Arms and The Man Past Paper PDF 2020-2021

Arms and the Man Asst.Teacher Musaab Natiq...

Arms and the Man Asst.Teacher Musaab Natiq Study Ibrahim Guide by Course Hero(M.A Literature) Aeneid, the title is meant ironically or contrastingly. What's Inside j Book Basics................................................................................................. 1 d In Context d In Context..................................................................................................... 1 a Author Biography..................................................................................... 3 Social Satire in Victorian h Characters.................................................................................................. 4 Comedy k Plot Summary............................................................................................. 7 Arms and the Man is an example of a seemingly lighthearted c Section Summaries............................................................................... 13 romantic comedy that is actually biting social satire with a number of hidden messages. This genre of social satire g Quotes........................................................................................................ 23 comedy that was popular in the time of Queen Victoria l Symbols...................................................................................................... 25 (1819–1901) is rooted in street dramas performed by traveling troupes of players during the English Middle Ages (c. m Themes...................................................................................................... 26 1066–1450). The English playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616) refers to the immunity from direct censorship such players had in his 1603 play, Hamlet, when a troupe performs a court mime enacting the ignoble murder of Prince Hamlet's j Book Basics father by his uncle. Puppet (notably "Punch and Judy") shows arrived in England from Italy around 1660. These street dramas AUTHOR were entertaining, but they also invariably included a dig or two George Bernard Shaw at some local official, cleric, or unpopular public figure. The hump-backed puppet character Punch became especially FIRST PERFORMED joined to political satire in England in the early 1800s, and the 1894 British periodical Punch (1841–1992 and 1996–2000) was immensely popular worldwide for its biting satire. Other GENRE notable dramatists who wrote plays in this genre include Irish Romance, Satire author Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) and the British musical team ABOUT THE TITLE playwrights William S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Arthur The title, Arms and the Man, comes from a line in Roman poet S. Sullivan (1842–1900). Virgil's (70–19 BCE) epic poem Aeneid (c. 30 BCE) about the Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Ernest, A Trivial founding of Rome: "I sing of arms and the man who first from Comedy for Serious People (1895) has become one of the most the shores of Troy came destined an exile to Italy and the enduring plays of this genre and remains popular in Lavinian beaches." As Arms and the Man satirizes or ridicules educational and community theater venues both in England the sort of nationalistic military heroism portrayed in the and the United States to the present day. The characters 1  Arms and the Man Study Guide In Context 2 engage in witty banter, and the plot tightly twists around British. mistaken identities, romantic entanglements, and secrets "in the family closet," all of which are resolved through love at the Another such play in the satiric comedy mode is Englishman end. Above all, Wilde's drama satirizes British society and its Brandon Thomas's (1848–1914) Charley's Aunt (1893). Such class hypocrisy as well as the institution of marriage. plays poke fun at the idea that marriage to someone within one's class was the be-all and end-all of social success and, Wilde's play includes a number of parallels to Arms and the indeed, happiness. They do so by emphasizing the shallowness Man true to the genre of a Victorian romantic comedy. For of the players in the game of love. Often, a lie told between example, one of Wilde's characters lies about his own name. In lovers is at the center of the plot. In Thomas's play, a male Arms and the Man, a young lady lies to her love about an character masquerades as an elderly woman to help in a encounter with another man while he lies to her about his friend's courtship. feelings for her maid. While Shaw portrays various young characters falling in love and living happily ever after, he also Shaw sets Arms and the Man in Bulgaria during the Serbo- portrays the older characters, Catherine and Paul Petkoff, as Bulgarian War. This setting is at a remove from Britain, and the logical end result of love and courtship. Catherine worries Britain had no involvement in the Serbo-Bulgarian War. Going about whether Paul yells at the servants, and Paul dismisses into little detail about the war itself, Shaw uses the war to Catherine's silly prattle about how the war should have been satirize the romantic ideas of heroism in battle. He also gently handled. Both Petkoffs lie to one another just as Wilde's inserts references to his own socialist ideals through the characters lie to the objects of their affections. Wilde's elderly romances between upper-class Sergius and the maid Louka pair Miss Prism and the Rev. Canon Chasuble conclude The and upper-class Raina and the soldier-for-hire Bluntschli. Importance of Being Earnest by declaring their love for one Shaw's later and best-known play, Pygmalion (1913), satirizes another. both the class system in Britain and the inequality of the sexes through the portrayal of protagonist Eliza Doolittle. In the play Gilbert and Sullivan wrote a number of very popular operettas, Eliza is plucked off the streets of London where she was beginning with Thespis in 1871 and ending with The Grand Duke selling flowers, taken into Henry Higgins's home to be taught in 1896. All their works have some level of social commentary upper-class diction in the English language, and trained to on subjects, including the legal system in Trial by Jury (1875), behave as a member of the upper class. However, she could the royal navy in H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), and copyright laws in never be accepted as such due to her low birth. The Pirates of Penzance (1879). Two operettas that are particularly notable as satire on the Serbo _ Bulgarian Serbo-Bulgarian War War British peerage, the various ranks of nobility in England at the time, and the government were Iolanthe (1882) and The Mikado The Serbo-Bulgarian War took place from November 1885 to (1885). Iolanthe lampoons the British peerage, a system of March 1886 between Serbia and Bulgaria. The conflict arose government in which men who are fortunate enough to be born because both sides felt that the Treaty of Berlin, entered in into families of high rank are allowed a position in government 1878, should have given them more extensive territory. Under similar to that of a member of Congress in the present-day this treaty, one territory, Eastern Rumelia, had been separated United States. Gilbert, the lyricist, does this with subtle digs in from Bulgaria and given to the Ottoman Empire instead. In his lyrics, such as lines stating "The House of Peers made no September 1885, Bulgarian nationalists mounted a coup (a pretense / To intellectual eminence / Or scholarship sublime." sudden action designed to take over the government by force) In other words, those with inherited positions don't really and attempted to reunify this territory with Bulgaria. Serbia did understand the matters upon which they are voting. Instead not wish to see their rival strengthened in this way. So, on Gilbert portrays the peers as buffoons who spend their days November 14, 1885, after failing to get Bulgaria to give some of mooning over pretty girls. The Mikado, one of the duo's most their territory to Serbia, the Serbian king, Milan Obrenović IV popular and enduring works, satirizes the British legal system (1854–1901; ruled 1882–89) declared war. The Serbs expected and the use of capital punishment in unfair ways. Setting the a quick victory. However, the Bulgarians won a battle at comedy in Japan allows them to do so in a veiled way, although Slivnitza that began on November 17 and lasted three days. It is much of what the operetta portrays and protests is clearly this battle to which Catherine refers when speaking to Raina at Copyright and the Man© 2019 Course Hero, Inc. Arms 2 Arms and the Man Study Guide Author Biography 3 the beginning of Act 1. one of the ways in which Shaw, as a Fabian, tried to influence his fellow Britons. Throughout the play, there are subtle Prince Alexander I of Bulgaria (1857–93) was not quick to messages as to Shaw's feelings about class. For example, in accept an armistice (a truce between warring parties). He Arms and the Man, the members of the Petkoff family and accepted it only after Austria-Hungary threatened to enter the Sergius are portrayed as being upper-class society people. In war in Serbia's defense. Because it is exactly what Prince contrast, the servants Louka and Nicola and the soldier Alexander also wanted, Catherine's statement in Act 2 is Bluntschli are of a lower class. Though Bluntschli comes from a humorous. She says the Bulgarians "could have annexed moneyed family, as a Swiss citizen he has no rank or title. Servia and made Prince Alexander emperor of the Balkans. Raina and Sergius speak to each other in high-minded ways That's what I would have done." and prance about acting as if they are special. However, both Raina and Sergius find that they can only have real The Treaty of Bucharest (1886) was entered on March 3, 1886. conversations with the lower-class people: Raina with This is the treaty about which the characters are speaking at Bluntschli and Sergius with Louka. It is as if their upper-class the beginning of Act 2. happiness is no more than a façade they have to put on to preserve appearances. Shaw's Fabian Socialist Views Shaw also makes light of the idea that being a member of the upper class conveys or is evidence of merit. For example, George Bernard Shaw was an early and very active member of Sergius and even the older, more competent Major Petkoff are the Fabian Society. It was named for a Roman general, Fabius at a loss as to how to write the necessary orders in Act 3. They Cunctator (c. 280–03 BCE), who avoided pitched battles but have to enlist the lower-class (and, indeed, lower-ranking) instead wore down his opponents. The Fabians were a middle- Bluntschli to help them. Sergius says of this, "He finds out what class intellectual socialist group who aimed to transform British to do; draws up the orders; and I sign 'em. Division of labor." society without revolution. Rather, they hoped to permeate the Later in the same act, Louka asks Sergius, "Did you find... that country's intellectual and political life. They attempted to the men whose fathers are poor... were any less brave than infiltrate the Liberal and Conservative political parties, the two the men who are rich like you?" Sergius responds in the main political parties in England at that time, with their socialist negative. In the end, both Raina and Sergius realize they are ideas. However, they eventually ended up helping to organize happier with someone who is not a member of their class. the Labor Representation Committee, which in 1906 became Class is irrelevant. Shaw encodes such messages in a light, the British Labor Party, one of the main political parties in romantic comedy, giving the audience food for thought long Britain today. after the curtain has gone down. The Fabian Society had other notable members, including: H.G. Wells (1866–1946), a novelist whose best-known works a Author Biography were The Time Machine (1895) and War of the Worlds (1898), George Bernard Shaw, born on July 26, 1856, was a leading Sidney (1859–1947) and Beatrice (1858–1943) Webb, Irish dramatist of his time. In addition to his contributions as a cofounders of the London School of Economics and playwright, he was a music and theater critic, a novelist, and an Political Science, outspoken social reformer. Graham Wallas (1858–1932), a noted educator, Annie Besant (1847–1933), a British social reformer and Indian independence leader, Early Life Thomas Davidson (1840–1900), a Scottish naturalist and philosopher, who founded the Fellowship of the New Life Shaw was born in Dublin as the third and last child of George that later became the Fabian Society. Carr and Lucinda Elizabeth Gurly Shaw. He suffered what he described as "a devil of a childhood." His father was a civil The writing of plays such as Arms and the Man may have been servant turned unsuccessful corn merchant, as well as an Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 3 Arms and the Man Study Guide Characters 4 alcoholic—all of which reduced the family to living in genteel from the 19th-century stereotype of the male-dominated, poverty. His mother—the daughter of a well-to-do sweetly fragile, self-sacrificing female. family—found escape from the family difficulties in music. A professional singer and student of the conductor George Vandeleur Lee, she eventually followed him to London to Career as a Playwright pursue her own career and improve her situation. These life events encouraged Shaw to be a lifelong teetotaler (person Shaw's career as a playwright began in 1891 when he met J.T. who does not drink alcohol). They also imbued him with a Grein (1862–1935), the director of The Independent Theatre—a strong interest in music and kindled his sensitivity to the plight new, progressive venue for "the theatre of ideas" inspired by of women in Victorian society (1837–1901). the realistic "problem plays" of Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906). Grein offered to read Shaw's play In 1876 Shaw joined his mother and Vandeleur Lee in London. Widowers' Houses. He accepted it almost immediately, and it He expanded his knowledge of music to include literature. He was first publicly performed in 1892. Over the next six years, read voraciously, attended socialist lectures and debates, and Shaw completed a collection of dramas called Plays Pleasant pursued a career in journalism and writing. His first attempts to and Unpleasant. Each attacked with varied ferocity the social write prose—a string of five novels—were rejected by evils of the day. Arms and the Man was part of this collection publishers. However, he did land a job as a freelance critic for and satirized romantic ideas of war and heroism. It was first an influential daily paper, the Pall Mall Gazette. The liberal produced in 1894 and published in 1898. It was made into a political leanings of the paper were in line with Shaw's growing musical, The Chocolate Soldier (1908), which was successful interest in socialism (social and economic practice where the but in which Shaw did not cooperate. government owns and controls property and resources). His articles and critiques of art, music, and theater written for this Shaw's writing successes continued to the eve of World War I and other publications brought him at last to the attention of (1914–18), when Pygmalion opened in Vienna in 1913 and in London literary society. London in 1914. It was a hit. However, with the outbreak of war, Shaw's plain-spoken antiwar views and pamphlets created uproar. He was shunned by friends and ostracized by the Socialism public. Nevertheless, he continued writing plays, and by 1923, with the production of Saint Joan, he succeeded in reviving his Shaw's interest in socialism had a profound effect on his career. In 1925, Shaw was the recipient of the Nobel Prize in writing. In 1884 he joined the recently established Fabian Literature. He also won an Academy Award for screenwriting Society, a British socialist organization intent on advancing the for the 1938 film adaptation of Pygmalion. A musical principles of non-Marxist evolutionary socialism (peaceful adaptation, My Fair Lady, opened on Broadway in 1956. transition from capitalism