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Analysing Major Barbara
Task J - Anything else of significance?
You may have noted other things, but there are a couple of points which
we have not yet covered and which we think are significant:
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We noted in our initial interpretative remarks that Lady Britomart
treats her adult son as if he was a little boy. The heavy use of the
direct address term 'Stephen' and the heavy use of commands contribute
to that effect. But it is also worth noting that the pattern of negative
structures in many of those commands increases the feeling that she
treats him like an infant. This is because negative commands are a
common feature of parent-child interaction. Small children are a danger
to themselves, to others and to property. So parents are forever telling
them NOT to do things, and negative commands become part of our schematic
assumptions for parent-infant interaction. In our answer
to Task F, we pointed out that Lady Britomart commands Stephen
on nine clear occasions. Of these nine, five are negative commands.
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We have already noted the ludicrousness of Lady Britomart ordering
her son to 'advise' her and 'assume the responsibility'. Indeed, it
is so ludicrous that it borders on the theatre of the absurd. Something
similar in general effect seems to be going on in turn 15:
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15 LADY B
[squaring herself at him rather aggressively]:
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Stephen: may I ask how soon you intend to realize that you
are a grown-up man, and that I am only a woman?
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Here, 'to realize that . . .' is nested/embedded grammatically under
'intend'. But 'intend' is an intentional verb and 'realize' is something
that cannot possibly be intended - it is outside the perceiver's control.
This grammatical domination of an 'accidental' verb by an intentional
is contradictory in semantic terms and also absurd. As it is Lady
Britomart who utters the sentence, as with the other factors we have
noticed, this structuring is an absurd (and humorous) reflection on
her. Her commanding Stephen in 23 to interfere in what has, up until
now, been her sole preserve is another example of this kind of absurdity.
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