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LITERARY ANALYSIS OF ARMS AND THE MAN

THEMES OF THE PLAY

ARMS AND THE MAN AS AN ANTI-ROMANTIC COMEDY

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LITERARY ANALYSIS OF ARMS AND THE MAN

It is a humorous play and a social satire that presents a realistic
account of war and shows how foolish it is to idealize war as something
noble. It is also a satire on romantic and unrealistic notions of love.
The play is satire on the idealism of war and love. It opens with a young
beautiful girl, Raina who glorifies the nobility of something as terrible as
war. Her mother, Catherine does it as well. They both represent the
conception of Bulgarian society of that time. They idealize war as something
heroic despite the fact that war is nothing more than bloodshed. This play
presents the real account of war.

Additionally, Sergius, who is considered as hero because of his victory

against Serbs is revealed as a foolish and double-faced person. Bluntschli
unfolds the reality of war and soldiers. He is the most rational person in the
play who appears as a fool and coward at first. He accepts the reality of
war and believes that war is foolish and dangerous.

Moreover, the reality of notions of love is also revealed by the

characters. Raina, who claims to be in love, is actually in love with the idea
of love not Sergius. She falls in love with Bluntschli in the first meet up. On
the other hand, Sergius is also seen calling his love for Raina as the “higher
love” but deep inside, he is not sincere with her. It shows the uncertainty of
one’s own emotions and disloyalty of people.

The play also portrays the materialism in the society, social

discrimination and class struggle of the lower class. Bluntschli is not
considered as a gentleman when he belongs to middle class but as he inherits
the wealth from his father, his worth in Petkoff family’s eye increases. It
shows materialism and class discrimination. The class struggle is also seen
through the character of Louka, who is ambitious about changing her social
position and at last she achieves it by marrying Sergius.

Arms and the Man does not only depict the Bulgarian society of that
time but reflects the norms of today’s society as well. All these elements can
be seen in modern society. Though, the conception of majority about war
has been changed but class discrimination, materialism and class struggle
are still present.
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THEMES OF THE PLAY

THE REALITY OF WAR:
This is the major theme of this play. The reality of war is unfolded by a
character named Captain Bluntschli. However, all the other characters
glorify war as something noble. The play opens with a romantic view of war
held by Raina and Catherine. Both mother and daughter idealize war as
something very noble and heroic. They consider Sergius as a brave hero
because of his victory against Serbian Army.

The play unfolds the reality of war in a satirical way. Captain Bluntschli,
a Serbian officer, explains this theme. He tells Raina about the reality of
war and those soldiers who are considered as heroes. He is happy to escape
the battle field alive and tells her that he keeps chocolates in his pockets
instead of ammunition. His ideas about war strongly contrast the old feudal
conception of Bulgarian Aristocrats. He believes that war is foolish and
terrible.

Additionally, he tells her about Sergius that he has won the war not
because of his bravery and intelligence but because of his good fortune. He
adds that Sergius is a romantic fool not a hero.

REALITY OF LOVE:
This is also a major theme of the play. It is explored by many characters:
Raina, Sergius and Louka. The play is a satire on romanticism and ideal
love as well. Raina, the protagonist of the play, is a dramatic lady who
idealizes love and war. She believes that she truly loves her fiancé but she
does not actually love him rather she is in love with the idea of being in love.
She immediately catches feelings for Bluntschli when she meets him for the
first time. In the end, she accepts his proposal.

On the other hand, Sergius also claims to be in love with Raina but he is
not entirely faithful with her. He starts flirting with Louka in spite of his
engagement with Raina. In the end of the play, he discloses his affair with
Louka.
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Moreover, Louka also does not love her fiancé, Nicola. She desires to be
a part of upper class so he lets Sergius flirt with her. In the end, when they
reveal about their affair, Nicola releases her from their engagement.

CLASS STRUGGLE

It is also a major theme of this play. This theme is explored especially by

the antagonist, Louka, who is a servant in Petkoff’s house. She wants to be
a part of higher class and wants to get married into aristocracy. She starts
an affair with Sergius despite her engagement with Nicola because of his
social status. In the end, she fulfills her desire by marrying Sergius.

Shaw portrays that how lower class was underestimated by higher class
in Bulgarian society. Major Petkoff, Catherine and Raina also show this
discrimination between upper and lower class. Bluntschli is not considered
as a gentleman because he belongs to middle class. But Raina and her
parents immediately accept his proposal for Raina when they come to know
about the hotels he has inherited from his father. He is considered as
wealthy and a gentleman after that.

