The Breakfast Club's Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald) is in Saturday detention because she ditched class to go shopping. As a privileged "princess," she clearly thinks that being in detention is beneath her and makes repeated references to the fact that she believes it is unfair that she has to be there.
She is, to begin with, an unsympathetic character. However, as the day progresses and the five students get to know each other better, the audience learns that Claire, like the rest of the group in The Breakfast Club, has her own problems, and her life is not as perfect as it first appears.
Her First Lines That Show Her Spoilt Side
"I Can't Believe You Can't Get Me Out Of This."
After Brian's intro, these are the first words spoken in The Breakfast Club, a movie full of memorable quotes. At the beginning of the movie, the characters are presented as Brian says, "in the simplest terms, the most convenient definitions." Claire's words are truly those of a "princess."
Interestingly, Claire's dad doesn't disagree with Claire that it was his job to get her out of it. Instead, he tells her that he'll make it up to her. Claire is introduced as a spoiled rich kid who is used to getting her own way. This makes it all the more interesting as the movie develops and the audience gets to know her better.
When She Thinks She Is In The Wrong Place
"I Think There's Been A Mistake. I Know It's Detention, But I Don't Think I Belong In Here."
Claire continues to be a spoilt princess when, at the commencement of detention, she tells Mr. Vernon and that she doesn't belong there. The implication here is that she deserves a better standard of detention more in keeping with her privileged status.
As the biggest villain in this John Hughes movie, Vernon often talks to the students in ways that are inappropriate or hostile. However, in this instance, he makes exactly the right call and completely ignores what Claire has just said.
When She Explains Bender's Behavior To Him
"You Know Why Guys Like You Knock Everything? It's Because You're Afraid."
Claire offers Bender some unsolicited pop psychology. She tells him that he is afraid he doesn't fit in anywhere, and that's why he mocks everything. Unsurprisingly, Bender isn't receptive to her opinions, and her comment goes down as well as one would expect.
The interesting thing about this quote is that, in a way, Claire is talking about herself. Her need to be part of the popular set comes from a place of fear. Claire hates having to go along with everything her friends say, but she does it because she is afraid to do otherwise.
When She Talks About Her Parents
"It's Like They Use Me Just To Get Back At Each Other."
Andrew asks Claire if she's grounded that evening, as he wants to invite her to a party. Claire doesn't know if she's grounded - one of her parents says she is, and the other says she's not. She says she won't go to the party because it will cause a fight between her parents that could end in divorce.
Claire feels like a pawn in her parents' unhappy marriage, stuck in the middle between her mother and father. Many viewers think it is particularly cruel when Bender later mocks her for being a Daddy's Girl when it's clear that her home life is an unhappy one.
When She Explains What Sushi Is
"Rice, Raw Fish And Seaweed."
In 1985, when The Breakfast Club was released in theaters, sushi was not the ubiquitous lunch option that it is today. Back then, a lot of people in the U.S. were still unfamiliar with the food, and it was quite expensive and not found at every mall food court, which is why Bender asks her what it is. Her response leaves him looking disgusted.
One of the best characters in The Breakfast Club, Claire comes from a privileged background, and her choice of lunch reeks of this privilege. It also shows how sophisticated she is for a teenager. She sets out her lunch on a wooden tray and eats with chopsticks. She makes eating a packed lunch into a restaurant-style dining experience, but it is done to further illustrate her snobbery.
When She Boasts About How Popular She Is
"Do You Know How Popular I Am? I'm So Popular. Everybody Loves Me So Much At This School."
After smoking marijuana with Bender, Claire tells him how popular and beloved she is. Bender cruelly turns her bragging back on her, later on in the movie, during an argument.
Although Claire is showing off, it is likely she is talking about it in order to reassure herself regarding her own insecurities. How other people regard her at school means a great deal to her. In Claire's world, popularity is everything.
When She Is Hounded Into Talking About Her Sexual Experience
"No! I Never Did It!"
Earlier on in the movie, Bender interrogates Claire about her sexual experience. At that point, Andrew intervenes in order to get him to stop. However, when the subject comes up, later on, Andrew and the rest of the group join in with Bender's demand that she "answer the question."
This results in Claire shouting, "No! I never did it!" presumably just to get them all to shut up. It's incredibly unfair of the group to pressure Claire into answering and it's to her credit that she doesn't do the same thing to anyone else.
When She Talks About The Pressure Of Being Popular
"I Hate Having To Go Along With Everything My Friends Say."
The audience never sees Claire's friends, but it's not hard to imagine what they are like, based on every other John Hughes' 80s movie. Claire is part of the popular set where status means everything. She tells Brian that the reason why he wouldn't be embarrassed to speak to Claire at school is because his friends look up to hers.
Brian calls her conceited, and Claire breaks down and says that she hates her role as a popular girl. This, unsurprisingly, doesn't elicit much sympathy from the rest of the group. Given that, by the end of the movie, Claire is dating someone her friends definitely wouldn't approve of, it seems that she has decided to stop caring what other people think.
When She Is Nice To Allison
"Because You're Letting Me."
The makeover scene at the end of the movie is a controversial one, with many fans believing that Allison shouldn't have had to change her appearance in order to get Andrew to notice her. The scene, however, does allow for some meaningful interaction between Claire and Allison.
The two female characters don't have any other scenes where it is just the two of them. When Allison asks why Claire is being nice to her, Claire responds that it's because she's letting her. Fans may not have appreciated Allison's new look, but it does appear that Claire's motivation here is simply to do something nice for someone else.
When She Kisses Bender
"Because I Knew You Wouldn't."
Despite being at loggerheads for most of the movie, Claire and Bender end the detention as a couple. Interestingly, it is Claire who makes the first move here. She visits Bender in the storage closet and kisses him. It's an unexpected development that many viewers did not see coming.
The audience will never know if things worked out between Claire and Bender. On the face of it, the two characters could not be more different from one another. She's one of the popular crowd, and he's an outcast. However, the two characters learned, during the course of detention, that they had more in common than they thought.