Major Barbara: Themes

Major Barbara Theme of Morality

Morality is a huge topic for the play's characters; every time you turn around, someone is getting all philosophical about
the difference between right and wrong—and usually getting ruffled about someone else's opinion in the process. The
"Big Bad Wolf"—as far as morality goes—is Andrew Undershaft…at least, for most of the play. Why, you ask? Well,
because he's grown rich off of selling weapons to the highest bidder and plans to continue the Undershaft family tradition
of skipping over its own heirs and leaving the business to a foundling. In Lady B's eyes, all of the above make him a
profoundly immoral person.
Andrew ends up poking holes in his wife's notion of morality by the end of the story, though. He finds a lot of hypocrisy
and contradictions in his family's notions of "right" and "wrong," and makes the case for why what he does is
"right"…well, at least for him.
Questions About Morality
1. What kind of "stance" does the play end up taking on the kind of traditional morality that his wife/children are
advocating at the beginning of the play? Is it totally in tatters, or is there hope for it?
2. Is Andrew's morality presented as totally legit by the end of the play, a replacement for the kind of morality that
Lady B/the other family had pushed previously? Or is something else happening here?
3. How has Barbara's morality changed throughout the course of the play? Has she sacrificed her principles? Or just
arrived at better ones? Or something in between?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
For all its talk about morality, the play doesn't end up being all that concerned with it—the message really is just that
people shouldn't let arbitrary conceptions of right and wrong cloud their awareness of reality or the conditions that
surround them.
The play ultimately shows Andrew Undershaft to be the most profoundly moral dude in the bunch, since he refuses to
participate in a lot of the hypocrisies that more traditionally "moral" people buy into.
Major Barbara Theme of Gender
There's a lot of interesting "battle of the sexes" stuff going on in this play. When we first meet the characters, Lady Brit
clearly rules the roost, which seems a bit unorthodox given the time period. However, all that changes when her estranged
husband comes back into the picture (albeit at her request). The family goes from being a matriarchy to a firm patriarchy
in the blink of an eye, and Lady Brit butts up against the reality that her husband really has all the power in their marriage
by virtue of his wealth (and his gender doesn't hurt, either, of course).
Then there's the transition that Barbara makes from being an empowered "major" to a girl-like creature who clutches at
her mother's skirts and begs for advice on how to buy a house—there's definitely something significant going on with
Shaw's presentation of gender there as well.
There's a lot of room for debate or interpretation in the journeys the female characters take, but it seems pretty clear that
feminism isn't exactly the play's primary concern . . .
Questions About Gender
1. How are gender relations portrayed in the play? Are they antagonistic? Friendly? Somewhere in between?
2. Would you say the play is feminist in any way? Why or why not?
3. At the end of the day, the opinionated and bold Barbara is reduced to crying "Mamma!" and clutching at her
mother's skirts. What does this moment do for your understanding of the play's treatment of gender?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Through the character transitions of Barbara and Lady Brit, in which both women basically end up "defanged" and far less
powerful than they start out, Major Barbara actually ends up being pretty anti-feminist in its presentation of women.
By maintaining her individuality and commitment to her cause (with some adjustments here and there), Barbara ends up
being a powerful figure and, as such, a kind of feminist one.
Major Barbara Theme of War/Violence
In this play, our protagonist, Andrew Undershaft, makes weapons for a living and sells them to the highest bidder
(regardless of whether they're friends or foes), and his family has a big problem with that. So, the ethics of enabling war
and violence come up a lot in conversations among the family. According to people like Lady B and Barbara, it's immoral
to facilitate violence and death—and then to get rich off of it—but in Andrew's attitude it's pretty different (obviously). By
the end of the play, he's actually gotten some of the others to agree with him that making weapons for those around the
world who need them might just be the most moral thing to do after all.
Questions About War/Violence
1. Why is there so much emphasis on violence and aggression among the poor, particularly with respect to women?
What do those references achieve as far as the play's overall themes/interests go?
2. We know that people like Barbara and Lady Brit think encouraging or even just enabling violence is immoral, but
where does Andrew stand on that? He actually has strong moral convictions, so what do they have to say about
violence and his role in "facilitating" it?
3. Where are the characters' views regarding violence inconsistent or even hypocritical?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
The play essentially turns Barbara's moral universe upside down by the end. Her morality, which assumes that violence is
wrong and must be discouraged/prevented, is rejected in favor of Andrew's view that violence is a necessary and
unavoidable part of life—and the most moral thing to do is recognize and respond to that reality.
