NON – AFRICAN DRAMA
BERNARD SHAW: ARMS AND THE MAN
How is romantic love treated in the play?
Explanation
Romantic love is a predominant theme in the play. But this is welded into a compact whole with the theme of war. In the play, the experiences of the characters show that the romance of war is closely connected to the romance of love.
As the play opens, the audience is introduced to Raina's romantic perceptions of love. She is a pretty, yound lady whose reading of two poets, Byron and Pushkin, has impacted her idea of love. Standing on the balcony of her bedroom, she admires the beauty of the night, dreams of her fiance, Sergius, who is currently fighting in the war between Bulgaria and Serbia. Raina, in ecstasy, receives the news of her fiance's bravery on the war front from her mother and in her bedroom, adores her lover's photograph affectionately. She feels that she has beenk, before now, a "prosaic little coward" in her doubts about Sergius herosim. Thus, her lover's supposed heroic performance feeds into her romantic perceptions of love. Raina glorifies Sergius as a here. On returning from the war, a "higher love" develops between them. Sergius calls her "My queen" and "goddess" and she calls him her "king" and "hero". They glorify each other because they are blind to their own failings. Later, both of them have to face the realities of love and submit to their own common human imperfections.
This idealized world of romantic love is contrasted with Bluntschli's blunt but realistic perception of both love and war. The fugitive is used to voice the playwright's position on the issue of love. He shocks Raina presenting a realistic view of Sergius' foolhardiness on the war front.
The fault in Raina and Sergius' perceptions of love is further brought to the fore as we see them cheating or each other, Raina flirting with Bluntschli behind Sergius' back and sergius flirting with Louka behind Raina's back. Their romantic love is therefore treated as something that cannot last.
Through Bluntschli and Louka, the playwright is able to focus the searchlight of truth and reason on the idea of love. Bluntschli and Louka are intellectually superior to Sergius and Raina in this play. The futility c: raomantic love is stressed when Nicola is forced to give up on Louka for business and profit, and Louka for social status. In the final analysis, love is treated as matter of strict realism. Romantic love is more of an illusion