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Robert
Claire is Catherine’s older sister and Robert’s oldest daughter. She is stylish, level-headed, and pushy. The pushiness becomes immediately clear when Claire arrives in Chicago for her father’s funeral and asks Catherine to move to New York to live with her, since she believes that Catherine, like Robert, is too mentally ill to live alone. Catherine vehemently disagrees, but Claire seems not to listen. Throughout the play, Claire’s plans and opinions are often at odds with Catherine’s. This applies to small things (like how Catherine should care for her hair) and big ones—for instance, Claire thinks that Catherine made the wrong decision in caring for Robert at home, while Catherine and Robert (via his journal) disagree. The audience never gets much insight into Claire’s values or motivations, so it’s not clear whether her behavior towards Catherine is merely selfish and unempathetic, or whether it’s more complicated—perhaps she’s trying to overcompensate for her guilt over not being there when Catherine was caring for their father. Regardless, it’s clear that Claire’s presence grates on Catherine and sometimes genuinely hurts her, as when Claire doesn’t believe that Catherine could have written the groundbreaking proof that Hal finds in Robert’s desk drawer. This betrayal sends Catherine into a tailspin, which ultimately frustrates Claire so much that she leaves for New York alone.
Claire Quotes in Proof
The Proof quotes below are all either spoken by Claire or refer to Claire. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act One, Scene 2
Quotes
CLAIRE: Did you use that conditioner I bought you?
CATHERINE: No, shit, I forgot.
CLAIRE: It’s my favorite. You’ll love it, Katie. I want you to try it. […] It has jojoba […] It’s something they put in for healthy hair.
CATHERINE: Hair is dead […] It’s dead tissue. You can’t make it healthy.
CLAIRE: It makes my hair feel, look, and smell good. That’s the extent of my information about it. You might like it if you decide to use it.
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Act One, Scene 4
Quotes
CATHERINE: I know you mean well. I’m just not sure what I want to do. I mean to be honest you were right yesterday. I do feel a little confused. I’m tired. It’s been a pretty weird couple of years. I think I’d like to take some time to figure things out.
CLAIRE: You could do that in New York.
CATHERINE: And I could do it here.
CLAIRE: But it would be much easier for me to get you set up in an apartment in New York, and—
CATHERINE: I don’t need an apartment, I’ll stay in the house.
CLAIRE: We’re selling the house.
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CLAIRE: Living here with him didn’t do you any good. You said that yourself.
You had so much talent…
CATHERINE: You think I’m like Dad.
CLAIRE: I think you have some of his talent and some of his tendency toward…instability.
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Act Two, Scene 2
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CLAIRE: […] You wrote this incredible thing and you didn’t tell anyone?
CATHERINE: I’m telling you both now. After I dropped out of school I had nothing to do. I was depressed, really depressed, but at a certain point I decided, Fuck it, I don’t need them. It’s just math, I can do it on my own. So I kept working here. I worked at night, after Dad had gone to sleep. It was hard but I did it. […]
CLAIRE: Catherine, I’m sorry but I just find this very hard to believe.
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Act Two, Scene 3
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CLAIRE: […] I probably inherited about one one-thousandth of my father’s ability. It’s enough.
Catherine got more, I’m not sure how much.
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Get the entire Proof LitChart as a printable PDF.
Claire Quotes in Proof
The Proof quotes below are all either spoken by Claire or refer to Claire. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act One, Scene 2
Quotes
CLAIRE: Did you use that conditioner I bought you?
CATHERINE: No, shit, I forgot.
CLAIRE: It’s my favorite. You’ll love it, Katie. I want you to try it. […] It has jojoba […] It’s something they put in for healthy hair.
CATHERINE: Hair is dead […] It’s dead tissue. You can’t make it healthy.
CLAIRE: It makes my hair feel, look, and smell good. That’s the extent of my information about it. You might like it if you decide to use it.
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Act One, Scene 4
Quotes
CATHERINE: I know you mean well. I’m just not sure what I want to do. I mean to be honest you were right yesterday. I do feel a little confused. I’m tired. It’s been a pretty weird couple of years. I think I’d like to take some time to figure things out.
CLAIRE: You could do that in New York.
CATHERINE: And I could do it here.
CLAIRE: But it would be much easier for me to get you set up in an apartment in New York, and—
CATHERINE: I don’t need an apartment, I’ll stay in the house.
CLAIRE: We’re selling the house.
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CLAIRE: Living here with him didn’t do you any good. You said that yourself.
You had so much talent…
CATHERINE: You think I’m like Dad.
CLAIRE: I think you have some of his talent and some of his tendency toward…instability.
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Act Two, Scene 2
Quotes
CLAIRE: […] You wrote this incredible thing and you didn’t tell anyone?
CATHERINE: I’m telling you both now. After I dropped out of school I had nothing to do. I was depressed, really depressed, but at a certain point I decided, Fuck it, I don’t need them. It’s just math, I can do it on my own. So I kept working here. I worked at night, after Dad had gone to sleep. It was hard but I did it. […]
CLAIRE: Catherine, I’m sorry but I just find this very hard to believe.
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Act Two, Scene 3
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CLAIRE: […] I probably inherited about one one-thousandth of my father’s ability. It’s enough.
Catherine got more, I’m not sure how much.
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