BERNARD SHAW: ARMS and the MAN (SUMMARY OF THE ACTS)

BERNARD SHAW: ARMS and the MAN

 SUMMARY OF THE ACTS

 

ACT I

This has its setting in Raina’s room during a moon-lit night.  Catherine, Raina’s  mother, comes in to break the news of the triumphant success of Sergius.  Raina’s fiancé in the war front.  Catherine tries to make her believe the story, but Raina pretends as if she is not interested.  Louka enters to request that all the windows be firmly shut as there is shooting in the streets.  Catherine and Louka soon go out, leaving Raina in the room.  Raina then starts to adore Sergius’ portrait and prepares to read herself to sleep.  Just suddenly, gun shots are heard very close by.  Then a fleeting soldier climbs the water pipe and gains entry into Raina’s room.  He threatens to shoot if Raina should raise an alarm.

 Raina is scared initially, but soon realizes that the soldier is harmless, he is only looking for refuge.  She takes pity on him and asks him to hide behind the curtains.  Louka and Catherine enter, worried about Raina’s safety.  Soon after a Russian soldier enters, searching desperately for the fleeting soldier.  When the search is over, the fleeting soldier comes out and introduces himself as a mercenary Swiss who has no ammunition but carries chocolate in his cartridges.  Discussion then turns on the Bulgarian victory of the moment.  The fugitive condemns Sergius for his senseless risk and unprofessional action.  Raina is annoyed and wants to send the man out.  She soon changes her mind and decides to keep him, out of honor and hospitality.  Raina goes out to fetch her mother to come and see the visitor, but before they arrive, the man has slept off.  Raina restrains her mother from waking him, and calls him poor darling which surprises her mother.

ACT II

This Act is set in the garden and house of Major Petkoff. It is during spring; Nicola is seen giving conditions to Louka for wanting to marry her. Nicola and Louka are servants in the service of the Pickoffs , Nicola believes that having the soul of servant is the secret of success in service. He advises Louka against any act of unfaithfulness to her master and mistress.

Major Petkoff arrives from the war front, and Nicola and Louka attend to him. He sends for Catherine, his wife, and Raina, his daughter, and demands some coffee which Louka prepares and brings to the table. Catherine arrives on the scene, greets her husband with warm kisses. Petkoff informs her that the war is over and that the peace treaty was signed three days earlier. The woman does not support the idea of a peace treaty, as she wants Austria captured and annexed to Bulgaria.

Sergius also arrives and enters; Catherine and Major Petkoff appreciate Sergius gallant victory at the war. He narrates his experiences for their benefit. Catherine will want him promoted, but he says he is resigning from military service. Ironically, Sergius then narrates the story of a Serbian soldier who climbed a water pipe and made his way into the bedroom of a young Bulgarian lady.

Sergius and Raina are to go on a walk. Raina goes into the room to dress up for the walk. This gives Sergius time ask Louka about his rival. At first Louka declines to tell him the secret so as not to put her job in danger but soon she reveals how she gets to know by listening through the door of her room. Sergius condemns this and calls Louka Raina’s betrayer. Louka, in her reaction to this accusation, lets out the weaknesses of the rich people. She also allows Sergius to know that Raina and himself are artificial and untrustworthy. Sergius realizes his mistake and apologizes for his disgraceful behavior.

Raina comes out for the walk. But her father demands that Sergius assist in the library. This disturbs Raina. But Sergius goes into the library all the same. Catherine calls Raina and tells her that Petkoff is requesting for the cost given to the chocolate cream soldier. At the moment, Blunntchli arrives with a luggage. His appearance disturbs Catherine who wants to keep the secret of ever keeping the Serbian soldier from her husband. She demands that Bluntschli depart immediately, to prevent a meeting with Petkoff, just then Major Petkoff rushes in and sees him; he welcomes Bluntchli and asks him to come in. they seen to have a faint knowledge of each other in the war front.  Catherine wants everything about the last visit to be hidden. Eventually, Captain Bluntschli is persuaded to stay with them and he agrees.

ACT III

The setting is Petkoff’s house. Captain Bluntschli and Major Serguis are busy seeing to the three regiments to be established at the request of Petkoff. Bluntschli proves very brilliant on the job. Petkoff had still requests for his coat, saying he feels better at home in it, but he cannot get it. He is deceived by Catherine.  Nicola is sent to bring the coat from where Petkooff had searched before. Nicola fetches the coat to the surprise of Petkoff.

The work on the regiments is completed and handed over to Petkoff, who is to act immediately on Captain Bluntschli’s advice. Raina discusess with Bluntschli and soon gets to know that it was Bluntschli himself who revealed the secret of his last visit to someone who told her father and Sergius.

Bluntschli receives a telegram about his father’s death and says he must go home immediately to look after the estate left behind by him. He starts to recount his father’s fortunes from the family solicitor’s letter with near glee, which prompts Louka’s comment that he has no mood of grief for his dead father. Raina then says something that suggests that soldiers lack such tender feeling s after killing many people at different wars.

Nicola wants a minute’s discussion with Louka, his girl. He waves 30 levas at her. Hoping to buy her affection and loyalty with it. Louka scorns at his offer of money. Nicola then leaves, and Sergius appears on the scene. He starts to discuss with Louka. In the process of their discussion, Louka reveals the secret love between Raina and Bluntschli. Sergius later accuses Bluntschli of being unfaithful to him. He promises to have a duel with Bluntschli, but the latter calls him an amateur.  Raina is accused also by Sergius but she denies the allegation. Raina later accuses Sergius of setting up Louka as a spy on her which Sergius denies.

            Sergius and Louka now parade themselves as married, to the surprise of Major Petkoff who comments that Louka is betrothed to Nicola. Nicola renounces Louka. On whether Bluntschli is in love with Raina, he denies and asks those present to consider the age different between them, and his own position. The issue of the coat is raised, and Bluntschli reveals that he disguised himself using the coat to facilitate his escape from the enemies. Bluntschli soon gets to know the true age of Raina and thus proposes to her. He then leaves with a promise to come back to witness the marriage between Sergius and Louka, and possibly marry Raina as well.  

CHARACTERIZATION

The most outstanding characters in the play are Raina Petkoff, Captain Bluntschli, Major Sergius Saranoff, Major Paul Petkoff, Catherine Petkoff, Nicola and Louka.

RAINA

She is the daughter of Major Petkoff and Catherine. She has a strikingly romantic attitude, very beautiful and noble and with a ‘thrilling voice’. She and her hero, Sergius are said to be committed to an ideal of spiritual union on the plane of ‘the higher love’. She belongs to the aristocratic class, and her parents want her to marry Sergius, a successful military officer.

In spite of all her idealism, she is good-natured and kind. For example, well before Bluntschli exposes her true nature, her pity for ‘the poor darling’ in Act 1 has also given evidence of the natural feeling which redeems her from being impossibly idealistic. It is symbolic that she tears up her own portrait (p. 83), an act that eventually transforms her to a realist. Her so-called ‘higher love’ not standing, it is ironical that she falls in love almost instantly with the chocolate cream soldier, a complete stranger in her life.

SERGIUS

He is a Bulgarian military officer, the heroic lover of idealistic Raina. He has very strong romantic looks, handsome, assertive and with a ‘jealous observant eye’. When he comes back after the war, he reports at the Petkoffs’ house to see his fiancé. He is happily received by the household. He is committed to Raina and ‘the higher love’ as absolutely as the only one who ‘never apologizes’ and ‘never withdraws ‘as he can be committed. Yet ‘the higher love’ is not sustained for too long before his desire for Louka draws him irresistibly towards her and towards self-realization. This dilemma eventually drives him to proclaim the frustration and denounce love as a ‘hollow sham’, war as ‘fraud‘and the whole of life as ‘a farce’. It is Louka whose love finally restores him to a kind of balance.

             The author has used him to represent the ideal notion of love and military heroism. He seeks absolute perfection and faithfulness in an amorous relationship, yet he is incapable of keeping up with it himself. His military heroism is blind to all dangers, regarding caution and discretion as a sign of cowardice. It is quite ironical that he decides to marry Louka at the end, instead of his higher love, Raina.

CAPTAIN BLUNTSCHLI

He is a Swiss military officer, a mercenary fighting on the side of the Serbs. He is first seen as a refugee, ‘The Man’, in Raina’s bedchamber. He is a down-to-earth realist, with a keen sense of judgment. He fights only when it is necessary, and does not when there is no need for it. He carries chocolate in his cartridges instead of ammunition because he sees the war he engages in as senseless, and therefore not worth dying for.

He comes back to return Petkoff’s coat given to him to disguise during the war. He is a mature and brilliant army officer who uses instinct and experience of world to expose the true nature of Raina and Sergius. He successfully assist Mayor Petkoff and Sergius in the practicalities of sending three regiments to Philippopolis, Bluntschli is considered to be in love with Raina but he renounces this love out of a crucial misjudgment of her age. As a practical man, when he realizes that Raina is twenty-three, he quickly agrees to marry her.

When his father died, we read he inherited an estate and a big business. His praise of Nicola and his idea of offering him a job in his hotel business both suggest a degree of sympathy for material possession.  Bluntschli is the most stable character, the judge of the other characters and the touchstone by which we may form our judgments about situations and other characters in the play.

PETKOFF

He is a major in the Bulgarian army. He is the landlord of the house that serves as place setting for the play. He is married to Catherine, and they are blessed with a daughter, Raina. He is very kind and generous to every member of his household. He is a cheerful, excitable, naturally unambitious person of about 55 years of age. His income makes him big and important in his local society. He is satisfied with his military rank as a major.

He has a low opinion of Sergius as a soldier, and thinks he does not yet deserve to be promoted:

                        Until we’re quite sure that the peace will be a lasting one.

