Literature In English, SS 2, Third Term. Week 1
Summary of “Arms and the man” by George Bernard Shaw
The play begins in the bedroom of Raina Petkoff in a Bulgarian town in 1885, during the Serbo-Bulgarian War. As the play opens, Catherine Petkoff and her daughter, Raina, have just heard that the Bulgarians have scored a tremendous victory in a cavalry charge led by Raina’s fiancé, Major Sergius Saranoff, who is in the same regiment as Raina’s father, Major Paul Petkoff. Raina is so impressed with the noble deeds of her fiancé that she fears that she might never be able to live up to his nobility. At this very moment, the maid, Louka, rushes in with the news that the Serbs are being chased through the streets and that it is necessary to lock up the house and all of the windows. Raina promises to do so later, and Louka leaves. But as Raina is reading in bed, shots are heard, there is a noise at the balcony window, and a bedraggled enemy soldier with a gun appears and threatens to kill her if she makes a sound. After the soldier and Raina exchange some words, Louka calls from outside the door; she says that several soldiers want to search the house and investigate a report that an enemy Serbian soldier was seen climbing her balcony. When Raina hears the news, she turns to the soldier. He says that he is prepared to die, but he certainly plans to kill a few Bulgarian soldiers in her bedroom before he dies. Thus, Raina impetuously decides to hide him. The soldiers investigate, find no one, and leave. Raina then calls the man out from hiding; she nervously and absentmindedly sits on his gun, but she learns that it is not loaded; the soldier carries no cartridges. He explains that instead of carrying bullets, he always carries chocolates into battle. Furthermore, he is not an enemy; he is a Swiss, a professional soldier hired by Serbia. Raina gives him the last of her chocolate creams, which he devours, maintaining that she has indeed saved his life. Now that the Bulgarian soldiers are gone, Raina wants the “chocolate cream soldier” (as she calls him) to climb back down the drainpipe, but he refuses to; whereas he could climb up, he hasn’t the strength to climb down. When Raina goes after her mother to help, the “chocolate cream soldier” crawls into Raina’s bed and falls instantly asleep. In fact, when they re-enter, he is sleeping so soundly that they cannot awaken him.
Characters in ‘Arms and the Man’
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Raina Petkoff is the play’s comedic heroine. She has a tendency to think too highly of herself; for instance, proudly pointing out the family’s ‘library,’ which consists of a single shelf of battered books. Her world comes crashing down when Bluntshcli makes her see that she’s been living a lie.
Bluntschli is the play’s hero and a Swiss mercenary who fought for the Serbs. He’s neither disillusioned with war nor does he romanticize it, but he is definitely a realist and considers himself a ‘professional’ soldier. Bluntschli tells Raina, You can always tell an old soldier by the inside of his holsters and cartridge boxes. The young ones carry pistols and cartridges; the old ones, grub.
Sergius Saranoff is a Bulgarian soldier engaged to Raina. Everyone in Bulgaria (including himself) holds Sergius up as a national hero for his ‘brave’ cavalry charge that sent the Serbs running. Bluntschli later reveals, though, that the Serbian regiment Sergius was charging had the wrong ammo – otherwise, his whole squad would’ve died.
Louka and Nicola are the foils to Raina and Sergius. A foil is a character that contrasts with others in order to illustrate certain characteristics. For example, despite being a servant, Louka takes charge of herself and doesn’t rely on ideas of chivalry or servitude to dictate how she thinks she should be treated. Likewise, Nicola doesn’t allow feelings of entitlement to mandate what he thinks his love deserves; therefore, he’s given up the claim of engagement he had to Louka to ensure her happiness and advancement in the world over his own, asserting that they were only ever ‘together’ to keep Louka in a favorable light with the family.
Themes in ‘Arms and the Man’
Let’s take a look at some of the themes of Arms and the Man.
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 thorough going 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. 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.
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.
Students should read the book for proper understanding and summarize
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