For his great literary achievements, Shaw was recognized with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. Ironically, Alfred Nobel himself was one of the models for Shaw’s character Andrew Undershaft in Major Barbara; Nobel invented dynamite before becoming a famous philanthropist. Shaw echoes this doubleedged impact in Major Barbara, in which appearances prove deceptive and Undershaft too has a mixed effect on society at large.
A note about the play’s setting and time. Major Barbara was written during the summer of 1905 and first produced in December of that year. But the 1905 program clearly states that the play’s time is January 1906—or one month into the future! Shaw has therefore made the unusual choice of setting his story in the near-future. It is worth considering the implications of this: given conditions in the present, can or should the future be changed?
Poverty and the workhouse. In 1905 England was the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world, controlling an Empire that spanned the globe. Yet one person in 36 was a pauper, and in the city of London, the number was one person in 31.
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