Thomas Bertram

Thomas Bertram
Thomas Bertram
Full name Thomas Bertram
Gender Male
Age 17 at the beginning of the novel, 27 at the end
Income The estate of Mansfield Park and its demesnes, which will be his patrimony
Education Unknown
Rank Elder son of a baronet
Primary residence Mansfield Park, but he often travels and stays with friends and acquaintances
Family
Parents Sir Thomas Bertram and Lady Bertram
Sibling(s) Edmund Bertram, Maria Bertram, and Julia Bertram

Thomas Bertram is a protagonist in Jane Austen's 1814 novel, Mansfield Park. He is the elder son and heir of Sir Thomas Bertram, a baronet and wealthy landowner in Northamptonshire who also owns an estate in Antigua.

Character

Thomas Bertram, who is mainly called "Tom", is depicted as a person who is careless and extravagant. He is not kind to his cousin Fanny Price, the poor ward of his parents when she comes to live with the family. Once he had grown up, he is only interested in amusing himself and is careless and extravagant with money. As a result his father has to sell the living of the local parish to pay off his debts. This harms the prospects of his brother Edmund Bertram who was intended to become a clergyman and live off the tithes of the parish. Tom was a bit ashamed of his actions, but he continued to seek his pleasures.

Travel and return

Tom and his father had to go to Antigua to deal with problems on his estate. Tom returns before his father and finds that while he has been away two new young wealthy people, Henry and Mary Crawford have moved to the area and are living in the parsonage with their half sister, the new clergyman's wife. Mary is romantically interested in Tom at first but he does not respond to her. Tom leaves home again to spend some time with his friends, he returns full of a thwarted project to put on an amateur production of a play. He proposes that the party at Mansfield Park should also do this. His brother, Edmund and Fanny are opposed but the rest of the group are excited. Tom arranges for a theatre to be built in the billiard room in Mansfield Park. The play was almost ready for production when Sir Thomas returns unexpectedly early having had a fast voyage across the Atlantic and puts a stop to the proceedings.

Tom leaves again to take part in a horse racing meet but has a fall and is injured which combined with his drinking causes him to become very ill. His friends abandon him and Edmund has to fetch him home where he is nursed by Fanny who has to be recalled from an enforced stay with her parents in Portsmouth and his family. His illness is observed with interest by Mary Crawford who wants to marry Edmund as she hopes that he will die, leaving Edmund as the heir to the Bertram estates and title. Tom takes very little further part in the book but does recover, apparently becoming a more prudent man because of his sisters' disgrace.

Portrayal