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW'S ARMS AND THE MAN

AS AN ANTI-ROMANTIC COMEDY
George Bernard Shaw occupies a significant position in the history of
English Literature as an unconventional dramatist. Bing influenced by
Ibsen, a Norwegain playwright, he took his pen to write dramas to satirize
rotten attitudes, conventions and manners of the society. Bernard Shaw
created a new kind of play. The new drama gives up all traditional
conventions of dramatic technique. Shaw wrote more than 53 plays that are
all comedies. Arms and the Man is the most popular and successful staged
drama of his. It is also an anti-romantic comedy because it exposes the folly
cowardice of soldier's shatters the romantic illusions about war and attacks
severely romantic sentimental love.
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He has aptly called Arms and the Man as anti-romantic comedy in

which he has exposed all hollowness of the romantic ideas of love and war.
The play is anti-romantic because in it Show has attacked the romantic
idealization of life, and it is a comedy because in it he has exposed and
ridiculed hollowness of romantic love and the heroic ideals of war. By
romanticism Show means all that it is not based on fact and reality. Shaw
laughs but his laughter has a serious intention. He is both witty and thought
provoking.
The play opens on a note of romance. Raina is a romantic girl who
stands on her balcony enjoying the beauty of the night . She is bothered to
Serguis a "Byronic hero" who has gone to war like knights of the Middle
Ages. He makes a heroic cavalry charge and worshipped by Raina. On his
return home, we get a scene of higher and romantic love with Raina calling
her "hero" and her "king" and addressing her as his "queen" and saying
that he could win the heroic victory only because she is inspired him.
Both Raina and Serguis live in a world of romance. In the beginning
of the play Show shows how Raina doubt their romantic ideas. They're
derived from the reading of Byron and Pushkin and the seeing of romantic
play.
That is why their romance is soon shattered through its very first
contact with reality. Bluntschli represents solid reality. Through him Shaw
places the relevant facts and arguments before Raina and her idealistic
notions of war are soon shattered. Firstly, she is bluntly told that Serguis is
a fool and block head, that he and his regiment nearly committed suicide,
only the pistol miss the fire.
" Of all the fools ever let loose on afield of battle, that man must
be the very modest. He and his regiment simply committed
suicide, only pistol missed fire."
Secondly, She is told that food is more important in war than ammunition,
that it is the duty of a solider to live as long as he can.
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" All of them, dear lady, all of them, believe me, it is our duty to
live as long as we can."
He also tells her that with their end in view a soldier should run away from
the field. And that"
"Nine Soldiers out of ten are both fools."
Gradually, Raina is made to see the fact of the case, and her romantic
ideals of war are demolished. Similarly Serguis is disillusioned by war, and
realizes that soldering is a trade like any other trade."
It is not heroism, but the "coward art" of the mercilessly attacking when
you are strong and having your enemy at a disadvantage.

" Soldiering, my dear madam, is the coward's art of attacking

mercilessly when you are strong, and keeping out of harm's way
when you are weak. That is the whole secret of successful
fighting. Get your enemy at a disadvantage and ever, on any
account, fight him on equal terms."
Similarly , both Raina and Serguis are disillusioned in their romantic
ideals of love. Serguis finds to his great disappointment that behind his back
Raina made love to Bluntschli , and Raina discovers that her hero is made
of clay and can flirt with her maid at her back.
Instinctively, she turns to Bluntschli, but because he faces facts. He
helps her to find herself, to understand reality about life. He breaks the web
of illusion woven around her, and makes her see the light of day.
Thus Shaw is a realist who places before the readers the facts of life,
the truth about love and war to make people think and understand. He
spreads truth, and demolishes all that is false and irrational by focusing on
it the search light of logic and reason. But it must be remembered that Shaw
is not merely a realist but also an anti-romantic. His realism is not merely
photographic realism: there is also much heightening of reality. In order to
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achieve his anti-romantic purpose, the dramatist resorts to exaggeration of

reality which often results in distortion and falsification of reality.

A fugitive solider may demand food when he is hungry, but we hardly

believe that he would demand chocolates. Sex may be an impersonal
instinct, but in real life Serguises are usually married to Raina and not to
Louka. Soldiers may be born fools , but it does not seem credible that they
will not observe a pistol lying in their very eye, even after a thorough search,
while an ignorant maid- servant, Louka, notices it as soon as she enters the
room.
Louka may be a realist as for as Serguis is concerned, but she is a
romantic in relation to Nicola, dreaming of becoming a rich lady and
ignoring his practical advice. Louka is a romantic in her ambition to cut
through barriers of birth and rank.Her love-affair with Serguis is the result
of her romantic dreams.
Shaw's views on love and war were characterized by strict realism and
are clearly brought out if we compare them with that of Tolstoy. Like
Tolstoy he tells that romantic war is only butchery and romantic love is only
lust. Shaw only objects to them in so far as they are ideal. He objects to them
in so far as they are ideal. He objects not much to war as to be praise of wat.
He doesnot so much dislike love as the love for love. Shaw is quite content
to say:
"Don't be taken it by it."
Tolstoy seems to propose that high passion and patriotic valour should be
destroyed. Shaw is more moderate and asks only that they should not be
desecrated.

Dr. Salwa Radwan