to socialism in contrast to the ideas of German philosopher Karl Marx [1818–83]). He became one Shaw continued writing until his death on November 2, 1950, at of its leading members and regularly wrote and lectured on age 94. At the time, he was working on yet another play. socialist topics. Often he focused on themes of marriage, education, politics, class struggle, and religion. As a self- professed socialist, Shaw was a vigorous proponent of gender h Characters equality. He believed that all people have a purpose in life and that women were being denied chances to play their critical roles in society. He actively supported efforts to alter the marriage laws, eliminate patriarchy, establish female suffrage Raina (right to vote), and recast gender roles. Shaw felt that "unless Raina doesn't know exactly what she wants. She has been woman repudiates her womanliness, her duty to her husband, raised to marry a man like Sergius and to hope for him to be a to her children, to society, to the law, and to everyone but hero. She has also been raised to be sweet and kind and never herself, she cannot emancipate herself." As a playwright, his to lie. It's difficult for her to admit that these things are portrayal of remarkable, clever, and powerful women departed impossible for her. When she meets Bluntschli, it is her first Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 4 Arms and the Man Study Guide Characters 5 experience with the idea that gray areas exist. Not all soldiers are brave, not all cowards are bad, and not all lies are Louka unforgivable. Louka is very clever, and she sees everything. She is the one who tells Raina that the shutters can be opened, and she Bluntschli Bluntschli knows that someone can come in. Although she isn't Sergius's equal in class, she is more than his equal in intelligence. She feels she shouldn't be kept down by her low station. Moreover, Bluntschli is a very practical sort of fellow. He wants to make she is not willing to degrade herself. money by being in the war, but he doesn't particularly want to die. However, he isn't as cowardly as he would have Raina believe, and he also isn't as mercenary. He doesn't want to hurt anyone. Rather, he wants adventure and to live his life. Nicola Nicola Nicola is a man who knows his place and wants to be safe. He Sergius Sergius doesn't want to defy the Petkoffs, and he warns Louka against doing so. However, in the end, he is willing to give up his claim on her to see her rise in class. He is a capable servant and Sergius is a very conflicted character. He has always believed hopes to be rewarded for that in the end. that he has to be a certain way—a brave soldier and a worshipful admirer to Raina. The war and the servant Louka challenge these beliefs. He comes across as sort of a cardboard cutout of a man, but he wants to be more than that. Catherine Catherine Catherine is presented as a very typical woman of her era. She can be bribed by her husband with pretty things, as with the bet over a piece of jewelry. She sets a standard for Raina to be a perfect woman who never lies or does anything wrong. In fact, she does lie to her husband, as she is never really herself around him. She is also very concerned about what people think. She worries people will think the Petkoffs are low-class for yelling for the servants or because Raina made a poor marriage. Petkoff Petkoff is smarter than his family would believe. He sees what is going on most of the time. He realizes Sergius is something of a buffoon and also that Raina put a photograph in the coat for someone to find. He also realizes the coat was missing in the first place. He is not an expert on military tactics, but he knows he isn't and is willing to delegate. Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 5 Arms and the Man Study Guide Characters 6 Character Map Character Map Servant Bluntschli Swiss professional soldier; fights with the Serbian the army Servians Nicola Sergius Protector Sensible manservant Bulgarian soldier Engaged Engaged Raina Sympathetic young woman Servant Father Louka Petkoff Mother ambitious Coquettish servant girl Bulgarian major Employer Married Catherine arrogant middle-aged Haughty woman Main Character Other Major Character Minor Character Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 6 Arms and the Man Study Guide Plot Summary 7 Full Charcter List Full Character List Act ActOne, Scene1 one 1, Section 1885 Raina's mother, The play begins in Raina's bedroom, 1895. Character Description Catherine, tells Raina that her fiancée, Sergius (whose photograph is on ostentatious display in the room), was very Raina is a romantic young lady. She is Raina heroic in a battle of the Serbo-Bulgarian War that day. He led engaged to Sergius. the cavalry in a charge. Raina is happy because she had swiss professional soldier doubts about Sergius's bravery. Then, the servant Louka Bluntschli is a Swedish who fights with the Serbs Servians. He climbs comes in and says they must close the shutters because there Bluntschli through Raina's window looking for a place is gunfire in the streets. Raina says she feels sorry for the to hide. Serbian soldiers, who are poor refugees, and she doesn't really want to close her shutters. Louka tells her in secret that the Sergius Sergius is Raina's fiancée. He is a soldier. shutters don't close properly because the latch is broken. Raina closes them and goes to bed. Catherine is Raina's mother. She is Catherine concerned about appearances but also A moment later, a man breaks into the room. He is a Serbian practical. soldier trying to avoid capture and death. Raina chides him for being fearful, and he says all soldiers are. A Bulgarian officer Paul Petkoff is a major in the Bulgarian comes in, looking for the soldier, whom someone saw climbing Petkoff army. He is Catherine's husband and Raina's father. up Raina's balcony. Raina hides the man and lies about him being there. The officer chalks it up to people's imaginations Louka is a young servant in Catherine and running away with them. Raina's home. However, she is described as Louka "so defiant that her servility to Raina is almost insolent." Act ActOne Scene2Two 1, Section Nicola is a middle-​aged servant who values Nicola himself on his rank in servitude. He is After the officer leaves, Raina notices that the man's gun was engaged to Louka. on the ottoman the whole time. He tells her it doesn't matter, as it wasn't loaded. He has no ammo because he's been The officer is a Bulgarian soldier. He stops carrying chocolate instead, to have something to eat. Raina is Officer by the Petkoffs' house while on patrol, shocked but offers him some chocolate she has, as he is looking for fugitive soldiers. hungry. They get to talking about that day's battle. The man says he k Plot Summary was certainly fearful, as every soldier is once he's been in Plot Summary battle for three days. He also comments the Bulgarian army wasn't very professional, sending in soldiers they knew would be killed. The only reason they weren't killed was that the Preface Serbians had the wrong kind of cartridges for their guns. He describes the man who led the cavalry charge in a way that The preface was written at a later date for the publication of makes him sound not very heroic and somewhat buffoonish. several of Shaw's plays in book form. In it Shaw mentions that Raina shows him Sergius's picture and asks if he was the it is difficult to decide what to write. Although he wants to write cavalry leader. The man says it was and apologizes. Raina tells something meaningful, it must also be something common him to leave. He says he can't climb the drainpipe again. He'd people will want to see, so it can make a profit. In addition to just as soon die. In fact, dying would just be a long sleep, and Arms and the Man, Shaw mentions other plays, including he's very tired. Raina takes pity on him and says he can take Candida (1894) and Widowers' Houses (1892). refuge in their home. After all, he is a guest and the duties of a Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 7 Arms and the Man Study Guide Plot Summary 8 host are paramount. He falls asleep in Raina's bed, and she tells her mother to let him sleep there. Act Three Scene 3, Section 1 one A bit later, in the library, Bluntschli is fixing Major Petkoff's Act Act Two Scene1 one 2, Section military matter when Petkoff says he wants his coat, which he cannot find. Catherine says it's in the closet and sends Nicola to get it. While she is gone, Petkoff takes bets on whether or Several months later, Sergius and Major Petkoff are coming not the coat will be found. Nicola returns with the coat, which home from war. Petkoff is pleased at having won, while Sergius he found in the closet where it belongs. Bluntschli completes announces he is going to resign from the military. They tell a his work and Sergius, Petkoff, and Catherine go off to deliver story they heard from a Swiss soldier, who said he had the orders. escaped harm by hiding in a young lady's bedroom and then snuck off, wearing the master of the house's coat. Catherine Left alone with Bluntschli, Raina tells him that Petkoff and and Raina appear offended by this story. Meanwhile, Louka Sergius heard about him hiding in a lady's room but don't know and her fellow servant, Nicola, to whom she is engaged, have that she is the lady. She says Sergius would challenge him to a figured out that something is up. duel and kill him if he knew. What's more, she says it is hard for her to lie to Sergius because she never lies. Bluntschli says he Sergius and Raina dramatically declare their love for one thinks she lies all the time, as does he. He also says he admires another and plan an outing. her. Raina tells Bluntschli that he is the first man not to take her seriously, and he says he is the first man who has. She says Act 2, Act Two Scene2 Two Section she puts on a noble attitude in front of everyone, implying it is an act. They all believe her. Raina tells Bluntschli she left a portrait of herself in the coat, for him to find. However, he didn't After Raina leaves to get ready, Louka talks to Sergius. Sergius see it and thinks it might still be in the coat. It might not be, declares how tiring "higher love" is, meaning the type of love he though, since he also pawned the coat for a while. Raina is has with Raina. They always have to make dramatic horrified because she wrote something on the portrait. declarations of the other's perfection, and he is unable to be himself. Louka says there was a man in Raina's bedroom. She Louka comes in with mail for Sergius, Bluntschli saying that his father is heard enough of their conversation to know that if the man dead. She and Nicola discuss that she has ideas above her returned, Raina would marry him. They had a real conversation, station. unlike Raina and Sergius. This upsets Sergius, and he grabs Louka's arm, bruising her. At the same time, though, they are also flirting. Louka asks Sergius to cure the bruise. He Act ActThree Scene 3, Section 2 Two two apologizes and offers her money, but she wants a kiss, which he will not give. Sergius and Louka argue about Sergius caring too much what others think. She says if she were the empress of Russia, she Raina and Catherine enter. After Sergius leaves the room to would marry the man she loved even if he was beneath her. But talk with Petkoff, they discuss how much trouble they'd be in if Sergius doesn't have that kind of courage. Sergius says she is the men knew about the man in Raina's room. Raina, however, just jealous of Raina. Louka says she knows Raina really loves still seems enamored with the man and says she'd stuff him Bluntschli, not him. Sergius says that if he were to love Louka, with chocolates if he came back. Just then, Bluntschli, the very he would marry her in spite of what Bulgaria thinks. If he same soldier, arrives to return Petkoff's jacket. Catherine begs touches her again, it will be as his fiancée. him to sneak out and plans to send back his duffel bag after she extracts Petkoff's coat from it. But before he can go, Sergius challenges Bluntschli to a duel. Bluntschli protests Petkoff and Sergius come into the room. Recognizing Raina only allowed him in her room because he held a pistol to Bluntschli, whom they know, they invite him to stay at the her head. Raina realizes that it was Louka who told Sergius the house. truth. She knows Sergius has been making love to Louka. Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 8 Arms and the Man Study Guide Plot Summary 9 Petkoff enters. He has found the photograph in his coat pocket, which Raina inscribed, "Raina, to her Chocolate Cream Solider: a souvenir." Finally, Bluntschli tells Petkoff what happened. Petkoff asks which of the gentlemen she is engaged to. Raina says that Sergius loves Louka, not her. Petkoff says that's impossible because Louka is engaged to Nicola. Nicola says she isn't. He gives her up, and Sergius becomes engaged to Louka. After realizing that Raina wants to marry him and is 23, which is older than he thought, Bluntschli becomes a suitor for Raina's hand. He reveals he has a lot of family money from his hotel business. Raina protests that she didn't give her hand to kiss, her bed to sleep in, or her roof to shelter to the emperor of Switzerland. She gave them to her chocolate cream soldier. Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 9 Arms and the Man Study Guide Plot Summary 10 Plot Plot Diagram Diagram Climax 9 8 7 10 Falling Action Rising Action 6 11 5 4 12 3 Resolution 2 1 Introduction Introduction Introduction Climax Climax 1. There is shooting outside, so Raina closes her shutters. 9. Sergius challenges Bluntschli to a duel. RisingAction Rising Action Falling Action Falling Action 2. A man (Bluntschli) breaks into Raina's room. 10. Bluntschli learns his father died and left him everything. 3. Raina protects the man from an officer looking for him. 11. Sergius bravely becomes engaged to Louka. 4. Raina allows the man to stay for the night. 5. Months later, Petkoff and Sergius return home from the war. Resolution Resolution 6. Bluntschli returns Petkoff's coat, which Raina gave him. 12. Bluntschli is deemed an acceptable match for Raina. 7. Bluntschli and Raina flirt; they are clearly in love. 8. Louka tells Sergius about Raina and Bluntschli. Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 10 Arms and the Man Study Guide Plot Summary 11 Timeline Timelineof of Event Events 1-Night Night in November in November 18851885 Catherine tells Raina of Sergius's heroism; Raina admires Sergius's portrait. 2- Little Little laterLater Louka says there is shooting in the street, and a man breaks into Raina's bedroom. 3- Soon Soon After after A Bulgarian officer comes looking for the escapee, and Raina hides him. 4- Afterward Afterward Raina offers the man chocolates. 5- Next Next The man describes the cavalry charge and says Sergius wasn't heroic. 6-Minutes Minutes Later later Raina enters with Catherine to find the man asleep in her bed. 7-March March1886 1886 Major Petkoff returns from the war. 8- Minutes Minutes Later later Sergius returns and says he is resigning from the army. 9- Moments Moments laterLater Raina and Sergius declare their love. 10- Then Then Sergius flirts with Louka, who tells Sergius that Raina flirted with another man. 11-Next Next Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 11 Arms and the Man Study Guide Plot Summary 12 Bluntschli (the man) shows up to return Petkoff's coat, and Catherine tries to hide him. 12- Later Later thatthat Afternoon afternoon Petkoff asks for his coat, which he says isn't in the closet. 13-Little Littlelater After Left alone together, Bluntschli tells Raina he admires her. 14- Moments Moment later Later Raina asks Bluntschli about the portrait she left in the coat pocket, but he didn't see it. 15- Next Next News arrives of Bluntschli's father's death; Bluntschli will have to take over the family business. 16- Then Then Louka tells Sergius that Raina is in love with Bluntschli; Sergius challenges him to a duel. 17- Moment Moment laterLater Petkoff reveals he found the photo in his coat pocket and asks who is engaged to whom. 18- NextNext Sergius asks Louka to marry him; Bluntschli would like to marry Raina. 19- Then Then Catherine is concerned Bluntschli isn't of their social class. 20- In Atend the The End Bluntschli reveals he has both rank and wealth and is deemed a good match. Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 12 Arms and the Man Study Guide Section Summaries 13 level of prestige possible while still turning a profit. Plays c Section Summaries should not be "over the heads of the public." He realizes that he is sometimes guilty of this. However, he has been kinder to The text of Arms and the Man has three acts and a preface. actors. He writes good roles for actors. Each act has been broken into two sections for the purposes He knows he can't entirely ignore audiences but says if of summary and analysis. playgoers can't handle serious drama, they shouldn't come to his plays. Shaw challenges anyone who thinks one of his plays Preface would make a good comic opera to "try his hand" at it. However, Shaw realizes that sometimes the disagreements he has with audiences and critics arise from the fact that he Summary doesn't portray the archetypes they're used to seeing. For example, the Swiss officer in Arms and the Man isn't "a Shaw writes of having only written "unpleasant" plays before conventional stage soldier." However, Shaw claims his writing Arms and the Man, a more pleasant play. Arms and the depiction is in line with contemporary military experts. He also Man made £1,777 in its first two-week run. Shaw states a book defended himself against those who took offense at his making this much would be profitable. However, he adds, mention of a Bulgarian who didn't wash his hand every day. "experts in theatrical management will contemplate that figure with a grim smile," meaning it was less successful. Still, this However, Shaw makes clear he doesn't write plays to please was not altogether discouraging. everyone. And he certainly doesn't write plays to please people who would rather believe a fantasy. He finds tragedy and After Arms and the Man, Shaw went to Italy to write and comedy in the results of people's insisting on basing their contemplate. He thought about conflict since "every drama institutions on imaginary ideals rather than reality. He stops at must be the artistic presentation of conflict." Conflict, he says, this point to let the play speak for itself. is indispensable. For example, he wrote Widowers' Houses (1892), which is about the conflict between a slumlord and an (unseen) clergyman. But he doesn't deal with the cheap Analysis conflicts of heroes and villains. He wants every view to be expressed, whether or not the audience will like every In his preface Shaw discusses writing several of his plays. He character. explains how he struggles to find something that will satisfy his literary and artistic ideals and yet please enough people to turn He experimented with the idea of Christian socialism in his play a profit. This is something with which writers always struggle. If Candida (1894). He says he would have been more successful a play is simply standard fare, it will please no one. However, if getting it performed if there had been someone young enough a play is too controversial, it won't make a profit. Thus, writers to play the poet. must walk a fine line. Next, he started A Man of Destiny (1897) and also wrote You It's interesting Shaw mentions comic opera because Arms and Never Can Tell (1896). Shaw characterizes these as attempts the Man was indeed turned into a successful comic opera to write something like Arms and the Man while keeping in mind called The Chocolate Soldier. When an Austrian composer the needs of West End theater managers searching for approached Shaw about writing it, Shaw insisted that he was fashionable comedies. not to use the play's original wording. Perhaps for that reason, the comic opera is very unlike Arms and the Man. When he saw Shaw says authors can't expect theater managers to invest it, Shaw didn't like it at all. In fact, he said he would never allow money in plays that "commonplace people"—as he calls another comic opera to be based on one of his plays. Still, The them—will not see. Playwriting and running theaters are Chocolate Soldier was so popular with audiences in London businesses. He speaks of unscrupulous managers who try to and New York that MGM wanted to turn it into a movie with the make the maximum profit with the minimum risk. Shaw believes same title (1941). Shaw refused to allow them to use the plot of theater managers should try to produce plays of the highest Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 13 Arms and the Man Study Guide Section Summaries 14 Arms and the Man, so the movie is actually based on another - worried she only thought he looked good because she had comic opera entirely. romantic ideas from reading poetry and going to the opera. The amount Shaw states that Arms and the Man made in its Raina's servant, Louka, enters and tells them they must close first run is equivalent to £229.053.67 today (at this writing, the windows because there has been shooting in the streets. 2019)—almost $300,000.00 U.S. dollars. The Serbians are being chased back through the pass and may run into town. The Bulgarian cavalry is chasing them. Raina and In retrospect, the plays Shaw would have termed too Catherine are alarmed, and Raina says she wishes their people controversial or unpleasant to attract a wide audience are weren't so cruel. "What glory is there in killing wretched probably Shaw's most successful and well-remembered plays. fugitives?" Catherine goes downstairs, cautioning Raina to They include Arms and the Man, Pygmalion, and Saint Joan. close the shutters. Louka tells Raina she can open the Critical acclaim was given to his 1901 play Caesar and shutters. One of the bolts at the bottom is broken, so it doesn't Cleopatra, specifically for the human rather than heroic close properly. Raina says they have to do as they're told. portrayal of Caesar. After Louka leaves, Raina ostentatiously admires the portrait of Readers might wonder how Shaw would have responded to My Sergius, exclaiming about how he is her hero. Gunfire is heard Fair Lady, the 1956 U.S. musical based on Pygmalion. Shaw had outside, and Raina blows out the candles. Immediately died in 1950, so librettist Alan Jay Lerner (1918–86) and afterward, the shutters open, and a man sneaks in. composer Frederick Loewe (1901–88) did not have to worry about getting his permission. When My Fair Lady was first The person who entered is a soldier, about 35 years old, of produced, it ran longer than any previous musical in both New average appearance, in the tattered uniform of a Serbian York and London. It was translated into several other officer. The script identifies him as "man." He has climbed up languages and performed around the world. Since then it has the balcony. He threatens Raina if she sounds the alarm, undergone a number of revivals. My Fair Lady was also made saying he doesn't intend to get killed. She remarks haughtily into an Academy Award–winning movie (1964) starring Rex that some soldiers are afraid of death. He says they all are. He Harrison as Henry Higgins and Audrey Hepburn as Eliza. says if she calls for help and he doesn't shoot her, they'll all see her in her nightgown. She goes to get her cloak, and he takes it, saying it is a better weapon than a revolver. She says it's not Act Act One Scene1 One 1, Section the weapon a gentleman would choose. He hears someone approaching and gives her back her cloak. Impulsively, Raina hides him behind the curtains then takes off the cloak, the Summary better to feign sleep. Louka and Catherine come in, followed by a Bulgarian officer The play takes place during the Serbo-Bulgarian War. Act 1 who says someone saw a man sneak up and hide on Raina's takes place in November 1885 in a lady's bedchamber in balcony. (He doesn't know the broken latch on the shutters Bulgaria, the décor of which is described as "half rich Bulgarian allowed the man to get inside.) She tells him to check the and half cheap Viennese." A large portrait of a very handsome