MBTI Type: ENFJ

Clara is an exceptional manipulator of people, who knows what to do and say to get under their skin and force them to do what she wants them to, but she redeems herself in season two, when she quickly discovers what Esther’s brother is doing to her, and tells the entire truth to protect her from it, because she thinks it’s wrong for them to be making Esther ‘crazy’ to steal her inheritance. Clara also cares about Esther enough to leave her daughter with her, knowing she will take good care of the child and provide a good home for them; she also knows that Esther needs the child, to heal her inner wounds from her many miscarriages. But in the first season, Clara is self-serving and manipulative. She uses her Fe to manipulate everyone. Clara is the ultimate consummate performer for an audience; she knows what each person is most likely to respond to, and becomes that – being helpful and meek, even submissive about Lady Denham; being seductive and a schemer around Sir Edward; being strong and forceful around Esther; and being pitiable and a victim for innocent young Charlotte. She plays on the emotions around her, from gaining sympathy to manipulating people and taunting Esther with the knowledge of what her impulsivity has wrought. And, she’s exceptionally good at it. She mostly loops with Se. Whatever will get her ahead in life, Clara will use it, no matter how unscrupulous it may be (sexually pleasing men, then lying about it and claiming she was ill-used to gain a girl’s sympathy, sleeping with someone to further her aim, threatening to blackmail others, etc). Afraid Lady Denham may send her away, and prevent her chance at an inheritance, she burns her arm on a public bath, thus trumping up sympathy for herself. To seal the deal of a shared inheritance with Sir Edward, she first proposes they burn the will, then has sex with him on the hearth. After which, she instantly rethinks her actions and comes up with blackmail material (telling about his incestuous relationship with his stepsister) to keep him in line. Elsewhere, she uses sexual manipulations to control him and quickly tries to save face when Charlotte sees them. Clara manages to destroy herself in all her manipulative tactics, alienating people she could gain as friends simply because she is inauthentic.

Enneagram: 3w2 sp/so

Clara is an ambitious, driven social climber who will let nothing stand in her way of a massive inheritance. She becomes whatever she has to be, to succeed, and does not mind changing her emotions in the process – but like many 3s, she cannot be thwarted, undermined, or undone. She somehow manages to come out on top, until Lady Denham unravels her scheme and disinherits both her and Sir Edward. Clara manages to keep her cool even then, and remains distant from her feelings. She doesn’t even show pain when Esther digs her fingernails into her injured arm, just to prove to her that she’s formidable. Her 2 wing is seductive and intent on “earning” her inheritance by putting up with and/or assisting people. She tends to get angry when her “kindness” are not reciprocated with financial stability.