Sam Farrow Character Analysis in The French Lieutenant’s Woman

Sam is Charles’s manservant. He’s a London Cockney, but he has dreams of moving up the social ladder by opening a haberdashery. Although he’s not portrayed as a fundamentally bad person, Sam willingly takes opportunities for personal advancement, even at the cost of others’ happiness. He doesn’t hesitate to blackmail Charles into giving him the money he needs to start his shop, and he sabotages Charles’s relationship with Sarah so that Charles will marry Ernestina, thus guaranteeing that Charles will have enough money to fund the haberdashery. Eventually, when Sam becomes successful in Mr. Freeman’s store, he feels guilty enough about how he gained his good fortune that he sends Sarah’s address to Charles. Overall, Sam acts as a figure disadvantaged by the British class system and often belittled by the wealthy Charles. His example shows how difficult it is for working-class Englishmen to better their situations by honest means.

Sam Farrow Character Timeline in The French Lieutenant’s Woman

The timeline below shows where the character Sam Farrow appears in The French Lieutenant’s Woman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Sam draws the curtains to let in an unseasonably beautiful morning, one of those days when... (full context)

Sam has worked for Charles for four years, and the two men know each other well.... (full context)

Fiction and History vs. Reality Theme Icon

Sam is ten years younger than Charles and is too absentminded and vain to be a... (full context)

Sam is trying to change his accent. Cockneys have long been derided for their accent, and... (full context)

Religion, Science, and Evolution Theme Icon

...she’s unwell and wants to rest. He can return for tea that afternoon. He tells Sam to bring Ernestina some flowers and take the day off. Charles has no trouble filling... (full context)

...happy. Even the flowers Charles sent had irritated her. She had heard Mary flirting with Sam at the front door, and she worried it had been Charles there instead of Sam.... (full context)

Soon after Sam left, Ernestina rang for Mary, who came in smiling with the flowers. Ernestina frowned at... (full context)

...where Charles was, but Mary didn’t know, and she interrogated her about her interaction with Sam. Sam acted very differently than he had that morning with Charles. After handing over the... (full context)

Ernestina warned Mary that Sam is a womanizer and demanded that she report it if he made advances to her.... (full context)

...saw Mary talking to a man that morning. Charles points out that it was probably Sam. Ernestina suggests that the two servants shouldn’t be speaking, though Charles and Mrs. Tranter object... (full context)

Sam is sitting in Mrs. Tranter’s kitchen. When he met Mary that morning, he asked if... (full context)

...points out that since they themselves have fallen in love, they can’t be angry with Sam and Mary for doing the same. She says she can’t bear to wait until their... (full context)

The next morning while Sam shaves Charles, Charles says that he doesn’t need Sam here, so he can return to... (full context)

At that moment, Sam is marveling at how much Mary does understand. Their backgrounds are incredibly different, one coming... (full context)

Sam has fallen for Mary because she’s so different from the prostitutes he’s slept with before.... (full context)

When Sam had to leave, he felt that he had never told anyone such personal things before.... (full context)

The narrator doesn’t know whether Sam and Mary met the next morning. But when Charles came out of Mrs. Tranter’s house... (full context)

Sarah stands against a tree, and Charles looks through the leaves to see Sam and Mary coming towards them, Sam’s arm around Mary. They’re clearly young lovers. Sam kisses... (full context)

...They seem to ask, where are all the trappings of society now? The smile excuses Sam and Mary and undermines everything that’s happened between Sarah and Charles. It shows a much... (full context)

...whispers that they must never meet alone again. She nods and turns away. Charles watches Sam bent over Mary, filled more and more with feelings he tries to reject. Suddenly Mary... (full context)

...him again. Charles is angry that she’s threatening him, but relieved she’s still alive. When Sam comes in, Charles orders him to find out who left the note and have them... (full context)

Sam appears with a hostler, who says that a boy brought the note that morning and... (full context)

When Sam leaves, Charles opens the note. Sarah begs him to help her, saying she will be... (full context)

...an ammonite trapped in a disaster. He summons a waiter and orders a drink. When Sam comes up with supper, he finds Charles leaving. He tells Sam to eat the food... (full context)

Sam loves Mary both because of who she is and because of her role in his... (full context)

