Major Barbara (1905), a play by George Bernard Shaw exploring themes of power and morality. Major Barbara is in charge of a Salvation Army shelter, which is under threat of closure. The only way the shelter can be saved is by donations from her father, Andrew Undershaft, a munitions manufacturer, and Sir Horace Bodger, a distiller.
Major Barbara
| Irish Literature Companion: Major Barbara |
| Notes on Drama: Major Barbara |
Contents: Plot Summary Characters Themes Style Critical Overview Criticism Sources Further Reading |
George Bernard Shaw 1905
George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara has been called the most controversial of Shaw’s works. The play was first produced at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1905, and early reviews were decidedly mixed. Shaw’s seeming criticism of Christianity caused some to accuse him of blasphemy, while others defended what they saw as Shaw’s realistic presentation of religion. Critics complained about the violence of the play, particularly in the second act, saying it was so excessive as to be beyond realism. Others disagreed, saying that the depiction of that violence, if unrealistic, was so only because the violence was subdued. Whatever the opinion of the critics, however, the play was a success with the public. It remains popular and has enjoyed numerous revivals, including an adaptation to film in 1941. Today it is considered a very important work, not only among Shaw’s plays but also in the history of modern drama.
Many of Shaw’s plays are known for their involved arguments and Major Barbara is no exception. Shaw himself called the play “a discussion in three long acts,” and much of the play’s “action” consists, in fact, of words. When the play was published in 1907, Shaw added, as with many of his works, a lengthy preface, contributing further discussion about the play itself. In addition, the play is noted for its unconventional attitudes toward morality as well as its irony and humor. Given the serious nature of the issues examined in the play — wealth and poverty, business and religion, cynicism and idealism — it is sometimes easy to overlook the fact that Major Barbara is, in fact, a comedy. Shaw uses the play to entertain his audience, to make people laugh, while examining issues that are as important today as they were when the play was first written.
| Wikipedia: Major Barbara (play) |
"Major Barbara" redirects here. For other uses, see Major Barbara (disambiguation).
Major Barbara is a three act play by George Bernard Shaw, written and premiered in 1905 and first published in 1907. Major Barbara has been called the most controversial of Shaw's works.[citation needed] His seeming criticism of Christianity and The Salvation Army caused some to accuse him of blasphemy, while others defended what they saw as his realistic presentation of religion.
Contents |
Setting
- London
- Act I: Lady Britomart's house in Wilton Crescent
- Act II: The Salvation Army shelter in West Ham
- Act III: Lady Britomart's house, later at the Undershaft munitions works in Perivale St Andrews
Synopsis
An Officer of The Salvation Army, Major Barbara Undershaft, becomes disillusioned when her Christian denomination accepts money from an armaments manufacturer (her father) and a whisky distiller. She eventually decides that bringing a message of salvation to people who have plenty will be more fulfilling and genuine than converting the starving in return for bread.
Although Barbara initially regards the Salvation Army's acceptance of Undershaft's money as hypocrisy, Shaw did not intend that it should be thought so by the audience. Shaw wrote a preface for the play's publication, in which he derided the idea that charities should only take money from "morally pure" sources. He points out that donations can always be used for good, whatever their provenance, and he quotes a Salvation Army officer, "they would take money from the devil himself and be only too glad to get it out of his hands and into God's".
Plot
Lady Britomart, the daughter of a British earl, and her son Stephen discuss a source of income for her grown daughters Sarah, who is engaged to Charles Lomax, and Barbara, who is engaged to Adolphus Cusins (a scholar of Greek literature). Lady Britomart leads Stephen to accept her decision that they must ask her estranged husband, Andrew Undershaft, for financial help. Mr. Undershaft is a successful and wealthy businessman who has made millions of pounds from his munitions factory, which manufactures the world famous Undershaft guns, cannons, torpedoes, submarines and aerial battleships.
When their children were still small, the Undershafts separated; now grown up, the children have not seen their father since, and Lady Britomart has raised them by herself. During their reunion, Undershaft learns that Barbara is a Major in The Salvation Army who works at their shelter in West Ham, east London. Barbara and Mr. Undershaft agree that he will visit Barbara's Army shelter, if she will then visit his munitions factory.
