Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Study Guide for George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara"
    A Study Guide for George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara"
    A Study Guide for George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara"
    Ebook42 pages31 minutes

    A Study Guide for George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara"

    By Gale and Cengage

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama For Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama For Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJul 27, 2016
    ISBN9781535827997
    A Study Guide for George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara"

    Read more from Gale

    Related to A Study Guide for George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara"

    Related ebooks

    Literary Criticism For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Looking Backward From the future

      Jun 30, 2020

      Looking Backward From the future
      14 min read

    • Article

      Visible Man

      Dec 2, 2019

      Visible Man
      4 min read

    • Article

      Tender

      Sep 1, 2022

      I spend late morning weeping with the news: a black bear with burnt paws is euthanized along the latest wildfire's newest edge. It was crawling on its forearms, seeking a place to rest. I Google more; reports leak out: the bear had bedded down behind

      1 min read

    • Article

      How Frankenstein’s Monster Has Shuffled Through Movies and Comics

      Oct 30, 2017

      Dr. Frankenstein and his monster weren’t always pop culture icons, but the book did strike a nerve almost as soon as it was published. In this video, you can take a look at some illustrations from the D.B. Dowd Modern Graphic History Library at Washi

      1 min read

    • Article

      O Brave New Penitentiary

      Aug 21, 2016

      O Brave New Penitentiary
      5 min read

    • Article

      What The Thunder Said

      Sep 14, 2022

      ON Margate Sands./I can connect/ Nothing with nothing.’ Thomas Stearns (T. S.) Eliot crafted these short lines that form a part of his fractured epic The Waste Land in October 1921, as he sat in the inauspicious Nayland Rock Shelter (granted Grade II

      4 min read

    • Article

      Belfast’s Best-kept Secret

      Aug 26, 2021

      Belfast’s Best-kept Secret
      6 min read

    • Article

      Yesterday’s Ruse

      Apr 5, 2020

      Yesterday’s Ruse
      5 min read

    • Article

      Do The Right Thing

      Oct 15, 2019

      Do The Right Thing
      1 min read

    • Article

      Hogwash!

      May 17, 2021

      Hogwash!
      3 min read

    • Article

      To The Presses

      Dec 1, 2022

      To The Presses
      22 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Kevin Barry

      Dec 21, 2017

      The book I’ve read the most this year is Antwerp by Roberto Bolaño. I read a few pages from it every morning before I crawl across the floor to my desk. It’s Bolaño distilled. It’s a crime story, a death story, a sex story, a love story, but always i

      2 min read

    • Article

      SEARCHING a For A MARY AUSTIN

      Sep 29, 2020

      SEARCHING a For A MARY AUSTIN
      12 min read

    • Article

      The Steel Claw: Invisible Man

      Jan 27, 2021

      RELEASED 4 FEBRUARY Publisher Rebellion Writer Ken Bulmer Artist Jesús Blasco COLLECTION Even as Stan Lee added human foibles to the superpowered mix, the heroes of American comic books of the ’60s remained a uniformly decent bunch. Across the water,

      1 min read

    • Article

      Worth the Wait

      Jun 13, 2017

      Worth the Wait
      13 min read

    • Article

      Teaching Toni Morrison

      Aug 13, 2019

      Every year, I get goosebumps. “Here is your copy of Beloved or Song of Solomon or Home,” I say to my high-school students. And in that moment I am struck again by my awesome and humbling role in this seemingly mundane ritual: My God, I’m the person—m

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Uses Of Disenchantment

      Dec 26, 2017

      The Uses Of Disenchantment
      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Study Guide for George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara"

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Study Guide for George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara" - Gale

      2

      Major Barbara

      George Bernard Shaw

      1905

      Introduction

      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.

      Author Biography

      George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin, Ireland, on July 26, 1856. His father was an alcoholic and unsuccessful businessman, and his mother a genteel woman interested in music and art. The family was poor and, when Shaw was six, moved in with another family to save expenses; his early experience of poverty is speculated to have affected the decidedly unromantic view of the poor shown in many of his plays, including Major Barbara. Shaw’s formal education was brief, and he began work in a land agent’s office before he was

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1