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Mr. Samgrass is a Professor at Oxford, and a friend of Lady Marchmain. He becomes Sebastian’s guardian after Sebastian is expelled from Oxford for drunkenness, and is paid by Lady Marchmain to take Sebastian on a historical tour of Europe. Mr. Samgrass is Catholic, and is initially hired by Lady Marchmain to research and write a book about her older brother, Ned, who was killed in World War I. During this process, Mr. Samgrass ingratiates himself with the family, and Lady Marchmain allows him to keep tabs on Charles and Sebastian at university and report back to her about their behavior. Mr. Samgrass is a sycophantic character and a “fraud.” He takes advantage of Lady Marchmain and Sebastian. On their tour around Europe, Sebastian runs away, and Mr. Samgrass does not tell Lady Marchmain because this would spoil his holiday. Instead, he allows Sebastian to stay in Istanbul with Anthony, only meeting up with him before they return to Brideshead for Christmas. Charles and Julia view Mr. Samgrass is a callous social climber and a “fraud” because he lies to Lady Marchmain. He is insufferable company, and everyone who meets him is bored and annoyed by him. Eventually Julia becomes irritated by his presence at Brideshead and tells her mother the truth about his and Sebastian’s time abroad. Charles also believes Mr. Samgrass is a voyeur and describes him as a “Victorian tourist.” (The Victorians famously collected and catalogued history but often did not show much respect for the cultures from which this history came.) Mr. Samgrass is fascinated by the past, and by the scandal and strife in the Marchmain family, and uses this to his own advantage and for his own entertainment without much consideration for the people involved.
Mr. Samgrass Quotes in Brideshead Revisited
The Brideshead Revisited quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Samgrass or refer to Mr. Samgrass. 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:
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Part 1, Chapter 5 Quotes
He claimed to love the past, but I always felt that he thought all the splendid company, living or dead, with whom he associated slightly absurd; it was Mr. Samgrass who was real, the rest were an insubstantial pageant. He was the Victorian tourist, solid and patronizing, for whose amusement these foreign things were paraded.
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Mr. Samgrass is a professor at Oxford whom Lady Marchmain hires to write a book about her brother, Ned, who was killed in World War I. She also uses him to spy on Sebastian. Although Mr. Samgrass claims to “love the past,” Charles feels that he does not really love it because he does not respect it. Mr. Samgrass specializes in the historical study of monarchs, and he carries this work into his everyday life because he is a social climber and always wants to be associated with wealthy and important people, like the Marchmains. Charles thinks Mr. Samgrass is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetu
Mr. Samgrass’s deft editorship had assembled and arranged a curiously homogeneous little body of writing—poetry, letters, scraps of a journal, an unpublished essay or two, which all exhaled the same high-spirited, serious, chivalrous, other-worldly air and the letters from their contemporaries, written after their deaths, all in varying degrees of articulateness, told the same tale of men who were, in all the full flood of academic and athletic success, of popularity and the promise of great rewards ahead, seen somehow as set apart from their fellows, garlanded victims, devoted to the sacrifice.
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Lady Marchmain hires Mr. Samgrass to write a book about the life of her brother, Ned, who was killed as a young man in World War I. After Charles has spent Christmas at Brideshead, Lady Marchmain gives Charles a copy of this book to read. Charles suggests that Mr. Samgrass has edited the material which he collected for the book so that it has become “homogenous”—it all sounds the same. Mr. Samgrass is interested in flattering Lady Marchmain because she provides him with work. Charles suggests that Mr. Samgrass’s book idealizes Lady Marchmain’s brothers and does not make them seem Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate l
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Mr. Samgrass Character Timeline in Brideshead Revisited
The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Samgrass appears in Brideshead Revisited. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 5
...he has been given a talk by some of Lady Marchmain’s friends, Mgr. Bell and Mr. Samgrass , and that, if he does not change his ways, he will be expelled. He...