balcony. He finds nothing and chalks it up to imagination. Bulgarian officer dominates the décor. Raina, a young woman, stands on the balcony in her nightgown and expensive furs. The stage directions note that the furniture is shabby and Analysis worth much less than the furs. Raina is drinking in the romantic evening when her mother, Catherine, comes in. Catherine tells The tenuous nature of Raina's love for Sergius is apparent in Raina that Raina's fiancée, Sergius, has been involved in a the first conversation she has with her mother. She is in love great battle in Slivnitza and Sergius was the hero of it. He led with the idea of her handsome fiancée, whose portrait she the cavalry charge. Raina is overjoyed to hear this and displays. However, she is not really sure if he is brave or heroic. expresses relief because she had doubts about Sergius's Meanwhile, she feels he must be these things in order for him heroism. She makes her mother promise not to tell him that to be worthy of her love. Thus, she is relieved when Catherine she thought he might look bad beside the Russian officers. She Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 14 Arms and the Man Study Guide Section Summaries 15 tells her of his heroism. However, she also feels guilty for exposure to young men to see them as real, flesh-and-blood having doubted it. It is possible she also suspects Sergius isn't human beings. (After all, she has no brothers.) Instead, Raina the brightest of bulbs, but she would rather not know it. sees men, such as Sergius, as larger-than-life idols to be worshiped. Thus, she venerates Sergius's photograph, hoping Her feelings are also complicated by her feelings about war in against hope that he will live up to the faith she has placed in general. While her mother is more than ready to take a side, him. Raina isn't as sure. In truth, she is something of a pacifist—a person who is opposed to war or violence. She says that there The soldier, unlike her revered Sergius, is obviously bright and is no glory "in killing wretched fugitives." This is at odds with quick on his feet. She is impressed with him, and this is part of wanting her fiancée to be a war hero. However, this explains what motivates her to help him. Helping him hide may well be why she helps the man when she could just as well sound the the bravest and most self-motivated thing Raina has ever done. alarm when the Bulgarian officer shows up. It is likely that up until now she has acted based on her understanding of what her parents and society expect from Shaw is interested in pointing out the difference between her. fanciful ideals and real life. Raina's love for Sergius and her concern for his conduct in war are based on unrealistic Shaw's lengthy description of the scenery both here and later, concepts of romance and heroism. When faced with the idea in the library, are worth noting. Playwrights do not always of real people being chased down and killed, she has a describe every detail of the set, but Shaw does so here for a completely different response. This ethical conflict is apparent reason. The characters who live in this house are upper class, from the very first scene in the play. The absolute idealism of as Raina will take pains to tell the man later in the act. the romantic couple in a satirical comedy is a common trope of They—especially Catherine—care very much about the genre. In this particular play, the overpowering idea of love appearances. However, the décor in Raina's bedroom, a room runs into the reality that people are far from ideal in either love few outsiders will enter, is both cheap and shabby. The shutter or war. The collision of idealism and reality in battle serves as a is broken. Meanwhile, she wears expensive furs, as that is an reflection of the title Arms and the Man, which is a phrase outer garment that will be seen by many. The family is, taken from the Roman poet Virgil's (70–19 BCE) epic, the perhaps, not as wealthy as they would like people to believe Aeneid (c. 30 BCE). Virgil had been requested (or coerced) into they are. It is possible they are looking to Raina's marriage to writing it as a work praising the noble origins of the Romans by Sergius to improve their situation or, at least, hers. the Emperor Augustus (63 BCE–14 CE), but Virgil embedded the work with any number of subtle digs at this view. For example, Aeneas and his followers have escaped the fall of Act ActOne Scene2Two 1, Section Troy (during which he somehow manages to save his son and father but loses his wife) and landed, exhausted, in Queen Dido's realm, where he begs her for help. It is clear from his Summary description of his flight that Aeneas isn't much of a fighter, and he relies on Dido very much as the Serbian soldier must rely on After they all leave, Raina is again alone with the man. He tells Raina's compassion. her he is not Serbian but a Swiss mercenary, or a soldier for hire. Her asks if he can wait a bit to leave, and Raina says she It seems that this meeting with the Serbian soldier is the first wishes he weren't in danger. She's shocked to notice his gun time Raina has had anyone validate her secret feelings about has been left on the ottoman. He says not to worry, as it isn't war. It remains to be seen whether this is because she hasn't loaded. He carries not cartridges but chocolate with him; he met anyone who agrees or because no one has considered her says many soldiers do so. Raina is "outraged in her most an adult with valid opinions. However, it is likely a combination cherished ideals of manhood" that he should stuff his pockets of these reasons. with chocolate "like a schoolboy." Still, she offers him some of Raina is very surprised when the man says all soldiers fear her chocolate. death. This is probably because no one has admitted that to He eats it, saying he's not very brave, that no one is after her before. It may also be because she hasn't had enough they've been under fire for three days. But he didn't think the Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 15  Arms and the Man Study Guide Section Summaries 16 - Bulgarian soldiers were very professional. They sent in a - mamma: the poor dear is worn out. Let him sleep." cavalry, knowing that none of them would survive. They only survived because the Serbian soldiers had the wrong cartridges and couldn't fire on them. He describes the cavalry Analysis charge as "slinging a handful of peas against a window pane." First one comes, then a few more, then a clump. The first man Heroism in battle, or the want of heroism, is a major theme of is always trying to pull his spooked horse back. No one actually Arms and the Man. Soldiers are supposed to be brave and, wants to be first. Raina says she doesn't think the first man is a indeed, signing up to be a soldier, if one has other options, is a coward. The man describes the first man in line today (which brave act. However, it is one thing to be brave when signing up the audience knows was Sergius) as being like an operatic and another when actually going into battle. It is much the tenor or Don Quixote. Don Quixote was the main character in a same with climbing the drainpipe. The man says he could climb novel by the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616); it when someone was chasing him, but now, when there is no the character is delusional and battles with windmills. Raina immediate threat, he can't do it. shows the man the portrait of Sergius, saying he is her The reader may well wonder if the man actually means it when betrothed. She asks if he was the first man. he says he'd rather die than go down the drainpipe. Perhaps he The man says he was. He apologizes, saying that perhaps is toying with Raina, having recognized she has a kind heart Sergius knew they wouldn't fire on him. Raina says this is just and will allow him to stay. as bad, as it would make him a pretender and a coward. She As a hired soldier, the man would likely be less concerned says he can't stay after what he has said about Sergius. about the outcome of the war or the nobility of the cause. (The However, she will check and see if the coast is clear. The man validity of the cause is not discussed in the play. It would likely says he is too cowardly to climb down the drainpipe now that not be a huge concern for the British audience for whom the he isn't in fear of dying as he was while climbing up. He tells her play was originally written.) Someone with real ties to the to give the alarm. country for which he was fighting might be more invested. Pitying him now, Raina calls him a poor "chocolate cream Logically, the man would want to do a good enough job at soldier." She says it is better to go down the drainpipe than to soldiering to continue to make a living at one. But he is unlikely be captured. But the man says "capture only means death; and to want to lay down his life. The reader will learn, however, that death is sleep—oh, sleep, sleep, sleep, undisturbed sleep!" this man had other choices when it came to a career. Indeed, When she asks him if he's really that tired, he says he must get he mentions in this scene that his family owns several hotels. down the drainpipe. This does not seem like the family background of someone who became a soldier for want of other options. The audience Now, Raina is concerned and decides to protect him. She says may wonder why he became a mercenary, since he has stated he can take advantage of their hospitality because the he is not brave. Petkoffs are the wealthiest family in town. Her father is a major in the Bulgarian army, and their house is very elegant, boasting Shaw doesn't mention many specifics about the war itself, not the only library in the city. She says he could throw himself as a even the name of the war. Perhaps he wished to tell a universal fugitive on their hospitality, which she will offer though her story and so set it in a country whose politics would be a father is out of town. The man says his own father owns mystery to his British audiences. several hotels, implying they also understand hospitality. Raina is deeply confused by the man's admission that he Raina offers her hand to make a pledge. The man says he carries chocolates in his pocket, rather than replacement daren't take it, as it has been a while since he last washed. cartridges for his pistol. Indeed, the stage directions state that Raina says her family washes every day. However, she insists Raina is "outraged in her most cherished ideas of manhood" at he take her hand, so he kisses it. She leaves him to tell her hearing this. Yet she wants to give the soldier more chocolate. mother what she's doing. He says he'll remain standing, but as What he has said makes him into a human being rather than an soon as Raina leaves, he climbs into her bed and falls asleep. unapproachable hero, as she views Sergius. Catherine comes in and is scandalized, but Raina says, "Don't, The term chocolate soldier came to mean a soldier who didn't Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 16 Arms and the Man Study Guide Section Summaries 17 fight but was assigned to noncombat tasks. This might imply cowardice. However, the man is not so much a coward as a Act ActTwo Scene One 2, Section 1 pragmatist. Moreover, the reader will see in the second and third acts that he is highly intelligent. He simply doesn't believe in wasting his intelligence on a cause he doesn't really care Summary about. It is now March 1886. In Major Petkoff's garden, Louka and her Raina is upset to hear Sergius isn't really brave, yet she is more fiancée, an older male servant named Nicola, discuss the forgiving of the man. Perhaps this is because he, unlike respect due to the Petkoffs. Nicola wants to marry Louka and Sergius, has never lied to her about his heroism. Alternatively, start a shop someday, so he must have the Petkoffs' good perhaps it is because she is able to converse freely with this opinion, as they and their friends will be his customers. Louka man. After all, theirs is a relationship in which she has little or scoffs at this, saying she knows many secrets about the no investment. In contrast, she places a high value on her Petkoffs, so they have to be nice to her. Nicola says all they relationship with Sergius. This would explain why she is would have to do is fire her for dishonesty, and then no one appalled to realize he has lied to her if, as the man said, no would believe her stories. He knows secrets too. soldiers are truly heroic. In the case of the man, however, she feels he is finally telling her the truth. She recognizes that he is Major Petkoff comes home, as the war is over. Catherine a fallible human being like herself. comes to greet him, sorry that the Austrians have forced him to make peace rather allowing Bulgaria to win the war with In Shaw's time, unlike today, men were expected to be brave, Servia. He says they had to enter a treaty, but they don't have rather than sensitive. Thus, this is Raina's first encounter with to be friendly. She says she's been having sore throats, and the idea that men can have feelings and fears. She is offended Petkoff says it's because of too much washing. Catherine tells when the man reveals Sergius's weakness. Yet she is so him they've had an electric bell installed, so they don't have to charmed by the idea that he is genuinely afraid to go down the shout for the servants in a low-class way. Sergius is heard ladder that she puts herself at risk so that he may stay the arriving, and Petkoff shouts for the servant, Nicola. Petkoff night. says he finds Sergius annoying and that he would never promote him unless he was certain they would be long at Shaw mentions in the preface that his saying the soldier didn't peace. wash his hands every day was controversial. It may seem obvious today that someone in the heat of battle might not Sergius enters. A handsome man, he greets the Petkoffs with wash regularly, might be afraid, or might suffer from PTSD. affection. They discuss the cavalry charge, and Sergius reveals However, in Shaw's time, soldiers were often portrayed as that he "won the battle the wrong way when our worthy brave, heroic, and magnificent. Thus Shaw's portrayal was Russian generals were losing it the right way." Catherine says unusual and thought-provoking, possibly even disturbing. he should be promoted, but Sergius says he is resigning from the military. Here, Raina refers to the family's fancy house and their library—outward symbols of their success. She also mentions Raina enters, and Sergius continues talking about his how often they wash, a repeated topic in the play. The idea is resignation. "Soldiering," he explains, "is the coward's art of that as affluent people, they can afford to be cleaner. This type attacking mercilessly when you are strong, and keeping out of of thing is very important to Raina because it affects how she harm's way when you are weak." He mentions that he heard is perceived by others. This is an important aspect of how she the story of a man who escaped danger by being hidden by views class. But by now the audience has seen the shabbiness two women, a patriotic young lady and her mother. The women of her bedroom and knows that her wealth and class are then snuck him out dressed in a coat belonging to the master nothing more than appearance. of the house. Raina and Catherine act offended at being told such a story. It is not only the audience who has seen Raina's shabby bedroom. The man has also seen it. Therefore, he has seen After Raina's parents leave, Raina and Sergius declare their past the outward trappings of class to the real Raina. Perhaps love for each other in very lofty terms. Sergius says she this is what has allowed him to be so honest with her. Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 17  Arms and the Man Study Guide Section Summaries 18 - inspired him in war, and Raina bemoans that she had no such There is a marked contrast in the dialogue between Sergius way to prove her worthiness of him. They hear Louka and Raina and the one between Nicola and Louka, the approaching, and Raina excuses herself to dress to go out. servants. The servants talk about practical things in a practical way. This is Shaw's way of pointing out the difference between the different classes of people in the play. It also explains why Analysis the man, like Louka, speaks candidly. He does not come from old money as the Petkoffs do. Catherine's statement that the Bulgarians should have been allowed to force the other side to submit to their rule shows her lack of knowledge about what is actually going on in the Act Two Act Scene Two 2, Section 2 war. The fact that her husband doesn't even attempt to discuss it with her may indicate that he doesn't take her seriously. He may well see her as a silly woman who can't know the truth. It also reflects common Victorian notions that women Summary needed to be protected from brutal truths and were not Sergius asks Louka if she is familiar with "higher love," saying it intellectually capable of dealing with political intricacies. This is is a very tiring thing to practice. He says he is many different in contrast to the way the man in Act 1 spoke to Raina, as if she people, depending who he is with. There are about a half- were an intelligent human being who could understand dozen Sergiuses. He flirts with Louka, who warns Raina will be complex ideas. spying on him but that Raina has also flirted with someone Meanwhile, Catherine also lies to her husband, not telling him else. Louka says she's heard the man and Raina talking and what happened with the prisoner even when it is directly knows that, if the man returns, Raina will marry him. She says, "I brought up. Despite years of marriage, Catherine and Paul know the difference between the sort of manner you and she Petkoff do not—and perhaps cannot—speak candidly with one put on before one another and the real manner." another. Sergius gets angry and grasps Louka's arm. He scolds her for In their first scene together, Raina and Sergius talk to each betraying her mistress and having the soul of a servant. She other in elaborate terms. He calls her "my queen" while she says he can hurt her with his tongue as well as his hands. She talks about how unworthy she is of him. It is difficult to believe says that Raina is a liar, and she is worth six of Raina. Sergius that they believe these things. Moreover, they seem to hold apologizes for hurting her. She says that won't do, and he each other to an impossibly high standard. Because of this, offers her money. She says no, she wants her hurt made well. were Sergius to want to express some of the misgivings He asks how, and she shows him her bruised arm, which she expressed by the man in the first act, he wouldn't be able to. wants him to kiss. He refuses, and she walks away, injured. He would risk disappointing his worshipful fiancée. Raina returns, joking about whether Sergius has been flirting with Louka. Meanwhile, Sergius's statement that soldiering is "the coward's art of attacking mercilessly when you are strong and keeping Catherine enters and tells Sergius that Petkoff won't listen to out of harm's way when you are weak" sounds more likely to her ideas about his three regiments, and Sergius should speak have come from Shaw's mind than his character's. Shaw, the to him. Raina makes him promise to hurry. After Sergius leaves, playwright, was a pacifist—a person opposed to war and Catherine says she's upset that the man told the story of their violence. However, Sergius's statement may actually arise from keeping him there. Petkoff asked for his coat as soon as he post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, a psychological came home. Raina expresses anger but in affectionate terms, condition that occurs when someone suffers extreme stress, saying if he was here, she'd cram him with chocolates so he such as a near-death experience. An attack such as the couldn't speak. She asks Raina how long the man was there cavalry charge described by the man in Act 1 (in which Sergius before Raina summoned Catherine. Raina says she doesn't was the lead man) might well cause such symptoms. However, remember, and Catherine warns if Sergius finds out, he will Sergius does not express any of this to Raina, wanting instead break off his engagement with Raina. Raina says she wishes to keep up his perfect façade. her mother could marry Sergius, instead of her. She, Raina, Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. 18  Arms and the Man Study Guide Section Summaries 19 - always wants to shock Sergius because he is so proper and love. She could tell that the man and Raina are really talking to stuffy. She wishes he would find out. one another and in love. In contrast, Raina and Sergius just act the way they think they're supposed to when they're in love. Raina leaves, and Louka comes in, saying there is a Serbian This is what Sergius is referring to when he talks about "higher soldier, Captain Bluntschli, there to see the lady of the house. love" and how tiring it is. He means it's tiring never to be Catherine realizes this is the same soldier they harbored, there allowed to be a real person with normal emotions and normal to return the coat. Catherine tells Louka to let him in, be sure to failings. Rather, he has to live his life as the valiant soldier in close the library door, and bring his bag (which contains the Raina's portrait and subscribe to only an ideal of love rather coat) to her. than genuine feelings. Were Sergius and Raina to have gotten married, it is entirely likely they would end up like Raina's Bluntschli—the script identifies him thus, whereas previously he parents. was identified only as the man—enters. Catherine warns there will be horrible consequences if her husband finds out he was The bruise on Louka's arm is the result of a show of honest there since he still has a terrible animosity toward the enemy. emotion. When Louka asks Sergius to kiss it away, his He should leave the coat and sneak out the back. She'll have response is also passionate. His desire is clear, but he is also his bag sent to him. As Bluntschli is writing his address so she committed to fidelity. Flirtation is acceptable, but to go further can send the bag, Petkoff and Sergius come in. They would break the code of behavior he has chosen to live by. immediately recognize Bluntschli and greet him warmly, belying Clearly, Sergius is a gentleman through and through—at least Catherine's words. They say he should have been brought to with Raina. He would never dream of harming her and is the library and ask his advice on the military matter they were shocked that his feelings for Louka have resulted in his considering. As they are taking him to another room to discuss harming her. Shaw contrasts the fake love of Raina and it, Raina enters. Seeing Bluntschli, who is not nearly the Sergius with the real, more passionate love between Louka imposing figure that Sergius is, she exclaims, "Oh, the and Sergius. However, the raising of bruises goes too far. chocolate cream soldier!" Somewhere between the blatantly artificial conduct between Raina and Sergius and that sort of conduct is the ideal. This Raina tries to cover up this error by saying that she made a may be the respectful discussion between Raina and chocolate cream soldier ornament for a pudding she was Bluntschli. making, but Nicola destroyed it. She didn't mean that Bluntschli was a chocolate cream soldier. Flirtatiously, he says that he did The honesty between Louka and Sergius (and between Raina think she meant that. Petkoff remarks that it is strange that and Bluntschli) reflect Shaw's socialist views. Shaw was deeply Raina was cooking at all and wonders whether Nicola has involved in the Fabian socialist movement, a group that aimed become clumsy because he is drinking. This suspicion seems to transform British society by infiltrating socialist ideals into to be confirmed a moment later, when Nicola brings out the country's intellectual and political life. By writing a play Bluntschli's bag. Catherine covers up having requested the bag showing love that transcends class boundaries, Shaw was by making it seem like it was Nicola's mistake. The servant attempting to do that. He did not believe that class should be a takes the bag away again, obedient but obviously an