Tom Bloomfield Character Analysis in Agnes Grey

Tom Bloomfield is a blond, blue-eyed seven-year-old who becomes Agnes’s oldest pupil when she first goes to work as a governess. Tom is spoiled by his doting mother Mrs. Bloomfield and encouraged to drink alcohol and torture animals by his father Mr. Bloomfield and his Uncle Robson. Though Agnes tries to teach Tom moral virtues and dissuade him from animal cruelty, she lacks the authority to mitigate his older relatives’ poor example and is eventually fired for his and his sisters’ unruly behavior.

Tom Bloomfield Quotes in Agnes Grey

The Agnes Grey quotes below are all either spoken by Tom Bloomfield or refer to Tom Bloomfield. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon

“Surely, Tom, you would not strike your sister! I hope I shall never see you do that.”

“You will sometimes: I’m obliged to do it now and then to keep her in order.”

“But it is not your business to keep her in order, you know, that is for—”

“Well, now go and put on your bonnet.”

Related Characters: Agnes Grey (speaker), Tom Bloomfield (speaker), Mary Ann Bloomfield

Page Number and Citation: 16

Explanation and Analysis:

“Papa knows how I treat them, and he never blames me for it: he says it is just what he used to do when he was a boy.”

Related Characters: Tom Bloomfield (speaker), Agnes Grey, Mr. Bloomfield

Related Symbols: Animals

Page Number and Citation: 17

Explanation and Analysis:

The habitual fear of their father’s peevish temper, and the dread of the punishments he was wont to inflict when irritated, kept them generally within bounds in his immediate presence. The girls, too, had some fear of their mother’s anger; and the boy might occasionally be bribed to do as she bid him by the hope of reward: but I had no rewards to offer, and as for punishments, I was given to understand, the parents reserved that privilege for themselves; and yet they expected me to keep my pupils in order.

Related Characters: Agnes Grey (speaker), Tom Bloomfield, Mrs. Bloomfield, Mary Ann Bloomfield, Mr. Bloomfield, Fanny Bloomfield

Page Number and Citation: 21–22

Explanation and Analysis:

“Curse me, if I ever saw a nobler little scoundrel than that. He’s beyond petticoat government already: by God! He defies mother, granny, governess, and all! Ha, ha, ha!”

Related Characters: Uncle Robson (speaker), Agnes Grey, Tom Bloomfield, Mrs. Bloomfield

Related Symbols: Animals

Page Number and Citation: 37

Explanation and Analysis:

Tom Bloomfield Character Timeline in Agnes Grey

The timeline below shows where the character Tom Bloomfield appears in Agnes Grey. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Bloomfield says—are behind on their education but intelligent, especially her spirited and scrupulously honest son Tom. (full context)

Seven-year-old Tom and his sister Mary Ann enter the room with their little sisters, almost-four-year-old Fanny and... (full context)

...Mary Ann shows Agnes her doll and chatters about all its clothes and accessories until Tom tells her to be quiet so he can show Agnes his rocking-horse. For 10 minutes,... (full context)

Tom orders Agnes to put on her bonnet so he can show her his garden. When... (full context)

In Tom’s garden, Agnes notices objects in the grass and asks what they are. Tom says he... (full context)

Tom shows Agnes his mole-traps and weasel-traps. Agnes indulges him, hoping to make friends and so... (full context)

The next day in the school room, Agnes discovers that Tom is clever but lazy, while Mary Ann is both lazy and almost illiterate. After managing... (full context)

Tom, a little tyrant, hits his sisters and Agnes. Agnes doesn’t hit back—she has discovered that,... (full context)

Tom will occasionally do his work so that he can go play, but Mary Ann often... (full context)

Agnes notes to readers that she has enumerated the difficulties of educating Tom, Mary Ann, and Fanny without support from Mr. Bloomfield and Mrs. Bloomfield’s “more potent authority”... (full context)

...after a happy Christmas at home, Agnes returns to work with resolve. One snowy day, Tom, Mary Ann, and Fanny try to throw Agnes’s work-bag into the fire and her desk... (full context)

Mr. Bloomfield starts surveilling Agnes. One day, in the spring, Tom, Mary Ann, and Fanny complete their lessons for once, and—kept indoors by rain—play with broken... (full context)

...up after themselves before they’ll get their next meal, Mary Ann and Fanny do it—but Tom, furious, hits his sisters, throws furniture, and scatters coal around. Agnes seizes Tom and sends... (full context)

...tried to teach her is less important than her education and behavior. He also gives Tom alcohol and encourages the boy, through his own behavior and through words, to torture animals.... (full context)

One day, Tom runs into the garden holding a nest of baby birds and announces his plan to... (full context)

Agnes finds a large stone. Then she asks what Tom will do with the birds. He describes how he will torture them, so Agnes drops... (full context)

Tom runs to complain to Mrs. Bloomfield. The next time Agnes sees her, she coldly professes... (full context)

...when Mrs. Bloomfield Senior and Uncle Robson visit, because Mrs. Bloomfield expects her to keep Tom and Mary Ann away from the guests but never helps her do so. Then, one... (full context)