"Arms and the Man" by George Bernard Shaw is a comedic play that satirizes the romanticized notions of war and love. Set during the Serbo-Bulgarian war of the 1880s, the story follows Raina Petkoff, a young Bulgarian woman engaged to a heroic soldier named Sergius Saranoff. However, when a Swiss mercenary named Bluntschli enters her life, the contrast between the romantic ideals of war and the pragmatic reality is humorously highlighted. Shaw's writing style cleverly exposes the hypocrisy of societal norms and class relationships through witty dialogue and absurd situations, making the play a delightful and thought-provoking read.
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Has Romance?
The play has a high level of romance, as it revolves around love interests and relationships.
From The Publisher:
Arms and the Man was George Bernard Shaw's first commercially successful play. It is a comedy about idealized love versus true love. A young Serbian woman idealizes her war-hero fiance and thinks the Swiss soldier who begs her to hide him a terrible coward. After the war she reverses her opinions, though the tangle of relationships must be resolved before her ex-soldier can conclude the last of everyone's problems with Swiss exactitude. The play premiered to an enthusiastic reception. Only one man booed Shaw at the end, to which Shaw replied: 'My dear fellow, I quite agree with you, but what are we two against so many?'
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Arms and the Man?
About the Author:
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 - 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic and polemicist whose influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond.
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