UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA
MAHARAJA SRISCHANDRA COLLEGE
NAME : RUPANKAR NANDAN
PAPER / SUBJECT : DSCC - 03 / HISTORY OF ENGLISH DRAMA.
SEMESTER : III
PROJECT TOPIC : DISCUSS THE “ARMS AND THE MAN AS AN ANTI - ROMANTIC
PLAY” WITHIN 500 WORDS.
UNIVERSITY ROLL NUMBER : 232212-21-0009
UNIVERSITY REGISTRATION NUMBER : 212-1111-0011-23
YEAR : 2025
Discuss Arms and the Man as an anti romantic play within 500 words.
An anti-romantic comedy is the opposite of a romantic comedy. While it still contains humor and
romance, love is thwarted by the characters' own psychological issues rather than external
circumstances. Additionally, it often lacks the happy ending typical of romantic comedies. An
example is George Bernard Shaw’s Arms And The Man where Raina's romanticized notions
of war and heroism is challenged by Bluntschli’s reality of combat through his practical,
almost cynical perspective, ultimately leading to a complex exploration of love and societal
expectations amidst the backdrop of war.
Arms and the Man is a satire of romantic love and war. Most romantic dramas glorify heroism
and idealistic love, but Shaw uses satire, irony, and realism to show that ideals of these kinds
of things are nave and flawed. Through his characters—particularly Raina, Sergius, and
Bluntschli—he debunks the notions of heroics and romance that people attach to war and
relationships. The play is not anti-love nor anti-heroism, but it is anti-the way people idealize
and overstate these ideas.
The play begins in an atmosphere of romantic idealism. Raina Petkoff, a melodramatic and
literary girl, idealizes her fiancé, Major Sergius Saranoff, as the ideal war hero. His reckless
cavalry charge should have been a disaster, but only by sheer chance did it succeed, sustaining
the illusion that he is brave. To her he is “a hero” and a “king, ” everything noble and glorious
about war.
But Shaw offers a counterpoint in Captain Bluntschli, the Swiss mercenary, who is a
hard-nosed realist. Unlike Sergius, Bluntschli doesn’t believe in the heroic ideals of war. He’s
more concerned with survival than heroics, and he carries chocolates instead of bullets—a
wry but effective reminder of his practical approach. He tells Raina that soldiers are afraid
of death and that they care more about food than glory, and that’s the first time Shaw’s play
challenges Raina’s romantic notions of war.
The most obvious evidence of Shaw’s satire is in the characters’ transformations. Raina is a
nave idealist at the beginning of the play, but she gradually comes to realize that her ideas of war
and of love are illusions. She finds that Sergius, instead of being a heroic warrior, is actually
frustrated in both his military and his romantic roles. His flirtation with Louka, the family’s
maid, shows that he is a hypocrite—he talks of honor but acts on impulse. Louka is
self-aware and refuses to accept the social restrictions that have been imposed on her. She
sees through Sergius’s pretensions and challenges his idealized ideas of love.
Bluntschli is the ultimate antithesis of the romantic hero. At first he is the most unheroic
character, but his honesty, intelligence, and practicality make him the real hero of the play.
His straightforwardness appeals to Raina, who chooses him over Sergius at the end, symbolizing
her growth and her rejection of false romantic ideals.
Shaw’s main purpose is to shatter our assumptions about war and love:
War is not glorious, but absurd and brutal. The heroism of the noble warrior is ridiculed in
Sergius’s farcical charge and in Bluntschli’s realistic bluntness.
” True love doesn’t require a big gesture, it only requires sincerity” – Raina. Raina’s initial
fluttering feelings for Sergius die down as she realizes that sincerity wins over drama every time.
But class and social mobility are also important here. Louka, a servant, is strong-willed and
independent, not letting society limit her, and she earns Sergius’s respect.
Arms and the Man is a brilliant attack on romantic notions. Through wit and satire, Shaw
challenges the audience’s own ideas about love and heroism. He doesn’t reject love and courage
outright, but he does offer a more realistic and grounded perspective. Realistic in the sense
that practicality, honesty, and self-knowledge triumph over illusion and fantasy. And his
message is as important now as it was when the play was first written. We must see beyond
exaggerated ideals and embrace reality.
