"There are two things necessary to salvation ...money and gunpowder" Major Barbara, Bernard Shaw's story of the conversion contest between the arms manufacturer Andrew Undershaft and his daughter, the Salvation Army Major, is a provocative dramatization of the relationship between money, power, and moral purpose. A landmark in the history of British theatre when first produced at the Royal Court in 1905, it remains strikingly relevant today, when recent history has repeatedly highlighted the power of the arms industry in shaping government policy, and globalization has accentuated the political and ethical issues of social welfare and international capital raised by the play. This edition includes Shaw's definitive text and provides the most comprehensive scholarly treatment of the play to date. A lengthy Introduction traces the history of the text from manuscript drafts to the famous 1941 wartime film version starring Wendy Hiller and Rex Harrison and on to modern stagings. It reveals Major Barbara as one of Shaw's most exciting and challenging plays for actors, directors, and readers.

蕭伯納（George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950）

英國戲劇傢。生於愛爾蘭首都都柏林。父親是破落

貴族。母親是很有纔能的音樂傢。他從1879年開始文學

活動，一生共寫劇本五十多部（還有小說和其他著作）。

數量之多，在英國文學史上前無古人；他敢於無情地挑

破社會的膿瘡、人性的僞裝，所産生的驚世駭俗的力

量。也是英國文學史上前無古人的。他1925年獲得諾貝

爾文學奬。其主要劇作有《華倫夫人的職業》、《康蒂

妲》、《魔鬼的門徒》、《人與超人》、《芭巴拉少

校》、《蘋果車》、《真相畢露》等。他寫的《易蔔生

主義的精華》一書，是現代歐洲戲劇史上的一部重要論

著。

《芭巴拉少校》是蕭伯納戲劇中頗為精彩的一部，

典型地反映齣蕭伯納戲劇的藝術特色――幽默和諷刺。

他特彆喜歡運用的手法是，使劇中人物發齣似非而是的

妙論，不僅使人笑，使人啼，而且促人深省，蕭伯納的

劇作，語言生動，機智、懾人心魄，是公認的英國口語

和對白的大師。