The violence and aggression we see among the poorer characters—and particularly directed against women—highlights a
hypocrisy in the Army's stance: the Army might be against war and violence and disdain the rich, but poverty actually
leads to just as much violence .
Major Barbara Theme of Wealth/Poverty
In this play (as in life), money and the desire for it are pretty important motivators. Whether Barbara or her mother are
happy about it, wealth and money are crucial to their objectives and overall lives. Lady B basically admits as much at the
beginning when she has to resign herself to asking Andrew for more money to support the girls as they prepare to get
married. Barbara is a bit more reluctant to admit how much money drives even what she does, but she gets a wake-up call
when the Army enthusiastically accepts money from her father and a whisky distiller—i.e., two people whose businesses,
in her view, contribute to the nasty things the Army is trying to combat. Ultimately, the characters are kind of forced to
admit that they need wealth, for better or worse, and it's not really something to be treated as inherently worse than
poverty . . .
Questions About Wealth/Poverty
1. Do you think Barbara has entirely embraced wealth/money and its importance by the end of the play? Why or
why not? What about Dolly?
2. Andrew claims that poverty is a "crime"—do you think the play bears that assertion out? If so, how?
3. Andrew's attitudes toward wealth and poverty run pretty directly counter to a more traditionally Christian one,
which values poverty over greed. Do these two viewpoints ever meet in the middle, or is one ultimately favored?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Wealth and poverty are inherently neither good nor bad in the play's universe—but if one is to be pursed/encouraged as
part of a "moral" life, it's wealth. That's Undershaft's view, and it seems to be holding sway over basically everyone else
toward the end.
Undershaft considers poverty inherently evil because money/wealth—i..e, stability—are absolutely necessary for allowing
virtue to exist/flourish.
Major Barbara Theme of Society and Class
Given that we have a character named Lady Britomart, you know from the get-go that discussions of class and society
with a capital "S" are going to be part of the mix. Lady B fancies that she's not a snob like the rest of her family, but she
does have some definite ideas about how people in her family's class should be acting.
Barbara does, too. Even though she's happy to live the lifestyle of a pauper when we first meet her, she is very keen on
avoiding "middle-class" ideas about morality—and, ultimately, decides that her morals and principles must match those of
her class. What does that mean? Well, read on . . . but the big takeaway here is that class is a big deal, whether the
characters want to admit it or not.
Questions About Society and Class
1. Lady Brit claims not to be a snob—do you believe her? Why or why not?
2. Do you think that Lady Brit would excuse Andrew's other "immoral" behavior if he would just agree to make
Stephen the heir to his fortune? In other words, is his big sin going against his class? Or perhaps coming from the
lower classes in the first place?
3. Does Barbara's class-consciousness develop or change throughout the play? How do we know?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Lady Brit is not a snob—we know because she's very accepting of her future son-in-law, Dolly, who is a professor of
Greek and a foreigner—i.e., not of the same class as her family.
Lady Brit is totally a snob—and a hypocrite; if Andrew had been willing to let Stephen take over the business and act
according to the rules of their class (rather than going outside the class/family for an heir), her objections to his "immoral"
profession would have disappeared pretty quickly.
Major Barbara Theme of Hypocrisy
Well, one thing's for sure: love him or hate him, Andrew Undershaft really tries to avoid being a hypocrite. Sure, his
morals seem a bit topsy turvy to the other characters (and maybe to the reader as well) since as far as he's concerned, his
moral obligation is to be rich and make and sell lots of weapons so that the good and bad elements of the world alike can
have a fair fight. People like Lady B and Barbara find these ideas troubling, because it means that he's enabling violence
and kind of giving into greed, which is bad according to traditional Christian values. By the end of the play, though, we
can kind of see where Andrew is coming from; in his view, violence is going to exist regardless, and wealth is better than
poverty, so why should he take a stand against either?
Well, the sustainability of Undershaft's morality is debatable (and dealt with elsewhere in "Themes"), but it's important to
notice how the actions of supposedly more "moral" people end up supporting or facilitating all kinds of bad behavior (like
lying or violence). Also, these people are often dependent on the "immoral" for financial support, and don't even blink
before asking for and accepting that help—which seems more than a little hypocritical. So yeah, by the end, Undershaft
looks just about as moral as everyone else, if not a bit more so, since he does his best to avoid and challenge hypocrisies.
Questions About Hypocrisy
1. Lady Brit definitely contradicts herself a lot, so at the very least she's not particularly self aware—but do you
think she's an outright hypocrite? Why or why not?
