NON — AFRICAN DRAMA BERNARD SHAW: ARMS AND THE MAN How is the conflict between Bluntschli and Sergius resolved in the play?

Answer Details

The conflict between Captain Bluntschli and Major Sergius Saranoff in George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man is both military and personal, and Shaw resolves it not through a duel but through comic exposure and sensible rearrangement of the couples.

The nature of the conflict. Bluntschli, the practical Swiss professional soldier, and Sergius, the romantic Bulgarian cavalry officer, are opposites. On the battlefield Bluntschli's realism has already mocked Sergius, for the reckless cavalry charge that made Sergius a supposed hero was in truth a suicidal blunder that only succeeded by accident. Later the conflict becomes personal and romantic: both men are entangled with Raina, and Sergius, discovering that a strange fugitive spent a night in Raina's room, feels his honour insulted and challenges Bluntschli to a duel.

The threatened duel deflated. Shaw resolves the quarrel by puncturing its romantic pretension. When Sergius demands a duel, the unromantic Bluntschli calmly agrees but treats it as a professional matter, offering to fight with a machine gun and pointing out the absurdity of the challenge. The heroic gesture collapses into comedy, and the duel never takes place.

Exposure and honest re-pairing. The deeper resolution comes when the truth is revealed. Sergius has himself been unfaithful, secretly courting the maid Louka, so he has no moral ground for jealousy. Raina admits her attraction to Bluntschli. Once the pretences are stripped away, the tension between the two men dissolves. Sergius, freed from his false engagement, becomes betrothed to Louka, while Raina accepts Bluntschli, who is revealed to be wealthy and eligible.

The conflict is thus resolved through Shaw's characteristic method of deflating romantic illusion. Realism triumphs over false heroism, the men are reconciled, and the play closes with both couples correctly matched, Bluntschli even admiring Sergius's spirit as the rivalry ends in good humour.