Introductory
Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw is a well-renowned play for its eye-opening ideas debunking traditional viewpoint concerning war and love. The play appeared in a performance in 1894 at Avenue Theatre. The story of this play revolves around an unmarried lady, Raina, a Serbian fugitive Bluntschli, Raina's fiance Sergius and Raina's maidservant, Luka. Each character represents a different view on love and war. But Bluntschli and Luka are the mouthpiece of Bernard Shaw's socialist ideas.
Romantic Ideas about War
The play opens with Raina and her mother, Catherine rejoicing over the victory of Bulgarian soldiers through the means of Sergius. Their conversation is marked with an intense feeling of patriotism and enthusiasm for their country and Raina regrets that her gender does not allow her to do the deeds of valour on the battlefield like Sergius, whom her mother terms as the "idol of the regiment":
Our ideas of what Sergius would do—our patriotism—our heroic ideals. Oh, what faithless little creatures girls are!—I sometimes used to doubt whether they were anything but dreams. When I buckled on Sergius’s sword he looked so noble: it was treason to think of disillusion or humiliation or failure. (Raina)
Raina also has her romantic notion regarding the role and characteristics of a soldier. According to her, a soldier of their country is brave, courageous and is not afraid of death while the soldiers on the opposite line are coward as well as afraid of death:
Some soldiers, I know, are afraid of death. (Raina)
Bluntschli comes up as a mouthpiece of Shaw to make us, the readers acquainted with Shaw's anti-romantic ideas about war and to make Raina realize the true nature of war. Bluntschli is a Serbian fugitive who takes shelter in Raina's room after the cavalry charge. Bluntschli is an old but experienced soldier. He reflects the true picture of Sergius and his rash cavalry charge before Raina as thus:
Ah, perhaps not—of course. Well, it’s a funny sight. It’s like slinging a handful of peas against a windowpane: first one comes; then two or three close behind him; and then all the rest in a lump. (Bluntschli)
He, then demonstrates that it was Sergius' luck that made their cavalry charge a success as the Serbian soldiers had run out of ammunition.
Bluntschli's views on war are realistic and bitter. He asserts that all soldiers are afraid to die because they are human beings and fear is equally present in everyone. Secondly, he proves that even a cloak can be a formidable weapon to control an opponent like Raina to prevent her from shouting lest she should be seen in her nightdress.
Bluntschli also highlights two kinds of soldiers: Old Soldiers and new soldiers. Young soldiers are brave, rash and fond of ammunition while the old ones are mature and take food along with them because food is far essential in war than weapons.
Romantic Ideas about Love
The second most prominent theme of this play is love or more specifically, "higher love". Raina also exhibits her usual romantic or remote-to-life perception of love. What is higher love? According to Raina, it is to remember her loved one all the time and to be devoted:
And you have never been absent from my thoughts for a moment. (Very solemnly.) Sergius: I think we two have found the higher love.
But, love as a passion is ridiculed by the main protagonists of the play. Both Raina and Sergius are paying only a lip service. Raina is seen shifting her attention from the first act when she calls Bluntschli her "Chocolate Cream Soldier". While Sergius is seen flirting with Luka, the maidservant of Raina in the back of Raina. In the company of Louka, Sergius admits that he is sick of the concept of higher love:
[Higher love is a] Very fatiguing thing to keep up for any length of time, Louka. One feels the need of some relief after it.
It is obvious that both Raina and Sergius are toying with the very concept of love.
Love, in this play, is perceived differently through different characters. For Raina, it is a romantic bliss; for Sergius, it is a fatiguing passion; for Luka, it is an act of bravery as well as a mean to reduce class distinction while for Bluntschli, we don't know for sure but he surely has a mature opinion on love.
Also, we learn from the play that love is not limited to the people of the higher class. Love is equally appreciated among the people of the working class. But through the character of Louka, we grasp the idea that love can be a binding force for the upper and lower class. She courageously announces before Sergius:
I would marry the man I loved, which no other queen in Europe has the courage to do. If I loved you, though you would be as far beneath me as I am beneath you, I would dare to be the equal of my inferior.
Louka clearly mocks the mentality of queens as their option to love someone is limited to princes only. But she is directly hitting at Sergius for being utterly class conscious in the matters of love. Her single dialogue is the soul of the theme of love in this play.
Conclusion
Manifestly, the play Arms and the Man is a show of Shaw's anti-romantic ideas of war and socialist ideas of love. This play is ruled by the soul of equality for the theme of love and the soul of the reason for the theme of war.