 2. Does Barbara escape the charge of hypocrisy? Why or why not?
3. Do you find any of Andrew Undershaft's positions hypocritical or inconsistent? If so, which ones?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Shaw includes a lot of relatively benign moments in which Lady B contradicts herself to clue us into the fact that she
really is just a big honking hypocrite at heart—as we learn when she's willing to accept more money from Andrew, even
though she doesn't approve of how he earned it at all.
As far as Andrew is concerned, being a hypocrite is far worse than being "immoral"—so, even if his ideas run against the
dominant "morality," his willingness to call out hypocrisies and contradictions for what they are—to live in reality, that
is—make him one of the most moral characters in the play.
Major Barbara Theme of Power
The whole idea that the meek will inherit the earth is not part of Andrew Undershaft's philosophy—he's all about power
and the things that get it for you (like money and weapons). Hey, there's a reason that people thought Shaw was
influenced by Nietzsche, right?
Undershaft makes no apologies for wanting power, as it prevents others from having to take care of him. He's not the only
character who likes power and desires control either—Barbara is also a force to be reckoned with, and you could argue
that she manages to hold on to her convictions despite heavy assault from her father (although she does end up revising
them a bit). And of course, Lady B relishes being in control, though she loses a lot of power in the end . . .
Anyway, TL;DR: the characters are super interested in power in all of its forms and how to maintain it.
Questions About Power
1. Who are the most powerful characters in the play? Do Barbara and Lady B remain commanding figures all the
way through the end, or do they give up some of their power? How do we know?
2. Andrew warns Dolly not to take over the Undershaft business if he's looking for power—but hasn't Andrew been
emphasizing how much power he has (and how great that is) throughout the whole play? What do you think is
going on with this apparent contradiction?
3. At the end of the day, can everyone pursue the kind of power that Andrew/Dolly advocate? Or is someone always
left powerless? How do we know?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Barbara starts out being a powerful figure, but ultimately her father and his philosophies completely overshadow her and
her religion, leaving her with entirely revised principles and acting like a virtual baby at the end of the play.
Barbara shrewdly treats her father's philosophies and religion as a kind of à la carte deal, taking what she likes and using it
to further her aims. Although her father enables it—that much is true—you can't deny that she is still pursuing exactly the
same aims and holds the same religious ideas that she had at the beginning . . . now she just has a better way to execute
them.
Major Barbara Theme of Religion
Barbara is a Major in the Salvation Army, and she remains fervently religious and devoted to the cause of conversion for
most of the play. However, her father pits his own wacky set of morals and philosophical/religious views against
Barbara's, challenging a lot of her assumptions about religion and the best way to spread it to others/help the cause of
belief. They probably still have pretty radically different views at the end, but the dialogue at least helps Barbara separate
herself from some of the hypocrisies and misconceptions that her father believes were standing in her/the Army's way.
Questions About Religion
1. Do you buy that Andrew actually thinks each person can have their own personal religion or at least a set of
morals, depending on their own circumstances? Is that what ends up happening with the characters, or are they all
really coming over to Undershaft's "religion of wrongness"?
2. How does Barbara's religion change throughout the play, if at all? Has she pretty much maintained her own
religious principles or adopted her father's at the end?
3. What do you make of the play's portrayal of Christianity and Christians? When Andrew talks about outdated or
obsolete philosophies, is he talking about those belief systems?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Ultimately, the play suggests that everyone can have their own religion or set of morals that is particular to them—well, if
the character development for Barbara, Undershaft, and Dolly is supposed to be any indicator.
Andrew's suggestion that there can be different religions is disingenuous, since he ultimately expects everyone to come
over to his utilitarian way of thinking about right and wrong, wherein right and wrong are determined according to what is
useful to you.

Major Barbara Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

Weapons in Major Barbara
Power is a big topic in Major Barbara, and weapons and arms are (unsurprisingly) a big symbol of it. There's a lot of talk
about the best way to get power, and what kind should be pursued—is physical dominance the most important?
Governmental? Spiritual? Lady Brit just seems to want her family listen to her, whereas Barbara wants the power to save
souls. Meanwhile, Barbara's fiancé, Dolly, ends up saying he wants to equip the common man against their tyrannical
overlords—sounds…not easy.
Several of the characters end up believing that Undershaft's weapons factory will help them attain the kind of power they
desire. Relax, they're not planning to take up Undershaft's arms and lead an armed rebellion; they just believe that
working with Undershaft and/or his employees will give them the power they need to create changes in their personal
areas of interest.
