Major Barbara Characters

Rich Daddy Pennybags Even though he's the patriarch of the Undershaft factory and has been bankrolling his wife and children, Andrew Undershaft hasn't actually stepped foot in his own house for yea...

Major? More like MinorThe play is named after her, so you were expecting her to be the protagonist, right? Well, not so fast—as in the play itself, Major B gets kind of pushed aside while her fat...

It's All Greek to HimDolly, as Barbara calls him, is a professor of Greek—so you probably won't be surprised to hear that he's a pretty smart guy. It's probably because of his smarts and interest...

Sharing a name with one of English literature's most famous female knights, Lady Brit is one tough mama-jama—and she's definitely not afraid to say what's on her mind. Her motto seems to be "Opin...

Stephen is the son of Lady Britomart and Andrew Undershaft. He tries pretty hard to be an ally for his mother, initially refusing to be anything more than civil to his father when he comes around a...

As you might already know from our analysis of Lady Brit, Charles is kind of a goofball—he's usually laughing or saying something when he shouldn't. These tendencies make him the frequent whippin...

Sarah doesn't really get a lot of airtime in the story; she mostly remains in the background of all the play's conflicts and arguments. Shaw's stage directions introduce her as "slender, bored, and...

Snobby Price is one of Barbara's "converts" at the Salvation Army. To help the Army get donations and more converts, he goes to events with Barbara and pretends that he used to beat his mother, sin...

Like Snobby, Rummy has figured out that she's of a lot more interest to the Salvation Army "lasses" if she makes her story out to be more horrific than it actually is. As she tells Snobby:What am I...

Peter Shirley is an older gentleman who seeks food and shelter at the Army. He lost his job for being too old (dude, that wasn't illegal?). He tries to defend people like Rummy and Jenny from Bill,...

He's definitely one angry young man when we meet him, and he pretty much stays that way for most of the play. He comes to the Army looking for his girlfriend, who was apparently recruited by the Ar...

Jenny works alongside Barbara at the Salvation Army. She seems young, enthusiastic, and eager. However, she does get a little upset when Bill comes in and punches her for getting his ex-girlfriend...

She is a Commissioner at the Army. Much to Barbara's horror, she accepts money from a whisky distiller named Bolger and Andrew Undershaft in order to save the shelter. She views it as the only way...

Bilton is the foreman at the Undershaft factory. He nearly has a heart attack when Charles decides to light a match in one of the sheds.

Morrison is Lady Brit's servant. He ends up very confused about the protocol when he has to announce Andrew Undershaft in his own house.