PAST HSC QUESTIONS
on
Major Barbara
LEVEL 3 / 2 UNIT A / 2 UNIT GENERAL QUESTIONS
1967 Level 3
Why do you think MAJOR BARBARA has been described as "a play with a purpose"?
Does Shaw's "purpose" add or subtract from the dramatic interest of his play?
1968 Level 3
"Shaw's criticism of religion and capitalism in MAJOR BARBARA is prompted by his strong desire for
social justice."
What evidence do you find in the play to support this view?
1969 Level 3
What relevance do issues raised in MAJOR BARBARA have for today?
1970 Level 3
BARBARA: "I have got rid of the bribe of bread, I have got rid of the bribe of heaven. Let God's work be
done for its own sake: The work he had to create us to do because it cannot be done except by living men
and women."
Explain briefly what point Major Barbara is making. How is this seen and tested in the action of the play?
LEVEL 2 / 2 UNIT QUESTIONS
1977 2 Unit
How effectively does Shaw combine comedy and serious argument in MAJOR BARBARA?
1978 2 Unit
In what ways is Cusins important to Shaw's play, MAJOR BARBARA?
1979 2 Unit
"The only character in MAJOR BARBARA who emerges with credit is Undershaft."
Do you agree?
1984 2 Unit
CUSINS: . . . by the way, do you have any religion?"
UNDERSHAFT: Yes
CUSINS: Anything out of the common?
UNDERSHAFT: Only two things are necessary for salvation . . . the two things are CUSINS: Baptism and UNDERSHAFT: No. Money and gunpowder.
Do you find Shaw in MAJOR BARBARA is in sympathy with his character Undershaft?
In your answer, refer to the play in some detail.
1985 2 Unit
"A drama of ideas and opinions rather than of characters."
Do you agree with this view of Shaw's MAJOR BARBARA? Give your reasons.
LEVEL 1 / 3 UNIT QUESTIONS
1977 3 Unit
"Barbara's final conversion has much less force than her previous disillusionment."
Does your study of MAJOR BARBARA lead you to think so?
1978 3 Unit
"Shaw makes his play a vehicle for complex ideas without reducing its impact as drama."
Consider MAJOR BARBARA in the light of this assertion.
1979 3 Unit
How effectively do these lines conclude MAJOR BARBARA?
BARBARA. . . . [She runs to the shed and calls childlike] Mamma! Mamma!
[Bilton comes out of the shed, followed by Undershaft]. I want Mamma.
UNDERSHAFT. She is taking off her list slippers, dear. [He passes on to Cusins]. Well? What does she
say?
CUSINS. She has gone right up into the skies.
LADY BRITOMART [coming from the shed and stopping on the steps obstructing Sarah who follows with
Lomax. Barbara clutches like a baby at her mother's skirt]
Barbara: when will you learn to be independent and to act and think for yourself? I know as well as possible
what that cry of "Mamma, Mamma," means. Always running to me!
SARAH [touching Lady Britomart's ribs with her finger tips and imitating a bicycle horn] Pip! pip!
LADY BRITOMART [highly indignant] How dare you say Pip! pip! to me, Sarah? You are both very
naughty children. What do you want, Barbara?
BARBARA. I want a house in the village to live in with Dolly. [Dragging at the skirt] Come and tell me
which one to take.
UNDERSHAFT [to Cusins] Six o'clock tomorrow morning, Euripides.
PAST CSSA QUESTIONS
on
Major Barbara
LEVEL 3 / 2 UNIT A / 2 UNIT GENERAL QUESTIONS
1967 Level 3
Shaw was a great critic of the society of his time.
What are some of the things he puts his finger on in MAJOR BARBARA? Do you think the world has
changed much since Shaw wrote this play?
1968 Level 3
Shaw was an excellent dramatist, but he always managed to make some social criticism through his plays.
How much success did he achieve in both respects in MAJOR BARBARA?
1969 Level 3
Shaw's determined efforts for social justice to all, too often involved him in attacks on both religion and
Capitalism. How are his attitudes towards these two reflected in MAJOR BARBARA?
1970 Level 3
By reference to at least one of the following plays, discuss some of the problems that confront the
playwright in the presentation of effective drama and the techniques he may adopt to solve such problems?
OTHELLO, MAJOR BARBARA, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, DEATH OF A SALESMAN, THE
ONE DAY OF THE YEAR.
LEVEL 2 / 2 UNIT QUESTIONS
1977 2 Unit
BARBARA: I have got rid of the bribe of bread, I have got rid of the bribe of heaven. Let God's work be
done for its own sake: the work he had to create us to do because it cannot be done except by living men and
women.
Explain briefly what point Barbara is making. How is this idea seen and tested in the action of the play?
1978 2 Unit
UNDERSHAFT - Choose money and gunpowder; for without enough of both you cannot afford the others.
CUSINS - That is your religion?
UNDERSHAFT - Yes.
Discuss the relationship between money, power and religion in MAJOR BARBARA.
1979 2 Unit
What values conflict in the character of Major Barbara?
In your answer, refer closely to the text of the play.
1984 2 Unit
'In Act 3, Shaw sacrifices dramatic impact for moralizing.'
Is this a fair comment on the play?
Do not confine your comments to Act 3.
1985 2 Unit
'Religious people,' says Shaw in his Preface to MAJOR BARBARA, 'must either share the world's guilt, or
go to another planet.'
Does the play convince the audience of this?
In your answer discuss the roles of at least TWO scenes in conveying the playwright's didactic message.
LEVEL 1 / 3 UNIT QUESTIONS
1977 3 Unit
"Shaw's criticism of religion and capitalism in MAJOR BARBARA is prompted by his strong desire for
social justice."
What evidence do you find in the play to support this view?
1978 3 Unit
UNDERSHAFT - In your salvation shelter I saw poverty, misery, cold and hunger. You gave them bread
and treacle and dreams of heaven. I give them thirty shillings a week to twelve thousand a year. They find
their own dreams; but I look after the drainage.
BARBARA - And their souls?
UNDERSHAFT - I saved their souls just as I saved yours.
What is the importance of salvation in Shaw's MAJOR BARBARA.
1979 3 Unit
How central an issue is religion in MAJOR BARBARA?