How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line)
Quote #10
After all, my dear old mother has more sense than any of you. I felt like her when I saw this place—felt that I must have it—that never, never, never could I let it go; only she thought it was the houses and the kitchen ranges and the linen and china, when it was really all the human souls to be saved: not weak souls in starved bodies, sobbing with gratitude for a scrap of bread and treacle, but fullfed, quarrelsome, snobbish, uppish creatures, all standing on their little rights and dignities, and thinking that my father ought to be greatly obliged to them for making so much money for him—and so he ought. That is where salvation is really wanted. My father shall never throw it in my teeth again that my converts were bribed with bread. [She is transfigured]. 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. When I die, let him be in my debt, not I in his; and let me forgive him as becomes a woman of my rank. (3.422)
Barbara has finally decided to come over to the "dark side," but she seems to feel like she's doing it on her own terms…and perhaps based on beliefs that she had already held. She had already remarked earlier on the difficulty of doing the spiritual work of the Army when her target demographic was hungry and miserable (i.e., probably focused more on survival than spiritual fulfillment), and now she'll get the opportunity to play to well-fed, well-paid workers in her father's factory. She seems just as enthusiastic and pious as ever, so it seems like she might not have changed that much after all…even after revising her principles pretty heavily.