Major Barbara" apart from being a play is an advertisement for Shaw's ideas on poverty, the social structure and human dignity. Many times during the performance one got the feeling that while writing the play Shaw was too busy trying to communicate his ideology through his characters rather than concentrating in the very basics of play writing. Hence the characters say and do things that are very unlike them. Shaw’s hatred of poverty comes across very clearly through this play. Many years before Shaw wrote this play, when he had just arrived in London at the age of 21 he went for a walk one evening and in the course of this walk he witnessed the widespread poverty in London during the time. Shaw's hate for poverty has its roots here, on that day he swore that he would dedicate his life to the elimination of poverty in whatever way he could. In fact, one of the popular George Bernard Shaw quotations is- Poverty is the root of all evil.

Through the character of Andrew Undershaft Shaw scoffs at all forms of charity which patronize poverty and in a sense feed it and keep it alive instead of eliminating it by means of productivity. Clearly, what Andrew Undershaft was doing through the weapons factory and what Barbara was doing through the Salvation Army were two similar things but they were also very different in the sense that Undershaft was providing all his workers with the so called materialistic pleasures along with raising their standards of living whereas the beneficiaries of the efforts of the salvation army remained poverty stricken in terms of material comforts even after they had received their due share of help from them. The Salvation Army concentrated its efforts on uplifting peoples' souls. Undershaft's character even though contrary to social norms and beliefs manages to convince everyone with his powerful arguments, this character turns the definition of right and wrong around. This character is the reflection of the rebel in Shaw.

The famous Shaw wit at its best comes to light during the play. The part in which Andrew Undershaft scoffs at his son Steven for his choice of politics as a career has Shaw at his sarcastic best. Steven forms an entertaining element in the play because he is so easy to poke fun at. Charles Lomax is absolutely hilarious and one can well imagine him as the future henpecked husband. The use of twins to play Barbara's character was a very smart move because it acts as a shocker for the audience when they realize this during the curtain call. All in all, 'Major Barbara' is thought provoking at times, entertaining in certain moments and just plain preachy in others.