Agnes Grey

by

Anne Brontë

Tom Bloomfield Character Analysis

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
).
Chapter 2: First Lessons in the Art of Instruction Quotes

“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: 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: 17
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3: A Few More Lessons Quotes

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: 21–22
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5: The Uncle Quotes

“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: 37
Explanation and Analysis:
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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
).
Chapter 2: First Lessons in the Art of Instruction Quotes

“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: 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: 17
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3: A Few More Lessons Quotes

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: 21–22
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5: The Uncle Quotes

“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: 37
Explanation and Analysis: