Unit 2 — Arms and the Man: Summary & Analysis (1)

Arms and the Man is set in Bulgaria in 1885, during the Serbo-Bulgarian War. It is an anti-romantic comedy in three acts — a play that gently but decisively dismantles romantic illusions about both love and war, through the unforgettable contrast between the dreamy Raina, the posturing Sergius, and the blunt, chocolate-carrying Swiss mercenary, Captain Bluntschli.

1. Summary of Act I

The curtain rises on Raina Petkoff's bedroom in a small Bulgarian town on a cold winter night in 1885. Raina stands on her balcony gazing dreamily at the snow-covered Balkans, "intensely conscious of the romantic beauty of the night." Her mother Catherine bursts in with thrilling news: the Bulgarians have won a decisive battle at Slivnitza, and Raina's fiancé Sergius Saranoff heroically led a cavalry charge that put the Serbs to flight. Raina is ecstatic. She gazes worshipfully at Sergius's portrait.

Then: a stranger climbs through her window. He is a Serbian army officer — tattered, muddy, bloodstained, exhausted — being pursued by Bulgarian soldiers. He threatens that if she calls out, he will shoot. But he has no bullets. He knows she will not want soldiers barging in and seeing her in her nightgown, and uses her cloak as his real "weapon." Raina, on an impulse, hides him behind her curtain when soldiers come to search the room.

When the soldiers leave, the stranger steps out. He is Captain Bluntschli, a Swiss mercenary who has joined the Serbian side purely as a professional — "I joined Servia because it was nearest to me." His views on war are bluntly realistic:

He adds the devastating detail: he has no ammunition — he carries chocolate instead. Raina is "outraged in her most cherished ideals of manhood" and gives him the mocking nickname: "the chocolate cream soldier." She offers him her box of chocolate creams, which he eats hungrily. He then describes the cavalry charge led by "a regular handsome fellow with flashing eyes" — charging "like Don Quixote at the windmills" — who would have been court-martialled for such stupidity if the Serbs had not accidentally been sent the wrong cartridges. The Bulgarians won by accident, not by heroism. Raina shows him Sergius's portrait: "it is the same Don Quixote."

Overcome with pity, Raina cannot send him out into the firing. She asks her mother Catherine to give him shelter. When they return, the soldier is fast asleep. Catherine tries to wake him; Raina stops her: "Don't, mamma: the poor dear is worn out." Act I ends.

Analysis of Act I

Act I performs the classic dramatic function of exposition — introducing the main characters and themes. Two great satirical strands are established here.

First, the satire of war. Bluntschli's prosaic description of the cavalry charge completely deflates the romantic glory Raina and Catherine have been imagining. The comparison to Don Quixote — the famous fictional character who charges windmills thinking they are giants — presents Sergius as deluded. The "wrong cartridges" reveal that the Bulgarian victory was accidental. Bluntschli's chocolate stands for practical survival; Raina's romantic idealism has no place on an actual battlefield.

Second, Raina's character begins to shift. By Act I's end she is calling him "the poor dear" — a very different tone from "outraged in her most cherished ideals of manhood" just minutes earlier. Her attraction to his honest realism has already begun.

2. Summary of Act II

Four months later, in Major Petkoff's garden on a fine spring morning. The war is over. Nicola, the practical servant, lectures the defiant maid Louka on good behaviour — she insists she has "the soul of a servant" never in her. Major Petkoff returns from the war. His wife Catherine complains of a sore throat; he blames her habit of washing every day — "I don't believe in going too far with these modern customs." Catherine responds that he is "a barbarian at heart." Both the Petkoffs are obsessed with appearing "civilised" and "genteel" — they constantly boast about their library and their electric bell, their trips to Bucharest for the opera season.

Sergius Saranoff arrives — "romantically handsome," described as a kind of Byronic hero. He has resigned from the army, denied promotion because he won the battle "the wrong way when the Russian generals were losing it the right way." He makes a startling remark about war and soldiering:

He also praises the Swiss captain who negotiated with them at Pirot as "a soldier — every inch a soldier!" — the very man Raina had called a "poor soldier." Sergius narrates the famous story he has heard: a Bulgarian family sheltered a Serbian officer in their young lady's bedroom. Raina and Catherine, listening, are disturbed — they are the family in the story — but they bluff it out, pretending to be outraged at such "indelicate" women.

Left alone, Sergius and Raina perform their theatrical ritual of "higher love". He calls her "my queen," she calls him "my hero, my king." They speak of pure, spiritual love, sublime feelings. Sergius says she has been his inspiration throughout the war, "like a knight in a tournament with his lady looking on." Raina agrees: "I think we two have found the higher love. When I think of you, I feel that I could never do a base deed or think an ignoble thought."

The moment Raina leaves to get her hat, Sergius turns to Louka and asks her if she knows what "higher love" is. She says no. He tells her it is "very fatiguing to keep up for any length of time" — and flirts with her, putting his arm around her waist. Louka tells him Raina has her own secret admirer. His jealousy is aroused.

Bluntschli arrives at the door — clean, smartly dressed, returning Major Petkoff's old coat. Catherine, alarmed, tries to send him away. But Petkoff has already seen him through the library window and welcomes him warmly: "my dear Captain Bluntschli!" Raina, returning, blurts out spontaneously: "Oh! The chocolate cream soldier!" — then hastily covers it by claiming she meant an ice pudding decoration spoilt by Nicola. All agree to invite Bluntschli to stay and help plan the movement of regiments. Act II ends.

Analysis of Act II

Act II is where Shaw's satire of love reaches its first peak. The scene of "higher love" between Sergius and Raina — lofty language, reverential gestures, "my queen / my hero" — is immediately followed by Sergius confessing to Louka that the higher love is "fatiguing" and he needs "some relief." Sergius is himself aware of the contradiction:

The satire of the Petkoffs' social pretension is also developed here — Petkoff's claim to civilisation is his library (which turns out to contain only old paper-covered novels) and the electric bell that stops servants being shouted at. Shaw presents class snobbery as hollow and comic. Act II also sets up the complications that will drive Act III: Louka's knowledge of Raina's secret; Sergius's jealousy; and Bluntschli's return.

Glossary

End of Unit 2  ·  Continue with Unit 3: Arms and the Man — Summary and Analysis (Act III)
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