Whoever wrote this is an idiot.

First of all, Claire is softening because Frank has

gotten more power hungry and self centerded. In seasons 1 and 2, they were a
team of equals plotting together to capture the Presidency. But now that Frank
has it, he is acting as an executive in the office and at home. His use of FEMA
funds as an executive order to fund work programs in DC is a parallel to giving
executive orders at home.
Throughout season 3, we see Claire dealing with this growth of power by stepping
back a bit. Her act of telling Frank to take her violently was a test to see if she
could deal with this kind of relationship, and to see if Frank truly saw her as a less
than equal partner in their marriage.
His inability to take her sexually in a violent way proved to her that he cannot
treat her that way in every day life so long as she refuses to accept it. That's why
her actions at the end of season 3 are a huge turning point. She realizes that she
IS an equal in this partnership, as Frank's hired author's book states all along, and
that the only way to regain the power that she has lost is by taking it back.
These characters haven't gone soft. They're even harder. Frank has shown he has
no respect for god or humanity's rules. He pissed on his fathers grave. He
threatened to initiate WW3 with Russia by having Claire tell their ambassador
that he'll shoot their planes out of the sky, just to advance his own political
agenda. His America Works program isn't about the people; it's about his legacy,
which power hungry people care about.
The power struggle has grown.