Arms and the man
Themes
The scenario of a soldier escaping from a dreadful battle after three days of being under intense exhausted, starving and being pursued is heart- rendering. It is also the lot of a real soldier, but Bernard shaw douses this tension with comic dialogue of sativage the romantic notions about war which exact the the horrific business. Late in the play, Shaw throws a gruesome report on the death of the man who told Blundschilis secrets about staying in Raina’s bedroom there is nothing comic or heroic about being shot in the hip and then burn to death. Shaw further ridicules the heroic concept of war by overrating a soldier who prefers food to cartridges in his belt.
- Unrealistic notions of war lead to distress
- Romantic notions of love and marriage could lead to unhappy marriages
- Class relationship and discrimination
- Idealism verses Realism
Characters
- Rawn and Sergins
The themes of Arms and the men embodied in the characters a variety of ways. Extreme romantic attitudes are at once apparent in the engaged lovers, Raina and Sargives. Both strike magnificent postures. Rainas noble attitudes are thrilling voice cry out for respect, as those sergives role of noble warrior won the decisive battle of the war by successfully leading an attack against apparently in possible odds. Both display an apparent assurance which derives from their commitment to an ideal of spiritual on the plane of the higher love.
Yet, both are plagued by doubts within Raina there resides a spirit of common sense which whispers to her that perhaps we only had our heroic ideas because we are fond of reading Byron and Pushkin
This disclosure to her mother in Act make credible her admission, under unquestioning allegiance from those around her.
2. Catherine
The third character in the play with a strong learning towards romance is Catherine. She is who silences Reina’s doubt in act 1 and who holds forth about the glory of the charge led by Sergins
The language she use in this speech testifies to both the strength of her feeling and the extent of her illusions about military glory.
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