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http://www.smileycollector.com/image...rishjigboy.gifThe Book Club will be reading Major Barbara by GB Shaw for the St Patrick's Day!http://www.smileycollector.com/image...rishjigboy.gif
If you would like to join us, get your copies ready!
Major Barbara: Online text.
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I have completed Act 1. It was very interesting, especially the characters of Barbara's father and her fiancee. I have found characters very funny, but in a very strange way. In a typical George Bernard-ish way, I think (at least this is what I gather after having read Pygmalion).
I am about to start Act 2, and I hope it will be as much of a fun as the previous chapter. :)
We had a blast discussing this in class today, mostly thanks to the teacher though. It was an enjoyable read.
Finally, I have completed it. I think it was fun to read. But in the end, long speeches of Undershaft were a little bit tedious to follow.
I thought it was pretty entertaining. I agree with you, pensive, it did get a bit slow with Undershaft at the end, there. Overall, it was intersting and fun.
Thog reluctantly forced to agreeQuote:
BILL. Goin to marry im?
BARBARA. Yes.
BILL [fervently] Gawd elp im! Gawd elp im!
BARBARA. Why? Do you think he won't be happy with me?
BILL. I've only ad to stand it for a mornin: e'll av to stand it
for a lifetime.
BTW, things tend to be quite tedious, until Undershaft comes in, he is like a breath of fresh air.
:thumbs_upQuote:
Originally Posted by Cusins and Undershaft, about Salvation Army
Yes, his arrival is pretty entertaining. All his dialogues are immensely interesting, and make us want to see more of him. Later as well, his dialogues hold the charm but in Act 3, you may notice things getting slow and his dialogues becoming "lengthy" and so hard to follow.Quote:
Originally Posted by Taliesin
The following is one of my favourite parts.
I can't help liking the character of Undershaft. He might be wicked, he might be unfair to his son, but one has got to admit he has got style. Fascinating! :pQuote:
LADY BRITOMART. There is nothing that any Italian or German could
do that Stephen could not do. And Stephen at least has breeding.
UNDERSHAFT. The son of a foundling! nonsense!
LADY BRITOMART. My son, Andrew! And even you may have good blood
in your veins for all you know.
UNDERSHAFT. True. Probably I have. That is another argument in
favor of a foundling.
I read Act I yesterday and it is great!! I don't have time to give my comments now. Perhaps this evening.
All right, since you seem so enthusiastic about it, I'll give it a go, too :D.Quote:
Originally Posted by Virgil
It's going to be the first book I'll be reading online only...I hope I'll be able to keep it up, reading a lot on the screen usually makes me very dizzy.
Oh great Schoky. I'm still not ready to give my thoughts on Act i, that will take me a good half hour, but welcome to the discussion. I couldn't read even something as short as a play off a screen
How's Heart of Darkness?
I'm done with the first act by now, and I also like it very much :nod:. However, it's getting late here and I'm tired, but I'm looking forward to the discussion once I've had a good night's rest :).Quote:
Originally Posted by Virgil
It's really great, I'm enjoying it immensly ! I'm about 2/3 through, and I wish it were longer :). There are two other of Conrad's novel in the copy I'm reading, and I think I might go for them after I've finished Heart of Darkness. I'm glad you advised me to go for this one first :nod:.Quote:
Originally Posted by Virgil
Which are the other two?Quote:
Originally Posted by Schokokeks
I agree with Tal that Undershaft's introduction to the play makes it much more interesting and entertaining. He is the devil's advocate and one cannot help pondering over his arguments.Quote:
Originally Posted by Taliesin
Couple of things I have been wondering:
- Why do you think the play is titled Major Barbara?
- What would you do if you were Cusins? Would you accept Undershaft's offer?
- GBS seems to be a man of very strong opinions (and is somewhat opinionated). His plays are usually heavily laced with the messages he would like to pass on (feel like lectures at times). Why do you think his prefered genre was drama? Would it not be easier for him to express himself better in a novel, for example?
Here finally are my thoughts of Act I.
First thing that caught my eye was the paradoxes that Shaw uses in describing the characters: Lady Britomart is “well dressed and yet careless of her dress, well bred and quite reckless of her breeding, well mannered and yet appallingly outspoken and indifferent to the opinion of her interlocutory, amiable and yet peremptory, arbitrary, and high-tempered to the last bearable degree. And Stephan is “gave” and “serious” and yet “childish.” These kinds of paradoxes run through the play and I think is the recurring motif. It supports the central theme. Notice this exchange:
Another thing that strikes me about the play is how the types of characters reflect and counter Shaw’s beliefs, again in a paradoxical sort of way. Shaw was an atheist, pacifist, politically Liberal (of its day), socialist who did not believe in hereditary transfer or aristocracy that does not work . Notice how he creates his characters to have a part of his character and an opposing quality.Quote:
LOMAX [leniently] Well, the more destructive war becomes, the
sooner it will be abolished, eh?
UNDERSHAFT. Not at all. The more destructive war becomes the more
fascinating we find it.
Major Barbara: Theist but pacifist.
Undershaft: Capitalist who was born poor and worked hard to become rich, military industrialist but does not believe in hereditary transfer.
Stephan: Liberal in politics but aristocratic.
Lomax: Idealist but lazy millionaire.
Cusins: A scholar capable of murder but not of cruelty; an intellectual who has fallen in love with a non-intellectual theist.
This provides incredible tension between the characters. The conflicts cross many lines, but the central conflict will be between the The Army of Salvation and the Army of Ordinance. How do Shaw’s intellectual sympathies get developed? How will this paradoxical tension that Shaw has created in the first act get worked out? A marvelous beginning.
I don't know. Perhaps, because Barabara is the Major of Salvation Army, and it's the thing G.B. Shaw has wanted to discuss in his play the most. As Undershaft said something like this:Quote:
Originally Posted by Scheherazade
And after all Barbara is Undershaft's "object" he wants to bring a change in. As the novel portrays quite exactly that he wasn't very much interested in other children as he was in Barbara. Lady Britomart kept on calling Barbara as his "pet".Quote:
All religious organizations live by selling themselves to the rich people
Rejection. Rejection. Rejection. My self-esteem and self-respect wouldn't let me accept his offer. :pQuote:
- What would you do if you were Cusins? Would you accept Undershaft's offer?
[/QUOTE]Quote:
- GBS seems to be a man of very strong opinions (and is somewhat opinionated). His plays are usually heavily laced with the messages he would like to pass on (feel like lectures at times). Why do you think his prefered genre was drama? Would it not be easier for him to express himself better in a novel, for example?
I don't know. He might have done well in the novels (if he had written any) as he does in his plays.