When he visits the shelter, Mr. Undershaft is impressed with Barbara's handling of the various people who seek social services from the Salvation Army: she treats them with patience, firmness, and sincerity. Undershaft and Cusins discuss the question of Barbara's commitment to The Salvation Army, and Undershaft decides he must overcome Barbara's moral horror of his occupation. He declares that he will therefore "buy" the Salvation Army. He makes a sizeable donation, matching another donation from a whisky distiller. Barbara wants the Salvation Army to refuse the money because it comes from the armaments and alcohol industries, but her supervising officer eagerly accepts it. Barbara sadly leaves the shelter in disillusionment.
According to tradition, the heir to the Undershaft fortune must be an orphan who can be groomed to run the factory. Lady Britomart tries to convince Undershaft to bequeath the business to his son Stephen, but he will not. He says that the best way to keep the factory in the family is to find a foundling and marry him to Barbara. Later, Barbara and the rest of her family accompany her father to his munitions factory. They are all impressed by its size and organisation. Cusins declares that he is a foundling, and is thus eligible to inherit the business. Undershaft eventually overcomes Cusins' moral scruples about the nature of the business. Cusins' acceptance makes Barbara more content to marry him, not less, because bringing a message of salvation to the factory workers, rather than to London slum-dwellers, will bring her more fulfilment.
Production History
UK
The play was first produced at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1905 by J.E. Vedrenne and Harley Granville-Barker. Barker also played Cusins, alongside Clare Greet, Edmund Gwenn and Annie Russell.
In the summer of 1988, the Chichester Festival Theatre presented a production with Sir Donald Sinden as Andrew Undershaft, Anna Carteret as Barbara and Marc Sinden as Stephen Undershaft, which became the first time in the plays history that the son of the leading character was played by the real-life son of the leading actor. It was directed by Christopher Morahan. It was to be presented in the West End by H.M. Tennent.
A production from 26 February to 3 July 2008 at the National Theatre featured Simon Russell Beale as Andrew Undershaft, Hayley Atwell as Barbara, Clare Higgins as Lady Britomart and Paul Ready as Cusins.
USA
The play first opened on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre December 9, 1915. There have been four Broadway revivals, 1928 at the Guild Theatre, 1956 at the Martin Beck Theatre and then the Morosco Theatre, 1980 at the Circle in the Square Theatre, and 2001 at the American Airlines Theatre.
The 1956 revival received the Tony Award for Best Stage Technician (Howard McDonald). It was nominated for Best Scenic Design (Donald Oenslager) and Best Costume Design (Dorothy Jenkins).
The 1980 revival received a Tony nomination for Reproduction (Play or Musical). (Theodore Mann: Artistic Director; Paul Libin: Managing Director).
The actor who played Andrew Undershaft in the 2001 revival, David Warner, received the Theatre World Award.
Film
A film adaptation of 1941 was produced by Gabriel Pascal, and starred Wendy Hiller, Rex Harrison and Robert Morley.
Background
Character Inspirations
Lady Britomart Undershaft was modelled on Rosalind Howard, Countess of Carlisle, the mother-in-law of Gilbert Murray, who with his wife Lady Mary served as inspiration for Adolphus Cusins and Barbara Undershaft.[1]
Andrew Undershaft was loosely inspired by a number of figures, most notably the arms dealer Basil Zaharoff, and German armanents tycoon Siegfried Krupp. Undershaft's unscrupulous sale of weapons to any and all bidders, as well as his government influence and more pertinently his company's method of succession (to a foundling rather than a son), tie him especially to Krupp. Undershaft's sense of morality can be compared to the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche as well.
Notes
- ^ Sidney P. Albert, "'In More Ways than One': Major Barbara's Debt to Gilbert Murray," Educational Theatre Journal, Vol. 20, No. 2. (May, 1968), pp. 123-140, and idem, "From Murray's Mother-in-Law to Major Barbara: The Outside Story," SHAW: The Annual of Bernard Shaw Studies 22 (2001), pp. 19-65.
External links
- 1905 Royal Court production on the Global Performing Arts Database
- Major Barbara at the Internet Broadway Database (1915)
- Major Barbara at the Internet Broadway Database (1928 revival)
- Major Barbara at the Internet Broadway Database (1956 revival)
- Major Barbara at the Internet Broadway Database (1980 revival)
- Major Barbara at the Internet Broadway Database (2001 revival)
- Articles about Major Barbara at South Coast Repertory
- Script
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