Take Barbara, for instance. Even though she abhors violence and murder, she nevertheless comes to believe that being
involved with her father's factory will expand her evangelizing powers, giving her access to a whole new set of converts
who would come to the faith from a place of comfort and security, rather than desperation. Put a bit differently, her
converts will come to the table from a more empowered place, which means they will come to the faith for the right
reasons rather than just because they are hungry or cold.
Meanwhile, Dolly believes that working for the Undershaft company will allow him to "make power for the world" (404-
405). Although Dolly maintains that all power is ultimately "spiritual," he also believes that that kind of mojo is hard to
convert into action without the proper opportunities or tools:
I think all power is spiritual: these cannons will not go off by themselves. I have tried to make spiritual power by teaching
Greek. But the world can never be really touched by a dead language and a dead civilization. The people must have
power; and the people cannot have Greek. Now the power that is made here can be wielded by all men. (3.407)
When Barbara suggests that he is simply describing the power to blow innocent people up, Dolly objects, saying that he's
merely giving the good the best possible chance of defending themselves against the bad:
You cannot have power for good without having power for evil too. Even mother's milk nourishes murderers as well as
heroes. This power which only tears men's bodies to pieces has never been so horribly abused as the intellectual power,
the imaginative power, the poetic, religious power that can enslave men's souls. As a teacher of Greek I gave the
intellectual man weapons against the common man. I now want to give the common man weapons against the intellectual
man. I love the common people. I want to arm them against the lawyers, the doctors, the priests, the literary men, the
professors, the artists, and the politicians, who, once in authority, are more disastrous and tyrannical than all the fools,
rascals, and impostors. I want a power simple enough for common men to use, yet strong enough to force the intellectual
oligarchy to use its genius for the general good or else perish. (408-409)
So there you have it: For Dolly (and ultimately Undershaft and his daughter), weapons represent power—and
empowerment. It's a controversial view, sure, but Undershaft has the family pretty much convinced by the end of the play.
Money & "The Sovereign"
As the great Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli once sang, money makes the world go around—and boy, is that a hard reality for
Barbara Undershaft to swallow.
Barbara fancies that the Salvation Army is divorced from the violence and greed in the world, devoted only to serving the
poor and saving their souls. However, when the Army gets a gigantic donation courtesy of her father and a whisky
magnate named Bolger, the organization jumps on the money without a second thought—after all, they'd be in danger of
shutting down without it.
Even though Barbara is initially horrified that the Army could be "bought" like that, she ultimately seems to resign herself
to the fact that this is the way the world works; without money and power, you aren't going to get anything done—and
then the "bad guys" win.
So what exactly does money symbolize or represent? Well, it seems tied to power and autonomy, if we're looking at the
Salvation Army donations as an example. Even though on one hand the Army is becoming beholden to certain interests
(i.e., the arms and alcohol industries) by accepting the donations, they're also getting what they need to continue and
further their mission.
Undershaft himself suggests money's larger symbolic weight when he envisions Barbara taking up his company's
"gospel":
Yes, money and gunpowder; freedom and power; command of life and command of death. (2.273)
If the items in this list are to be interpreted as parallels, then he's definitely associating money with larger ideas such as
freedom and "command of life."
Also, let's not forget the repeated references to the "sovereign" that Bill initially offers as a donation to the Army. Sure, it's
just a currency denomination, but the word also refers to a leader who is powerful and autonomous enough to rule the
roost. Perhaps that coin is symbolic of the way money makes you "sovereign," too.
In any case, money definitely makes Major Barbara's world go around, conferring power and independence on those who
accept it .
The Drum
Compared to money and weapons, the drum is really a much smaller, goofier symbol in Major Barbara. Dolly came to
play the drums at the Army because he wanted to cozy up to Barbara, and it becomes clear pretty quickly that he has zero
actual interest in the Army (and probably the drums, too); he's just using both to gain favor with her. So, references to his
drum playing are more comic than symbolic of any kind of religious zeal on his part . . .
Later, when he goes to play the drums at an Army event after Barbara has quit, Shaw's stage directions describe him as
"mounting the form in an ecstasy of mischief" (2.423)—that is, getting super jacked up—but, again, without any
particular genuine zeal for the cause, and more for comic effect.
So, you might just think the drum is a symbol of Dolly's own empty enthusiasm or ridiculousness. But when he and
Barbara share a truly tender moment late in the play—when Barbara says she has no intention of abandoning Dolly even
though he's going to her father's firm—he's so happy that he exclaims "Oh for my drum!" (3.413).
So, what's the upshot? The drum just seems to be a symbol of Dolly's unbridled enthusiasm and good cheer pretty much
regardless of the circumstances—and of his affection for Barbara, too, who probably makes his heart beat just like his
drum.