Cousins

How is Cousins the third protagonist in the play Major Barbara. How does he reconcile the rational businessman that is Undershaft with the strong spiritual beliefs that are Major Barbara? 

*INTRODUCTION* 

Much like the dedication Barbara provides the Salvation army with and the faith Undershaft has in money and gunpowder, Cousins has towards Barbara herself. Throughout the play the love which Cousins has for Barbara only becomes more evident and can be considered as worship the more the audience learns about it. “You accused me yourself, Lady Brit, of joining the Army to worship Barbara; and so I did.” Through this love, Cousins’ devotion and his ‘worship’ portray the strong spiritual beliefs which are present within Barbara herself. Cousins loves Barbara so much, he was willing to drop professorship and join the salvation army for her sake. He denies the obvious at first, however towards the end of the play, in act 3, he admits to have joined the salvation army solely because of Barbara (as seen in the quote above). He later on even compares her to what was important to him at the start of the play, Dionysos. “Dionysos and all the others are in herself. I adored what was divine in her, and was therefore a true worshipper.” Up until act 3 he tried to conceal the fact that he joined the salvation because of Barbara by stating he was a collector of religions. However he finally admits that all this which he claimed to have been searching for was already within her. Therefore calling himself a “true worshipper” and hence proving he embodies strong spiritual beliefs, even though they are towards Barbara.

Secondly another characteristic which Cousins shares with the two other protagonists of this play, Barbara and Undershaft, is determination. All three characters are stubborn and help unveil the argument of poverty which George Bernard Shaw was aiming to raise. “But the moment I saw Barbara, I wanted her far more than the approval of my conscience.” In this quote Cousins states not only that Barbara means a lot to him but that his own conscience could not be compared to the desire for Barbara. The audience can then assume that the most valuable thing in Cousins’ life is Barbara and hence he will stop at nothing to get her. This is then supported by the following quote. “But whenever I feel that I must have anything, I get it, sooner or later. I feel that way about Barbara.” This characteristic of passion and desire is, as I have mentioned earlier, visible within Barbara’s love for the Salvation army and this is therefore another common characteristic shared between Barbara and Cousins. This helps develop the theme of Wealth vs Poverty as both Barbara and Undershaft are determined to be on one side of it whereas Cousins helps shift that by joining Undershaft. Where the immediate disappointment from Barbara does not stop him, as he is determined to improve himself by joining Undershaft. Which in the long run benefits him as Barbara realises how Undershafts methods of sustaining his workers benefits them more than the methods of the Salvation army.

On the contrary, Cousins also shares some common characteristics with Undershaft. The main one of them is the ability to think and make rational decisions. Much like Undershaft, Cousins does not let his emotions affect his decisions. This is apparent when Cousins decides to take over Undershafts business besides the fact that he makes destructive equipment. “You cannot have power for good without having power for evil too.” Cousins comes to the realisation that no decision can benefit everyone out there and that one can only use reason/ fact to make his or her decision. This quote applies to Undershafts business and how he creates weaponry in order to help the common people fight against the upper class. As well as providing them with money and a job opportunity. However as the quote states Cousins also realises that these cannons do harm to others yet he still picks to join Undershafts' business as he recognises that this is a better way to sustain the poorer classes rather than giving them homes in shelters or in the Salvation army. Hence he proves of his rationality as the emotions and empathy of the people affected by his weaponry do not stop him from joining the business. “I don’t like marriage: I feel intensely afraid of it; and I don’t know what I shall do with Barbara or what she will do with me. But I feel that I and nobody else must marry her.” With his wish to marry Barbara, Cousins also proves his rational way of thinking as he is able to put aside his fear of marriage in order to be with Barbara and make sure that he is the only one.

In conclusion, I believe that Cousins is an immensely important character to this play and may be called a protagonist as with his characteristics which are a combinations of ones present in both Barbara and Undershaft he drives the play and its main arguments forward. He has both strong spiritual beliefs, is determined and has a rational way of thinking. He is therefore the character which allows for disputes between Barbara and Undershaft to take place in order to develop the moral message and  theme of wealth vs poverty in Shaw's play.