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Audiobook edition · 3 h 44 minPaperback · 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
You will enjoy this if you like witty plays full of argument, family comedy with a sharp edge, and questions about money, faith and power.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Family money carries a moral price
- Barbara and her father exchange tests
- Hunger shapes the stories people tell
- A soul cannot be bought off
- The shelter accepts money Barbara rejects
- The foundry unsettles familiar moral claims
- Poverty tests every claim to goodness
- Reversals keep every argument in motion
- Two visions of salvation remain opposed
Who’s who
- Lady BritomartThe commanding mother who needs money for her daughters and summons her estranged husband to supply it.
- Stephen UndershaftThe serious son who prides himself on knowing right from wrong and wants to enter politics.
- Barbara UndershaftA major in the Salvation Army who believes every sinner can be saved, and who wagers she can convert her father.
- Andrew UndershaftThe wealthy, cheerful arms maker who calls money and gunpowder his religion and wants to win his daughter over.
- Adolphus CusinsA witty professor of Greek who joins the Salvation Army to be near Barbara and plays the big drum.
- Sarah UndershaftThe bored, practical elder daughter, engaged to Charles Lomax, who wants a comfortable income.
- Charles LomaxSarah's cheerful, tongue-tied fiancé, who says oh I say at every turn and has little money.
- Bill WalkerA rough, violent laborer who comes to the shelter to drag his girl away and finds Barbara in his way.
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Major Barbara in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Major Barbara
by Bernard Shaw · 1907
A cannon maker offers his Salvation Army daughter a bargain, and her soul and his money go on trial.
Medium level2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What happens when a woman who saves souls meets a father who sells cannons? Major Barbara opens in a London library on a January night, where Lady Britomart Undershaft calls her grown son to a serious talk.
Major Barbara at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 10 min1 h 45 min fast, 2 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 31,500 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1907by Bernard Shaw
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A mother summons her son about money
The play begins with an order. Lady Britomart tells her son Stephen to stop fiddling with his watch chain and listen. Stephen is almost twenty-five, very proper, and he still shrinks before her.
The trouble is money. Her daughter Sarah is engaged to Charles Lomax, a cheerful young man who will be rich in ten years but is nearly poor now. Her daughter Barbara has joined the Salvation Army and become a major. Barbara is engaged to Adolphus Cusins, a professor of Greek who plays the big drum for the Army out of love for her. Neither match brings enough income.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1907
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 2 h 25 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Shaw, Bernard. Major Barbara. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/major-barbara.
Shaw, B. (2026). Major Barbara. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/major-barbara (Original work published 1907)
Shaw, Bernard. Major Barbara. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/major-barbara.
@book{shaw2026major,
author = {Shaw, Bernard},
title = {Major Barbara},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/major-barbara},
note = {First published 1907}
}
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What is Major Barbara about?
It is a comedy about Barbara Undershaft, a Salvation Army major, and her father, a wealthy arms maker. They wager each will visit the other's world, and the play tests whether money earned from war can do good.
Who is Major Barbara?
She is Barbara Undershaft, the daughter of Lady Britomart and Andrew Undershaft, who has joined the Salvation Army and rises to the rank of major. She believes every sinner can be saved by love and prayer.
What does the Undershaft motto Unashamed mean?
It is the family's long-standing motto at the foundry. It reflects Undershaft's refusal to hide or apologize for making and selling weapons, and his belief that honesty about business matters more than a good reputation.
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).
More by Bernard Shaw
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