ARMS AND THE MAN as a ANTI- ROMANTIC COMEDY

Bernard Shaw is essentially a realist . He is more concerned with reason than with emotions
and sentiments. It should be noted that through a stark realist . Shaw is not a cynic . Shaw
lubricates his plays with a lot of wit and humour which make them pleasant.

'Arms and the Man' is the first in the series of plays pleasant. It's subtitle is : "An Anti- Romantic
Comedy in Three Acts".

The play opens on a note of romance Raina lives in the world of romance and considers herself
being in love with Sergia. She has gathered her ideas about love from Lord Byron and
Alexander Pushkin and from the operas she has witnessed during her visits to Bucharest .
Raina adores a picture of Sergius " with feelings that are beyond expression". She looks upon it
as if it were something holy. She determines never to be unworthy of Sergius.

The entrance of Bluntschli at this moment bis like the intrusion of daylight into the twilight realm
of romance. What surprises Raina is that Bluntschli is not ashamed of his view; he is , rather ,
convinced of the wisdom of his conduct.

Bluntschli is free from romantic illusions about war. His robust commonsense strikes at the root
of Raina's snobbery - her lofty ideals , her aristocratic manner and her pride in her father's
wealth. Slowly , but suddenly ,she realises the folly of her romantic illusions.

In the Second Act , exposure of romantic notions of love and marriage is focused . Raina and
Sergius enact a scene of higher love. After giving a picture of higher love, Shaw brings us back
to the plane of reality. Since the love of Raina and Sergius does not stand on the solid ground of
reality; dies as soon as Louka and Bluntschli interpose. As Sergius confesses to Louka , the
higher love is " very fatiguing thing to keep up for any length of time. One feels the need of
some relief after". Louka also exposes higher love to ridicule . She shatters noble sentiments
and sweet pose of Sergius and Raina . The apostle of higher love is flirting with Louka and the
queen of Sergius is flirting with Bluntschli . Further Shaw looks upon love or marriage . Higher
love is sham and those who claim to be higher lovers are blatant liars. Shaw, thus, makes
Sergius fall in love with a servant forgetting his love for Raina and his high position in society .
Shaw also believes that in love relationships , it is the woman who takes the initiative. In Arms
and the Man, both Raina and Louka take the initiative to entice Bluntschli and Louka

Bluntschli tells Sergius that " nine soldiers out of tenare born fols" . Gradually can be seen that
Shaw pulls the strings to bring in the reality platform , both Raina and Sergius understand their
hollowness and Sergius said that war is nothing but the 'coward's art'.

Raina and Sergius become disillusioned in their romantic ideals of love. Sergius finds it very
tiring and seeks relief in Louka the maid and when he gets the chance he flirts with her. Raina
finally discovers her'hero' as nothing but clay . On the other hand, Sergius discovers Raina 's
new real love for Bluntschli . She turns to Bluntschli not because he faces bullets , but because
he faces facts. Raina becomes educated by the realist Bluntschli and fully understands herself
and reality. The cobwebs of romantic net is broken and the searchlight of reality ridiculous the
false romanticism.
Shaw is not merely a realist rather an anti - romantic. He never presents realism in a
photographic manner. In under to achieve his anti-romantic purpose the dramatist resorts to
exaggeration of reality. A fugitive soldier must demand food when he is famished but what
Bluntschli demands is heard to believe chocolates . Sex maybe impersonal instinct but in real
life , Sergiusa are usually found to marry Rainas not the Loukas. Soldiers are fools but we the
readers cannot believe that the pistol remains on the front but the officers overlook it.

The drama is anti-romantic and Shaw exposes the romantic notion of life especially the foolish
notions regarding love and war . Here he places before the readers the facts of life - the truth
that lies behind the romantic illusions of life. It is therefore aptly said by Chesterton, " the play is
built not on pathos ,but on bathos or anti-climax".