About Arms and the Man

Set in the aftermath of the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885, Arms and the Man challenges
romantic ideas about war and love. Captain Bluntschli, a fleeing soldier, climbs through a
Bulgarian lady's bedroom window, triggering a series of events that push the characters towards
realism and pragmatism. The lady Raina and her fiance Sergius naively view war and life as little
more than a stage on which to make grand romantic gestures. By the end of the play, Raina is
engaged to the infinitely practical Bluntschli and Sergius to Raina's servant, the beautiful and
grounded Louka. George Bernard Shaw wrote the play primarily as a vehicle to promote realism
and disabuse audiences of their romantic notions of heroism, warfare and marriage.

George Bernard Shaw's first popular play, Arms and the Man opened on April of 1894 to an
enthusiastic reception. Yet Shaw brooded about audience and critical interpretation of the play,
which he felt was at odds with his authorial intentions. Having penned a political play designed
to disturb and enlighten, Shaw was appalled when audiences misunderstood and embraced his
work as a light-hearted comedy. He considered the play a "ghastly failure" (Satran 11) and spent
months exchanging furious op-eds with theater critics in the London papers on the proper
interpretation of Arms and the Man. When confronted by a single booing man and otherwise
strong applause at one of the play's showings, he famously responded, "I assure the gentleman
in the gallery that he and I are of exactly the same opinion, but what can we do against a whole
house who are of the contrary opinion?" (Satran 12). Despite Shaw's hostility toward the play's
reception, Arms and the Man helped launch his career as a playwright and ran for a remarkable
fifty-some performances.

summary
Arms and the Man is an anti-war play by George Bernard Shaw. It is one of his first plays, and
the title is taken from the first line of Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid.The gist of the story is this,

It is 1885, and the war between Serbia and Bulgaria is raging. Raina Petkoff, a young Bulgarian
woman, is engaged to marry a cavalry officer named Major Sergius Saranoff. A battle takes
place close by Raina's home, and she hears that her fiance has distinguished himself in it. To
escape the fighting, a Serbian soldier (who is actually a Swiss mercenary) climbs into Raina's
window. Raina, hides the soldier, even when she is questioned about it. She learns that the
soldier, Captain Bluntschli, does not carry weapons, and really despises war. He carries food
instead. The mercenary describes the foolish actions of earnest soldiers, such as those taken by
Sergius today. Bluntshli is merely interested in keeping himself alive, not in gaining glory on the
battlefield by killing and wounding other people.

Raina agrees to hide the mercenary, and he falls asleep on her bed. Raina's mother, Catherine,
finds him, but the family decides to let him hide in their house.

A few months later, Raina's father, a major in the Bulgarian army, comes home and tells the
family that the war is over. Major Petkoff also says that Raina's fiance, Sergius, is not a good
soldier. Shortly thereafter Sergius arrives, and says that he is leaving the army. He talks about a
Swiss officer who had, he says, cheated him in a deal involving a horse, and also who had been
sheltered by two Bulgarian ladies during the house-to-house fighting in the city. Catherine and
Raina act suitably shocked.

When they are alone, Raina and Sergius have a syrupy-sweet reunion. But when Raina is out of
the room, Sergius renews his lewd advances to Louka, the maid. Louka taunts Sergius, saying
that Raina loves someone else more than she loves him. Raina and her mother are almost
caught out in their deception, for Raina's father asks for the coat that they had given to Captain
Bluntschli. They try to cover it up, but Major Petkoff discovers them. Bluntschli offers to help
Major Petkoff with military administrative matters, and Major Petkoff invites him to stay.

Major Petkoff wants his old coat, which had formerly been in the possession of Captain
Bluntschli. Catherine has spirited the coat, behind her husband's back, into a closet where he
had previously looked for it. He goes back and finds it there, thinking he had made a mistake.
Bluntschli has made up excellent orders for the Bulgarian troops, and Sergius is taken up with
expediting them. He takes Major Petkoff with him, and Bluntschli and Raina talk. She tells him
she had left a note in the pocket of the coat she had lent him, but he never discovered it. Her
father is now wearing the coat.

Sergius finds out from Louka about Raina's feelings for Bluntschli, and he challenges him to a
duel. Raina prevents it, by telling Sergius she knows about his feelings for Louka. Major Petkoff
returns, and Raina surreptitiously takes the photo out of the pocket of his coat, not knowing
that her father has already seen it. The Major looks for it, and, not finding it, causes everyone
to now tell the truth. Sergius becomes engaged to Louka, and Raina is now set to marry
Bluntschli. The play ends happily.

Characters in drama
Catherine Petkoff

Catherine Petkoff, the mother of Raina and wife of Major Petkoff. The Petkoffs are an upper-
class Bulgarian family. As the play opens, Catherine rushes into Raina’s bedroom in the late
evening to tell her the news that Raina’s fiancé, Sergius Saranoff, led a victory in battle in the
Russian-Austrian War, with the Bulgarians on the side of the Russians. Both women are thrilled,
and both are very romantic in their attitudes.
Raina Petkoff

Raina Petkoff, a twenty-three-year-old who idealistically believes herself to be in love with

Louka

Louka, a servant in the household who is engaged to another servant, Nicola. She comes in to
tell Catherine and Raina that the windows and shutters are to be closed and fastened because
the enemy is being chased through the town by Bulgarian soldiers. Catherine tells Raina to close
them and leave them closed, then leaves to take care of the rest of the household; Raina,
however, prefers the windows open, so Louka closes them in such a way that Raina can open
them and then leaves.

Captain Bluntschli

Captain Bluntschli, a Swiss mercenary soldier of about thirty-five years. He is running away after
his company lost the battle to Sergius. His father owns a chain of hotels in Switzerland. Although
Bluntschli is in many ways a realist, his choice of the life of a soldier, a choice not forced upon
him, is unrealistic. He startles Raina when she hears him climbing up to her balcony and coming
into her room after she had blown out her candle in fright; he orders her not to expose him. She
goes back and forth between treating him as an enemy and feeling sorry for him. When a
Russian officer arrives searching for him, she hides and protects him, and eventually he falls
asleep in her bed. Though shocked, Catherine and Raina finally allow him to sleep, and
presumably he leaves safely the next morning.

Nicola

Nicola, a servant engaged to Louka. They have a conversation at the beginning of act 2, as they
do again later, and it becomes clear that they will almost surely never marry. Louka bitterly
resents being a servant, but Nicola respects his role as a servant and respects the family,
viewing them as a source of patronage when he saves enough money to open a shop.

Major Paul Petkoff

Major Paul Petkoff, a commander of the Bulgarian army who is about fifty years old. He arrives
home in March, 1886, immediately after the servants’ conversation.

Major Sergius Saranoff

Major Sergius Saranoff, who arrives soon after Petkoff has greeted his servants and his wife in
the garden. Raina makes a dramatic entrance, and when the others leave them, Sergius and
Raina express their highly romantic (and false) idea of love for each other. When Raina returns
to the house, Sergius attempts to make love to Louka. Bluntschli arrives to return Petkoff’s coat,
which Raina had lent him. During a series of comical interludes, it is revealed that Sergius’
“heroism” was a stupid mistake that turned out luckily. It turns out that Sergius will marry Louka
and that Bluntschli will marry Raina (with the approval of her parents, once they learn of his
wealth); both couples feel genuine love, not false romanticism.

themes in Drama

Ignorance vs. Knowledge

Arms and the Man is concerned foremost with the clash between knowledge and ignorance, or,
otherwise stated, between realism and romanticism. Raina and her fiancé Sergius are steeped in
the romanticism of operettas and paperback novels. Bluntschli uses his superior knowledge to
disabuse Raina of her military delusions, while the experience of war itself strips Sergius of the
grand ideals he held. The couple’s idealized vision of warfare deflates in the face of additional
information.

In the realm of love, the couple’s pretensions are defeated by the thoroughgoing pragmatism of
their respective new matches: Bluntschli and Louka. Both the Swiss Captain and Bulgarian maid
confront their lovers about the gap between their words and their true selves, exposing their
hypocrisy. When faced with reality, both Raina and Sergius are able to abandon their romantic
delusions and embrace their honest desires.

The Realities of War

When Catherine and Raina imagine war they picture brave and dashing officers fighting
honorable battles. The reality of war falls far from this romanticized vision. In the play’s opening
scene Bulgarian soldiers hunt and kill fleeing Serbians in the streets of a quiet mountain town.
Once Captain Bluntschli, a career soldier, appears, he becomes an eloquent messenger for the
horrors of war. He describes conditions of starvation and exhaustion at the front lines.
Moreover, having been under fire for three days, he seems to be suffering from some form of
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, jumping nervously when Raina squeals. What first appears to be
the most glorious moment in the war, Sergius’ cavalry charge, is revealed to be an absurd case
of dumb luck. Later in the play Captain Bluntschli helps Major Petkoff and Sergius coordinate
the return routes of surviving troops so as to prevent starvation. Since the play begins in the
aftermath of the Serbo-Bulgarian War, the reader doesn’t experience any titillating battles, only
a grinding post-war reality where hunger and death loom in the background. This picture
successfully deflates any romantic notions the characters or audience may hold.
The Realities of Love

Raina and Sergius are as delusional about love as they are about war, seeming to have derived
their understanding of romance primarily from Byronic poetry. They celebrate each other with
formal and pretentious declarations of “higher love”, yet clearly feel uncomfortable in one
another’s presence (25). The couple, with their good looks, noble blood and idealistic outlook,
seem to be a perfect match, but in George Bernard Shaw’s world love does not function as it
does in fairy tales. Instead Raina falls for the practical and competent Swiss mercenary that
crawls through her bedroom window and Sergius for the pragmatic and clever household maid.
Love does not adhere to conventions regarding class or nationality. Moreover, love is not some
abstract expression of poetic purity. Love in Arms and the Man is ultimately directed at those
who understand the characters best and who ground them in reality.

Incompetent Authority

Throughout the play competence and power do not align with established authority. Louka, the
insolent but charming maid, repeatedly flouts social rules. By violating traditional ideas of
authority and power, she is able to win marriage to a handsome and wealthy war hero. Her
manipulation of Sergius, who is privileged both in terms of wealth and gender, demonstrates
that control does not necessarily derive from social authority. Likewise, Catherine manipulates
her husband Major Petkoff, withholding information and shepherding him about. Major Petkoff,
as the oldest wealthy male, should be the most powerful character according to contemporary
social hierarchy. Yet Petkoff proves to be a buffoon; he is, in fact, the character least able to
control outcomes, as he rarely understands what is unfolding before him.

Class

Class has a large and continuous presence in Arms and the Man. The Petkoffs’ upper-class
pretensions are portrayed as ridiculous and consistently played for laughs. The family’s pride in
their so-called library (a sitting room with a single bookshelf) becomes a running joke
throughout the play. Shaw praises the family’s more local and humble roots: admiring the
oriental decorations in Raina’s bedroom and describing Catherine’s earthy local beauty. In
contrast he condemns and mocks their attempts to conform to romantic notions of what
nobility means. Raina’s outdated Viennese fashions and Catherine’s tea gowns are treated as
ridiculous.

Louka’s struggle demonstrates many of the effects of class in Bulgarian society. She feels
restricted by her station, which condemns her to a life where reading books is considered
presumptuous. Using her wit, Louka manages to escape these boundaries, achieving equality
with the wealthy Sergius.

Bravery

At the beginning of the play Sergius, like both Catherine and Raina, imagines bravery as the will
to undertake glorious and theatrical actions. This belief leads the young Bulgarian Major to lead
a regiment of cavalry against a line of machine guns. Despite his dumb luck, the action identifies
him as an incompetent and somewhat ludicrous figure, halting his advancement in the ranks.
When he returns at the end of the war Louka challenges his romantic notions of bravery. Sergius
admits that “carnage is cheap”: anyone can have the will to inflict violence (45). Louka submits
that the subtle bravery required to live outside social rules and constraints is more worthy of
praise. At the play’s end Sergius demonstrates this particular kind of bravery when he embraces
Louka in front of the others and agrees to marry her.

Like Sergius, Captain Bluntschli also undermines traditional understandings of bravery. He tells
Raina that there are two types of soldiers - young and old - not brave and cowardly. The young
are too inexperienced to know true fear, and the old have reached their age by championing
survivalism over heroics. The Swiss mercenary is willing to face danger when necessary but he
does not act in ways that court death and is always relieved to avoid combat.

Personal Honesty

It is through personal honesty that all the play’s major conflicts are resolved. Raina abandons
her indignant posturing and admits that Sergius exasperates her, allowing her to pair up with
Bluntschli. Likewise, Sergius overcomes his overly romantic understanding of the meaning of
love and bravery, opening himself to an engagement with Louka. It is only when the couple
confronts and accepts their true desires and feelings that they find happiness with their ideal
partners. Pretending to share noble love makes both Raina and Sergius miserable; Raina
fantasizes about shocking her fiancé’s propriety and Sergius cannot wait for Raina’s departure so
he can complain about their tiring relationship to a pretty young maid. In the end, even
Bluntschli embraces his inner romantic self, asking for the hand of the girl he is smitten with.
Each character gives in to his honest desires and is rewarded with an optimal outcome.