ABSTRACT
Young Stephen’s bewilderment in response to varying opinions of the ‘one true morality’ reflects not only his conception of matters moral but also the very structure of his identity itself. Set in an upper-class drawing room at the turn of the century, Major Barbara opens as late adolescent Stephen discusses with his mother, Lady Britomart, the financial futures of her three children. It seems that the siblings’ only assurance of future monetary security rests in financial support from the estranged husband and father, Undershaft, a manufacturer of munitions which destroy human life. Elder daughter Barbara, a major in the Salvation Army, is at this point in her career ‘saving’ starving souls in the exchange of bread for salvation. Upon reunion with her father at the close of Act I, Barbara and Undershaft agree to sample the other’s understanding of morality (each with hope of converting the other). Through Acts II and III, assorted lovers and Salvation Army shelter ‘converts’ all add their own constructs of morality to the family debate, as Barbara undergoes transition to a new level of moral reasoning. The dialogue and interpretations of justice by each of the play’s central characters reflect their markedly different constructions of morality, which in turn point to underlying differences in the very structure of their own identities. Characters from Major Barbara neatly exemplify stages in the evolution of moral understanding within Kohlberg’s cognitive-developmental framework and will later be revisited to introduce the theorist’s stage sequence.
