3 h 44 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if saving souls depends on money made from guns?
In Bernard Shaw’s three-act comedy Major Barbara, Barbara Undershaft trusts kindness, soup and prayer to save souls. Her father, Andrew Undershaft, makes guns and explosives, and calls poverty the worst crime. When these two meet, charity faces a hard question: can good work stand apart from the money that supports it?
Lady Britomart needs her absent husband’s money for their daughters. His arrival unsettles the family, but the argument reaches beyond her London home. At a Salvation Army shelter in West Ham, Barbara holds real authority. There, among people who need help, her convictions face a test that wit alone cannot settle.
What you’ll discover
- A father’s unsettling challenge Meet a charming arms maker whose arguments make easy moral judgments harder to hold.
- Charity under pressure Follow Barbara into the shelter, where saving souls meets the stubborn demands of poverty.
- A family in debate Watch Lady Britomart bring firm purpose to a family unsettled by Andrew’s return.
- The price of forgiveness Encounter Bill Walker, a bully whose pride cannot keep his guilt at bay.
- Wit without easy answers Enjoy sharp exchanges that give opposing beliefs enough force to shift your sympathies.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy plays full of talk, argument and dry humor, and who like to test their beliefs about charity, money and power.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A mother summons her absent husband
- Undershaft arrives with a strange bargain
- The Salvation Army shelter in West Ham
- Bill Walker and the price of forgiveness
- What the play says about money and virtue
- A comedy of talk, paradox and surprise
Who’s who
- Barbara UndershaftA sincere Salvation Army major who believes she can save souls, and who is about to have her faith tested.
- Andrew UndershaftHer father, a rich, witty armaments maker who thinks poverty is the worst crime and offers her a bargain.
- Lady Britomart UndershaftBarbara's strong-minded mother, who has lived apart from her husband and now needs his money for her daughters.
- Adolphus CusinsA professor of Greek who loves Barbara, joins her Army work, and sees both sides of the argument.
- Stephen UndershaftLady Britomart's earnest, priggish son, who is expected to inherit but has little understanding of his father.
- Bill WalkerA rough East End bully who strikes a young Army worker and then cannot shake off his own guilt.
- Peter ShirleyAn older worker, thrown out of his job for his age, who wants work and not charity.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Major Barbara
by Bernard Shaw · 1907
A Salvation Army officer and her weapons-maker father try to convert each other, putting conscience at stake.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A mother summons her absent husband
The play opens in the library of Lady Britomart Undershaft's house in Wilton Crescent, London. She is a commanding woman who has run her family for years without her husband. She calls in her grown son Stephen to talk about money and about the future of his sisters. Stephen is earnest, shy and rather priggish, and he is quick to say what is proper.
Lady Britomart explains that her husband, Andrew Undershaft, left the household long ago. He is a manufacturer of armaments, and she has refused to see him for years. Yet he is very rich, and her family's own income is limited. Her daughter Sarah is engaged to a cheerful young man named Charles Lomax, who has hopes but little money. Her daughter Barbara is engaged to Adolphus Cusins, a professor of Greek.
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What is Major Barbara about?
It follows Barbara Undershaft, a Salvation Army officer, and her father Andrew, a rich weapons maker. They try to win each other over, and the play asks whether charity can work when poverty and money shape everything.
Who is Andrew Undershaft?
He is Barbara's father, owner of a large armaments firm. He is witty and unapologetic, and he argues that poverty is the worst crime. He has lived apart from his wife and children for years.
Is Major Barbara based on a true story?
No, the plot is invented. Shaw wrote it in 1905 and drew on real social debates of his day, including poverty, the Salvation Army, and the arms trade.
The author
Bernard Shaw
1856–1950 · Irish playwright and critic
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) was an Irish playwright and critic. Born in Dublin, he moved to London in 1876 and later lived in Ayot St Lawrence, Hertfordshire, where he died. His plays include Arms and the Man (1894), Man and Superman (1903), Major Barbara (1905), and Pygmalion (1912).
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