Gosh, where do you start with this guy? I suppose we can take a look at how Jane Austen created him in the first eleven chapters of Sanditon and then take it from there.
Mr. Parker’s character and history were soon unfolded. All that he understood of himself, he readily told, for he was very open-hearted; and where he might be himself in the dark, his conversation was still giving information, to such of the Heywoods as could observe. By such he was perceived to be an enthusiast on the subject of Sanditon, a complete enthusiast. Sanditon—the success of Sanditon as a small, fashionable bathing place, was the object for which he seemed to live. A very few years ago, it had been a quiet village of no pretensions, but some natural advantages in its position and some accidental circumstances having suggested to himself, and the other principal landholder, the probability of its becoming a profitable speculation, they had engaged in it, and planned and built, and praised and puffed, and raised it to something of young renown; and Mr. Parker could now think of very little besides.
Upon the whole, Mr. Parker was evidently an amiable family man, fond of wife, children, brothers and sisters, and generally kind-hearted; liberal, gentlemanlike, easy to please; of a sanguine turn of mind, with more imagination than judgement.
Sanditon was a second wife and four children to him, hardly less dear, and certainly more engrossing. He could talk of it forever.
Such sights and sounds were highly blissful to Mr. Parker. (Speaking of the village). He longed to be on the sands, the cliffs, at his own house, and everywhere out of his house at once. His spirits rose with the very sight of the sea.
All quotes from A Project Gutenberg Australia eBook
When I read the above, I must say that the writers of Sanditon must have picked up on the “more imagination than judgment” statement penned by Jane Austen. I’m sure we can all agree that Tom was filled with imagination for turning Sanditon into a popular seaside resort but didn’t have an ounce of judgment in order to carry it out with much success.
As created, Tom really thought of little besides his ambitions. He confesses at the very end his motives for being so obsessed with his dreams. “Something made me feel that I had to make a name for myself. I had to turn Sanditon into a place of fashion. What a silly… vainglorious fool I have been. And now I’ve bankrupted myself. I have let my investors down. I have let my friends down, my family down, but most of all… I have let you down, Mary.”
Obviously, as a dreamer, he scored high, but as an executor of those dreams, he missed the mark. As far as his business acumen, he lacked in every area. He was unorganized, and Charlotte attempted to help him sort through the mess since he didn’t have an eye for it. He sucked as an employer, making demands, not paying workers, not adequately staffing, or maintaining supplies. His budgeting skills were non-existent. It makes me wonder what he did with Lady Denham’s investment funds and the multiple lines of credit from the bank. It appeared he splurged on himself and Mary, and even Sidney said, “Why not try living within your means? That might help!” Yes, Tom Parker was lousy in business. That fact was painfully confirmed when he failed to purchase fire insurance and being 80,000 pounds in debt.
His other less than glowing personality traits were that he took credit for the ideas of others. Mary complained as well of his neglect at home with herself and the children as he pursued the building of Sanditon, which she coined his first love. He keeps secrets from his wife. No doubt that was the patriarchal thinking of men in those days that women didn’t need to be exposed to manly problems either because they didn’t understand or it was better to keep them in the dark due to their fragile emotions.
Then comes my pet peeve at how blind the man is when he doesn’t pick up on the fact that Sidney and Charlotte have developed feelings for one another. No doubt he was blinded by Mrs. Campion and her wealth and how wonderful it would be to have her part of the family.
Yes, Tom Parker is clueless and reckless. Of course, we are at a disadvantage because we do not know about Tom’s, Arthur’s, or Sidney’s upbringing and what family dynamics contributed to their character. Was Tom under pressure from his father to make something of himself, hence the reason why he feels he must prove something? We can only speculate and give him an ounce of grace for his behavior because of it.
Will Tom find redemption in Season 2? I certainly hope so but that is yet to be seen.
One must give kudos, though, to Kris Marshall who brought us Tom Parker with all his faults. He did well, for we certainly have a variety of emotions brewing inside of fans when it comes to his character and actions that screwed up Sidney and Charlotte’s love story. How can we forget that he took a gamble and didn’t get insurance?
Feel free to comment or express your thoughts on any of these characters as I write these posts. I’m looking forward to hearing from you and adding your insight.
~ Having watched all 6 episodes of Season 2 with particular attention to Tom Parker, it appears [to me] that he has a gambling addiction. While explaining to Mary that Col. Lennox “caught him off guard,” it was his feeble attempt to shift blame on to Lennox rather than take responsibility for his own actions. No one can make another do anything. Tom Parker was irresponsible with Lady Denham’s money, bought an expensive necklace for Mary and could not resist saying “NO” twice to Col. Lennox while in the “gambling room.” A terrible business move on his part was not having insurance to cover the fire damage. That, in addition to his gambling debt (£100) was reprehensible. In Episode 5 (Season 2) Mary said, “we’ll just have to borrow from the children’s savings.” What guarantee did she have that Tom would recoup his losses and return the money to his children? While he had brilliant intentions of building Sanditon to “elite standards” he failed to go about it the wrong way. He was overextended in his lines of credit [at the bank] and really does belong in the debtors’ prison. ~
~ Kris Marshall did an awesome job of playing Tom Parker, entrepreneur. In the last episode of Season 2, he did admit the insurance premiums were too high so, he took a gamble. Can this man redeem himself? He should have had the chutzpah to tell Col. Lennox “NO, I will not gamble; not say that Lennox caught him off guard”. And having a permanent barracks in Sanditon would’ve left the shopkeepers bankrupt for sure. When Tom approached Lennox with the wager, that was Sanditon’s turning point. Thanks to Arthur the shopkeepers were paid what was owed them, forcing Lennox and his battalion to leave and never return. ~
~ By Season 3, one would think that Tom Parker would have changed for the better, having learnt his lesson in Season 2. But he didn’t. He conspires with Rowleigh Pryce to build this grand hotel but at the expense of evicting the tenants. In Season 3 Episode 5, one of the tenants, Mrs. Filkins had a sick child. Mary Parker was excited to tell her their plans to save the “old town” when she handed Mary an eviction notice. At her surprise, Mary said she didn’t know….and Mrs. Filkins said Tom Parker sold the land from underneath them. When she confronted Tom, he weaseled out of it by telling Mary that she takes care of the house (he doesn’t interfere); that she knew nothing about business. Not knowing about “business” had nothing to do with evicting people from their homes, displacing them with nowhere to go. What Tom did was immoral. Had the story’s arc included investors from London wanting to build a “grande” hotel in Sanditon BUT it meant tearing down Trafalgar House, how would he feel? Not too good. He’s a terrible businessman who has indeed lost his way. ~