All Formats & Editions

Exclusive to Penguin Classics: the definitive text of one of Shaw's most forward-looking plays--part of the official Bernard Shaw Library

Edited by Elizabeth T. Forter, this edition of Major Barbara for performance and study includes Shaw's complete "Preface." The text follows Shaw's spelling and punctuation. It also includes a highly regarded twenty-four page introduction, a list of the principal dates... Read Full Overview

Poverty is a crime. So says Andrew Undershaft, the extremely wealthy owner of a tremendously successful English armaments business, in George Bernard Shaw's play "Major Barbara." Undershaft, whose self-proclaimed religion is his wealth and his industry, inherited the business... Read Full Overview

Major Barbara is thought to be one of Shaws most Controversial works. While trying to give a realistic presentation of how he saw Christianity, many accused him of blasphemy. Major Barbara Undershaft thought it hypocrisy that her church accepted charity from companies, such as... Read Full Overview

First performed in 1905 and published in 1907, "Major Barbara" is a dramatic play by the famed Irish playwright and activist George Bernard Shaw. The story centers around its title character who, as an officer in the Salvation Army, becomes disenchanted by the increasing social... Read Full Overview

"There are two things necessary to salvation ... money and gunpowder"

Major Barbara is a play written by George Bernard Shaw that was first performed in 1905. The play centers around Barbara Undershaft, a major in the Salvation Army who is dedicated to helping the poor and needy. However, her beliefs are challenged when her estranged father, Andrew... Read Full Overview