Shaw Arms and the Man, Arms and the Man Summary, Arms and the Man Study Guide

Arms and the Man is a comedy of war and romance, and a satire in mock-heroic tone, an echo of the first lines of Virgil’s Aeneid. The setting of the play is Bulgaria during the 1885 war between the Bulgarians and the Serbs. The romantic and idealistic notions of war and love of the young Raina are challenged by the realistic picture of war drawn by Bluntschli as well as the practical side of love and marriage illustrated by Louka. George Bernard Shaw’s main purpose in this play is to attack the romantic idea of war. It emphasizes that things are not always what they seem. The ideas are developed through dialogue with the intent to make the audience give thought to the theme.