I think I know why Diane Gabaldon wrote the Comte de Saint Germain as being a Bad Guy in her series of books "Outlander". It is because Claire is "La Dame Blanche" which in French means literally something like "The White Lady" but has the connotation of being a witch. However, in this context of "La Dame Blanche" this likely means "A Woman of Power". So, I guess what they are saying here is that Claire and the Comte de Saint Germain are both "People of power" the way this is written.
So, this might be the perspective of someone "Catholic" like Jamie about this whole thing. He loves his wife but also knows she is "A force to be reckoned with on all levels for him".
MY wife, having read this series of books many years ago now has hardbound copies of everything including "The Outlandish Companion" which is a two huge book set with all the details of what everything actually means. (Even though I had a lot of trouble finding anything at all until I begged help from my wife.
Here is what it says about La Dame Blanche or the White ladies (La Dame Blance means singular White Lady by the way.)
From page 195 left of page middle it says regarding "White Ladies":
begin quote:
"If one is looking for entertaining accidents of history, it is worth noting that nurses in modern days have most often been "women in white." Whether chosen for it's evident "purity" (and hence the implication of antisepsis), or because blood shows up on it really well, the white uniform worn by many modern nurses evoke the image of earlier "white ladies"4.
The white lady is a figure of Celtic myth, known (in varying manifestations) in all Celtic countries, including not only Ireland and Scotland, but Brittany as well (hence the knowledge of "La Dame Blanche" among the rapists Claire meets in the Rue du Faubourg st. Honore). Generally speaking, the White lady is the dryad of death; she is often identified with Macha, Queen of the Dead, and sometimes as the crone aspect of the Goddess(the Goddess is said to have three forms: Maiden, Mother, Crone-----which signify the chief phases of female life). end quote from page 195 of "The Outlandish Companion volume 1.
So, now let's interface the Comte De Saint Germain in all this. Since this is put into an Occult point of view Claire and the Comte De Saint Germain are pitted against each other. Why is this? Because Diana Gabaldon decided to do this. Obviously, the Comte De Saint Germain as a historical character means nothing to her in this context he is simply a foil for her fictional book in this case. He is convenient because he is deemed occult as is Claire as a healer in this book as well.
What I find fascinating is that Claire is a time traveler just as I also experience the Comte de Saint Germain to be in real life. So, the best way to put this is the way the Comte de Saint Germain is written he is written as a completely fictional person who just happens to also be an actual historical person as well.
So, to her he was a colorful character that she chose to use as Claire's foil in this book.
on page 152 he is listed as "Comte de Saint Germain under the heading "G" what is said is this:
begin quote:
"Comte de Saint Germain--- a member of the French Court with a reputation for dabbling in occult matters. Charles Stuart's business partner." end quote.
subnote 5 at bottom of page:
Begin quote:
"The Comte de Saint Germain was a real historical character, an ihabitant of Paris at roughly the time of the Story told in Dragonfly. The Comte had a sinister reputation, and was rumored to be heavily involved in the occult, but there is very little definite informtion about him." end quote on bottom of page 152.
So, the historical sources she chose were likely from people who were very superstitious and afraid of anything occult at the time. However, occult at that time often was just people who were chemists or alchemists and trying to create dyes and fabrics and trying to advance science at the time. However, most people were not educated in the sciences then and so this was often dubbed Occult when it was just scientific experimentation that eventually resulted directly in everything we have scientific today like paints, dyes, and everything to do with mechanics, flying machines, travel to the moon or mars etc.
So, this is why he is depicted as a unusual character in the book because in the end he is just as unusual a person in the 18th century as Claire is. So, are Claire or Saint Germain good or bad or just competitors??
Since Outlanders is a fictional book it likely doesn't help people trying to get to know the actual Comte De Saint Germain but that isn't what Gabaldon is doing. She is trying to tell a really great story worth making into a TV series on STARZ channel instead. So, I really enjoy this program except for the Comte De Saint Germain's name being denegrated. But, I can live with it because it is only fictional in the end but still very entertaining.
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