...much to fear if they didn’t pay mail, it came to be called black mail. Sam is thinking about the word because he has guessed who Charles is supposedly trying to... (full context)

...get the servants on her side. The housekeeper knows she means to get pregnant again. Sam heard about all this while Charles was with his uncle. Sam has had another dream... (full context)

When Sam got up that morning, he learned that Charles had gone out and Sam was supposed... (full context)

Sam and Mary are as astonished to see Charles as he is to see them. They’re... (full context)

...goal that she made of deferring to Charles in every way. But she’s heard through Sam, Mary, and Mrs. Tranter that Charles is leaving Lyme that day, and he hasn’t told... (full context)

The reader can probably guess now why Sam and Mary were heading to the barn, and Mary was crying because they had been... (full context)

It’s noon, and Sam is waiting impatiently in the kitchen. The cook says that Charles isn’t himself. She’s irritated... (full context)

...mentally sick on the way home, but he woke up feeling better. He apologizes to Sam for being short with him the night before, and asks for some tea. Charles thinks... (full context)

Sam returns with two letters, one from Exeter and one from Lyme. He opens a letter... (full context)

...an address. He throws it into the fire and takes a cup of tea from Sam. He says they’ll return to Lyme the next day. Once Sam has made arrangements, he... (full context)

Sam says he wants to start a shop. Charles asks whether he has the money, and... (full context)

Sam is terribly disappointed. Charles assures him that he’ll pay him more if he marries Mary,... (full context)

Downstairs, Sam reads Charles’s telegraph to Ernestina, announcing his return to Lyme. Earlier that morning, Sam used... (full context)

When the train gets to Exeter, Sam asks whether they’re staying the night there, and Charles says they’ll continue on. Sam was... (full context)

When Charles and Sam arrive in Lyme, Charles goes to Aunt Tranter’s house. Everyone is thrilled to see him,... (full context)

...mind it. His sons and grandsons take it on after him. No one cares about Sam and Mary; they do what people of their class do. Dr. Grogan and Aunt Tranter... (full context)

...In existentialist terms, he’s feeling “the anxiety of freedom”—understanding that being free is terrifying. When Sam asks if they’re staying the night in Exeter, Charles says it’s going to rain, so... (full context)

Once Charles leaves, Sam asks the cab driver if he knows where Endicott’s Family Hotel is, which he does.... (full context)

...he thinks about what he’ll tell Sarah to make her confess that she needs him. Sam is standing at the door of the inn, and Charles tells him he got lost.... (full context)

...he’s traveling as he wanted to, and he imagines Sarah being happy. He’s worried about Sam, but he can always fire him. The next morning, Charles tells him to take the... (full context)

When Sam returns, he tells Charles that there was no answer to his letter. The carriage is... (full context)

Sam is outside the door of Aunt Tranter’s kitchen, talking to Mary, who’s flabbergasted by what... (full context)

Charles returns to his rooms feeling like a traitor. Sam enters, looking shocked. Charles has him bring brandy, and then Sam asks if it’s true.... (full context)

Sam grins when he hears Charles slam the door, but he soon feels deserted and knows... (full context)

When Mary stops crying, she says that Sam has quit and they don’t know what they’ll do. She explains that Sam knew Charles... (full context)

Charles tries to find Sam before he leaves Lyme, but he can’t. As his carriage draws further away, he begins... (full context)

Charles collapses in his carriage. He wonders why Sam didn’t deliver the letter. He realizes Sam must have read it and quit because his... (full context)

...know who Charles had an affair with, and a witness. Charles blushes and silently curses Sam. Montague says that Charles isn’t here to defend himself. (full context)

Sam says he can hardly believe what Mary saw, but part of him almost expected it... (full context)

Sam has every reason to be happy, but sitting in a pub, he doesn’t look so... (full context)

Sam learned quickly in his new job. One day Mr. Freeman walked to work, but as... (full context)

...that the slogan be used in all of their advertising. The superintendent told him that Sam had designed the window, and Mr. Freeman sent for him to give his congratulations. He... (full context)

Sam does have a conscience, and he’s not sure he deserves his happiness. He doesn’t know... (full context)

...three months since Mary saw Sarah, she’s given birth to a son. One peaceful evening, Sam is playing with his children when he realizes he must do something for his conscience.... (full context)