He is a realist who knows too well that war has its own limitations. He is aware that his wife’s romantic dream about war is unrealistic because ‘he should have had to subdue the whole Austriian Empire first’ to annex Serbia. He wants Nicola to marry Louka, as they are both of the same social class. He is fooled by Catherine and Raina about his missing coat. He is not happy to see his daughter eventually not married by her betrothed, Sergius. He is an accomplished humorist who contributes immensely to the comedy of the play.

CATHERINE

She is the wife of Major Petkoff, and Raina’s mother. She is over 40 years. She is very energetic and beautiful. She has a romantic; idea about war heroism. She has aristocratic learning’s, determine to be a viennese lady. She wants her daughter to marry a rich and successful army officer. She tries all her efforts to achieve this but fails, as Sergius marries her servant instead of her daughter. However, she supports the marriage on discovery that Bluntschli is worth several levas from an inheritance. She is very brilliant to her dealings with various characters in the play.

LOUKA

She is a female servant to the Petkoff family. She is responsible for Raina, and knowing every bit of the father’s personality. She is very brilliant in her dealings with people of varied background. She is never weighed down by her subordinate position. She relates well with people and always encourages everybody to see her as a normal human being; she does not allow herself to be bought over when Nicola waves 30 levas in her face. She is always very philosophical in her responses to different situation. She eventually marries ‘Sergius her mistress fiancé’. She is used by Shaw to achieve her objective of removing social inequality from society.

NICOLA

A male servant who believes that the secret of social success is to have a servant’s heart. He intends to ‘buy Louka’s affection and loyalty with money. He joins Catherine to deceive Major Petkoff on her coat matter. He finally renounces Louka, denying ever being engaged to her. He is a representative of a class that subjects itself in fate, and does not see reason for improvement. He remains a servant at the end of the play.

LAGUAGE AND DRAMATIC TECHNIQUES

The author is sensitive to both the situation and characters in his choice of language. When the news of the victory at Slivnitza reaches Petkoff’s house. Catherine, the romantic idealist, is made to use romantic language, full of exaggeration and inflated ideals. Says Catherine:

                        You cant guess how splendid it is. A Calvary charge! Think of that!   

                        He defied our Russian commanders – acted without order –

                        Led a charge on his own responsibility - headed it himself – was the

First man to sweep through their guns. Cant you see it, Raina our gallant splendid Bulgarians with their swords and eyes flashing, thundering down like an avalanche and scattering the wretched Serbs and their dandified Austrian officers like chaff.

There is a contrast between a master and a servant in the use of .language. Louka is a good illustration when she says to Sergius.

                        Don’t trifle with me, please. An officer should not trifle with a

                        Servant.

And the same holds between the rich and the poor; Louka is again illustrative here: She says to Sergius:

                        Did you find charge that the men whose fathers are poor

                        like mine were any less brave than the men who are rich like you?

Then we have the relaxed easy going, bantering language of the rich, as represented by Petkoff. On his arrival from the war and in answer to his wife’s query whether somebody has brought fresh coffee, he says,

                        Yes, Louka’s been looking after me. The war’s over. The treaty was

Signed three days ago at Bucharest; and the decree for our army to demobilize was issued yesterday.

Reflecting the language of the period in which Shaw wrote, we have omission of the apostrophe:

                        THE MAN:    … theyer coming…

                                                     Dont mention it.

                                                      And don’t look

                        THE MAN:        You cant

                        RAINA:               Theyll kill you

The return of Captain Bluntschli in Act III provides a very good piece of dramatic irony. Although Bluntschli has earlier met Petkoff and Sergius in the war front, they are not aware that it was in Mayor Petkoff‘s very house that he took refuge in the first instance. Apart from dramatic ironies which surround some characters

In the play, Bernard Shaw has given ironic interpretations to the conventional meanings of love and military courage in the story. Bluntschli and Sergius illustrate this style of writing. The play is thus a humorous satire on love and military heroism.

Symbolism: Raina’s tearing up of her own picture (on page 83) is a symbolic gesture which can be interpreted to mean the destruction of her romantic and idealistic self, giving way to realism and self-realization.

REVISION QUESTIONS

1.     Give an account of the first meeting between Raina and Bluntschli.

2.     How does Shaw treat love relationship in this play?

3.     Discuss the theme of war and heroism in the play.

4.     Compare and contrast the characters of Sergius and Bluntschli.

5.     How and why does Major Sergius attempt to seduce Louka?

6.     Discuss Arms and the Man as a comedy.

7.     Discuss the character of Nicola in the light of Bluntschli’s praise and Louka’s criticism.

8.      Compare and contrast the characters of Raina and Louka.

9.     Describe two incidents of dramatic irony in the play and their significance.

10.                        Trace the love affair between Raina and Bluntschli from the beginning up to Bluntschli’s formal proposal.

By

Eguriase S. M. Okaka