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Around Christmas, Lady Marchmain visits Oxford to see Mr. Samgrass , a professor at Oxford, and comes to visit Charles and Sebastian. In hindsight, Charles...
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...do get ahold of the story and run the headline: “Marquis’s son unused to wine.” Mr. Samgrass testifies at Sebastian’s trial and implies that Sebastian is an excellent student. Mr. Samgrass also...
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When Charles arrives at Brideshead for Christmas, he finds Mr. Samgrass is there as well. Mr. Samgrass tells Charles that the other guests, and Julia, will...
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...and goes to have a bath instead. Charles goes with him, and Sebastian complains that Mr. Samgrass annoys him. As time goes on, Charles realizes that Mr. Samgrass irritates everyone in the...
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...with him. Charles perceives this but cannot understand why at the time. He thinks that Mr. Samgrass is the problem, and agrees when Sebastian asks if they can go to stay with...
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...but when Sebastian drinks it is a refuge for him. Sebastian becomes obsessed with tormenting Mr. Samgrass , who still follows him around, and Charles begins to worry that Sebastian is in...
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...She is upset because Sebastian seemed so unhappy the night before. Lady Marchmain says that Mr. Samgrass told her that Sebastian often drinks like that, but Charles explains that he has never...
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...Sebastian prefers Charles to anyone else. Before Charles leaves, she gives him a copy of Mr. Samgrass ’s book, about her brother Ned, and says that Charles will understand when he reads...
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...and Charles arrange to rent a flat together. One day in the bookshop, Charles meets Mr. Samgrass , who asks him about this. When Charles tells Sebastian, Sebastian says that his mother...
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...gone to stay with his father and that, after this, he will travel abroad with Mr. Samgrass . He may return to Oxford after Christmas if he agrees to live with Mgr....
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Part 2, Chapter 1
At Brideshead during Christmas time, Mr. Samgrass tells a story about his and Sebastian’s trip into the Turkish mountains, and how they...
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Mr. Samgrass gives them a slideshow of his photographs from the trip, and Cordelia complains that there...
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...arrived at the train station for Brideshead two nights ago, he bumped into Sebastian and Mr. Samgrass . He was surprised because he thought they were already at Brideshead. Charles asked them...
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...there: these are Lady Marchmain’s orders. He explains that Sebastian disappeared over Christmas and that Mr. Samgrass only found him the previous day, just before they arrived. Brideshead says that if Charles...
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...that he does not need to lie to him, and asks him what happened with Mr. Samgrass. Sebastian will not tell him and is vague and evasive.
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...in trouble and is being watched by Lady Marchmain. She asks Charles if he thinks Mr. Samgrass is a fraud, and Charles says absolutely.
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...and Sebastian says he will find another way. He tells Charles about his trip with Mr. Samgrass and explains that they did not travel together for very long. Mr. Samgrass wanted to...
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In Constantinople, however, Sebastian managed to escape Mr. Samgrass and win some money at cards. The next day, he bumped into Anthony Blanche, and...
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Sebastian sent Mr. Samgrass a note from Constantinople and arranged to meet him again, three months later, in Syria....
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...Before Sebastian joins the others, Charles slips him some money. When the hunt has gone, Mr. Samgrass immediately joins Charles and follows him to the drawing room. He complains to Charles about...
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Mr. Samgrass seems pleased to be able to talk about the trip, and says that he has...
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...on its shell in the shape of Julia’s initials. Charles finds the gift obscene, but Mr. Samgrass is fascinated. They tell Rex about Sebastian, and he suggests that they send him to...
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...conversation toward the Marchmains again, and Rex tells him that, in the end, Julia gave Mr. Samgrass away. Rex says that Lady Marchmain finally crumbled when she discovered that Cordelia gave Sebastian...
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Part 3, Chapter 2
...the exhibition, and she tells him that she has met an acquaintance of his, a Mr. Samgrass , who says that he knows the “Brideshead set.” Charles says that he is going...
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