths in life, but will always come back to one another. I believe that without Claire, Fleabags life would have been a lot lower and without Fleabag, Claire’s life would’ve been a shell of what she could’ve potentially been.
2. Boo
Credits- IMDB (2016)
Boo is seemingly a main character of the show, with the guilt of Boo’s death being the one thing that Fleabag carries with her for each season. Despite Boo not being a constant character throughout the show, (with her scenes being small flashbacks) her characters significance means so much to not only Fleabag as a character but also the plot of the entire series.
In many scenes, it is insinuated that Fleabags family knew very much about Boo, with the flashback of her mothers funeral and Boo speaking to both Claire and Harry. So much of Boo’s life stuck alongside Fleabag, with the guilt of what she did to her eating her alive in almost every episode. Although it is not completely revealed what Fleabag did to Boo until the final episode of season one, where it is shown that Fleabag and Boo’s boyfriend had slept together, causing Boo’s accidental death.
I think Boo is a perfect example of a character who ‘haunts the narrative’ throughout a story, with many things being a constant reminder of Boo to Fleabag from episode one. Although Boo meant so much to Fleabag, as a character it’s very obvious that she cannot help herself when it comes to sex. I believe that the way Boo is portrayed goes to show that realistically, Boo would’ve forgiven Fleabag for what she had done, which is the guilt that is carried throughout the whole show.
3. Harry
Credits- Screen rant (2020)
Harry is what influenced me to write this in the first place, over the time that i’ve been watching Fleabag over and over I have always taken a likeness to Harry and Fleabag’s relationship throughout the series.
I think that Harry was one of the people that Fleabag did truly love, although not being enough to ‘keep him around’. I think he was the perfect example of how Fleabag’s form of love can be hard to deal with from a receiving end. Harry’s repetitive appearance throughout both seasons one and two means so much to me as a watcher, in my opinion Harry’s character was such a perfect choice for a partner of Fleabag, he was the opposite of her and very easily manipulated which she knew.
The one thing that sticks out to me the most is in the season one finale, where Fleabag finally loses it and drops all of the glasses on the floor during the ‘sexhibition’, if we look during the scene of the people around her watching her ‘performance’ we see Harry stood with Elaine as he watches her sadly, although this scene realistically has little significance, seeing it in a new way really made me feel Harry’s grief. Harry as a character had so much love in his heart and that was made so obvious throughout the show, the way Fleabag loved him was not the way he wanted or deserved to be loved, her realisation that Harry was finally not coming back and was done with her forever was a new experience that she hadn’t truly felt, it was so great to see Harry’s well deserved growth after being fooled and manipulated by Fleabag.
I believe that Fleabag learnt something from Harry, whether that was that she now hated him, or that she’d remember how she treated him she still saw a lot in Harry, Harry had tried to see the world in her but even he knew that after everything he had done there was no ‘saving’ her.
thanks for reading my not needed opinions🧡🧡