Thomas[1] Palmer is a character in Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility.
Character[]
Thomas Palmer is a rather serious man married to a rather silly young woman, and he's never quite recovered from this fact. We don't know much about Mr. Palmer, but what we do know paints a somewhat comical, contradictory picture. First of all, our first impressions of him are of a rude, sardonic, disinterested man, who seems to despise everyone else under the sun. However, as we get to know him a little better, we start to warm up to him.
His muttered comments are often quite funny, and on the inside, it turns out that he's not such a boor. As Elinor notes late in the book, Mr. Palmer is actually just a man – he puts on his show of gruffness towards everyone else simply as a declaration of his gender. In reality, he shows a softer side once everyone's visiting his home at Cleveland; he's genuinely concerned about Marianne's illness, and he also reveals that he sincerely cares for his family.
Plot[]
He becomes a father after Charlotte gives birth to a son and heir[2]. Mr. Palmer refuses to see anything that distinguishes his son from any other baby, which upsets his wife's mother Mrs. Jennings, but Elinor later perceives that this is an act and he is really fond of his son.
When Marianne becomes ill, he sends Charlotte and their son away to relatives who live near Bath, to ease her fears of contagion rather than out of real anxiety, and he promises her that he will soon join them. He is initially resistant to following through on his promise, but Colonel Brandon convinces him to go.
Photos[]
References[]
- ↑ Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 36
- ↑ Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 36