How does Bernard Shaw satirise romantic ideals of love in 'Arms and the Man'

A detailed Summary of How does Bernard Shaw satirise romantic ideals of love in 'Arms and the Man'

When Bernard Shaw was writing 'Arms and the Man' in 1893-1894, Romantic ideals concerning love and war were still widely accepted and considered normal; an attitude that did not change, even with Bernard Shaw's efforts to the contrary, until the dreadful losses of the First World War. Shaw, a socialist, was greatly influenced by Henrik Ibsen who "took social themes, treated them realistically and condemned the crushing effects of society." Shaw continued in this vein, using his humour and wit to criticise "injustice, hypocrisy and self-interest." In 'Arms and the Man' Shaw attacks these ideals of love in a number of ways. He grossly exaggerates (exaggeration being the most important part of these romantic ideas), but does so to an even greater extent than normal. He gives stark comparisons between his perceived reality and that of the majority of the population, and does so among the characters, the plot and the situation. He also makes a mockery of these ideals by eventually allowing the characters to realise for themselves the absurdity of their attitudes. Yet, strangely, perhaps because he realised that his play still had to be acceptable to a wide audience, he seems to allow Romantic ideas to re-emerge at the end.

However, Shaw seems to disagree with this, just as he disagreed with Lord Byron himself, in making Sergius a model of him. Instead, in Raina's case especially, in her first passion all she loved was the sense of the higher love, whilst in her second love, she loved the person, be it the chocolate cream soldier or Bluntschli. I believe, that whilst Shaw allowed Romanticism to re-enter the plot at the end, possibly because he realised it's inevitability, he still succeeded in persuading, through satirical means, that "love...is a sham."

In all the other all she loves is love."

A very important part of the plot is the concept of the "chocolate cream soldier." This is typical Romanticism: over exaggeration and a focus on one very unimportant part of the person's character. To Raina, Bluntschli is not a "consummate soldier" or "Bourgeois to his boots" but is a "chocolate cream soldier." She finds this much more attractive than the Sergius, who is portrayed as her "ideal hero." Shaw contrasts Bluntschli's realistic attitude, with Raina's impression of him, with Sergius' romantic heroism: Sergius accuses Bluntschli of "enjoying the privilege of being received into her own room, late at night...." Bluntschli then puts a more realistic view on things: "yes, you blockhead, she received me with a pistol at her head...I'd have blown her brains out if she's uttered a cry." Whereupon Raina replies "How dare you, how dare you!"

e Romantic period exaggeration of things such as love was common, and was, in fact, the basis of the Romantic culture. In 'Arms and the Man' there an even greater extent of exaggeration than was common. The characters, the situations and to some extent the plot are all exaggerated in some way. Of the main characters, Sergius, Raina, and Bluntschli, only Bluntschli is not of a highly romantic bearing, and even he might be considered slightly exaggerated in the opposite way.

Although Louka believes that she should not be a servant, it is revealed that Nicola, who appears to be almost the opposite type of person to Louka, was the one who "made a women" out of her. Nicola knows that if he acts like a servant, and is shrewd whilst doing it, he can progress through life. Louka accuses him of having "the soul of a servant", where as it seems that he does not like what he does, but knows that if he does it well enough, he will soon be able to move onward, and set up his shop. Louka does not consider anything rationally, apart from love.

Sergius is described by Shaw as "a tall, romantically handsome man, with the physical hardihood, the high spirit and the susceptible imagination of an untamed mountaineer chieftain. . . The result is precisely what the advent of nineteenth century thought first produced in England: to wit, Byronism." Byronsim is derived from the word byronic, which is used to describe someone who is "energetic, melodramatic and romantically good-looking,

Some common words found in the essay are:
Sergius Raina, Raina Bluntschli, Bulgaria Shaw, Man' Shaw, Sergius Bluntschli's, Whereupon Raina, Byron Byron, Instead Raina's, Bluntschli Bluntschli, Bluntschli Shaw, chocolate cream soldier, chocolate cream, cream soldier, raina bluntschli, romantic ideas, sergius raina, 'arms man', shaw contrasts, lord byron, romantic ideals, raina obviously attracted, life sergius,

Approximate Word count = 1959
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels