Major Barbara, by Shaw, George Bernard - Akasha Classics, AkashaPublishing.Com - No one writes about social issues as entertainingly as Shaw, George Bernard. In Major Barbara, he addresses the problem of poverty and the institutions that are supposed to help. The play centers on an ideological battle between father and daughter: Andrew Undershaft is an arms manufacturer who sees wealth as a social good, his daughter Barbara is a Salvation Army Major who feels her father's money is tainted. Taking aim at religion, charities, and the romanticization of the poor, Shaw makes a case for seeing poverty as a crime and an inexcusable fault in society. Filled with the clever dialogue for which he is famous, Major Barbara is engaging and thoughtprovoking throughout.