Sir Thomas Bertram

This is my final post for my series on the characters of Mansfield Park, which I explored in depth while writing my novel, Fanny, a Mansfield Park Story .

I have decided to end this series as Austen ends the novel, on Sir Thomas Bertram. Of all the characters in Mansfield Park, it is the unlikeliest, the paternal figure, who learns and grows the most, and consequently, in whose point of view almost the entirety of the final chapter is given.

When we first meet Sir Thomas we learn he was "captivated" by a Miss Maria Ward of only seven thousand pounds. He then induces his friend, Mr. Norris to marry his wife's sister, by giving him the living at Mansfield Parsonage. We learn a lot about him in the very first chapter. He wants to help his wife's sister's family. He wants to do what's right. He's a principled man. He's willing to invite one of her numerous children to live in his home. But he doesn't want her marrying either of his sons and he wants to make sure a distinction is maintained between his niece and his daughters.

And we soon learn what kind of daughters they are: selfish, vain, shallow, and sometimes even cruel. Sir Thomas does not have an active role in raising them. Maybe in that time and place he shouldn't have, but he knew what kind of person his wife was; he knew she wasn't doing anything and he let Mrs. Norris fill the void, and fill his daughters' heads with flattery, self-importance, and a sense of superiority.

Sir Thomas was surprised to find out his sister-in-law who had pushed for the adoption does not intend to bring their neice into her own home and when Mr. Norris dies, Sir Thomas is again caught by surprise. Sure, he's willing to keep Fanny on, but he had been hoping "to be relieved from the expense of her support, and the obligation of her future provision."

He travels to Antigua soon after, just as his daughters are at the "interesting" age of entering the marriage market. A lot happens in his absence, including his daughter's engagement. And when he returns and discovers the kind of man Maria is engaged to, he offers her an out, but is actually relieved she doesn't take it. We learn she is motivated at least in part by the desire to get out of her father's house. Later, her sister Julia has the same motivation for her elopement with Yates.

But before that, Fanny receives an unwelcome proposal of marriage and Sir Thomas treats her very differently than he treated Maria. True, he was not around to see all the things Fanny objects to in Mr. Crawford, but she has told him she doesn't like him and doesn't want to marry him. He demands an explanation from her, and not being satisfied, he berates her for her refusal and then punishes her by sending her to Portsmouth. I believe he is motivated by self interest here, by the desire to be relieved of Fanny's present and future support, as he was after the death of Mr. Norris.

So far Sir Thomas does seem to have a lot to learn. What does it take for him to learn it? His daughter Maria commits adultery and gets a divorce; his other daughter elopes with Mr. Yates. Even his son Tom comes down with a life threatening illness and Edmund gets his heart broken. All of his children have suffered. But we are told that Sir Thomas "was the longest to suffer" because he was "conscious of errors in his own conduct as a parent" and "the anguish arising from the conviction of his own errors in the education of his daughters was never to be entirely done away." He now "saw how ill he had judged" in raising his daughters and allowing them to be so much influenced by Mrs. Norris. He reflected over it "bitterly" and "wretchedly" concluding, "Here had been grievous mismanagement." A large part of the final chapter is dedicated to the explanation of Sir Thomas' realizations and regrets. Until, at last, "Sick of ambitious and mercenary connexions, prizing more and more the sterling good of principle and temper," he finally "realised a great acquisition in the promise of Fanny for a daughter." And as it turned out, "Fanny was indeed the daughter that he wanted."

It seems to me everyone thought Mansfield Park would improve Fanny, but in the end, Fanny improved Mansfield Park which is "just such a contrast ... as time is for ever producing between the plans and decisions of mortals, for their own instruction, and their neighbours' entertainment."

What are your thoughts on Sir Thomas?