NON - AFRICAN DRAMA BERNARD SHAW: ARMS AND THE MAN How is romantic love treated in the play?

Answer Details

Romantic love is one of the chief targets of George Bernard Shaw's satire in Arms and the Man. Shaw treats it comically, exposing the false idealism of romantic love and setting against it a practical, honest affection.

Romantic love as illusion. At the start Raina Petkoff and Sergius Saranoff believe themselves joined in a lofty, poetic love, what they grandly call the higher love. They strike heroic poses, speak in exalted language and imagine their devotion to be noble and pure. Shaw presents this romantic idealism as a pretence that cannot survive contact with reality.

The exposure of the pose. The pose collapses almost at once. Sergius, the supposed hero and faithful lover, secretly flirts with the servant Louka behind Raina's back, revealing that his lofty love is hollow. Raina, for her part, is drawn to the fugitive Swiss soldier Bluntschli, the chocolate-cream soldier who hides in her bedroom, and confesses that even she has been playing a part. Shaw shows that the grand romantic love of Raina and Sergius is largely play-acting.

Realistic love as the alternative. Against this false romance Shaw sets a sensible, truthful love. Bluntschli is unromantic, frank and practical, and it is with him, not with the posturing Sergius, that Raina finds a genuine match. Likewise the ambitious servant Louka wins the aristocratic Sergius. Love that is based on truth and mutual understanding is rewarded, while empty romantic idealism is laughed off the stage.

Comic resolution. The play ends with two couples correctly paired according to real feeling rather than romantic pretence: Raina with Bluntschli and Sergius with Louka. The neat comic pairing underlines Shaw's point.

Romantic love is therefore treated with mockery. Shaw ridicules the theatrical, self-deceiving idealism of Raina and Sergius and champions instead a love grounded in honesty and common sense.