Arms and the Man: A Classic Comedy of Love, War, and Romantic Illusions

Love. War. Heroism. George Bernard Shaw turns them all upside down in this witty and enduring comedy of romantic ideals.

When an exhausted Swiss soldier fleeing the battlefield climbs through the bedroom window of Raina Petkoff, he shatters nearly everything she believes about courage and war. Raina has been raised on stories of glorious battles, noble sacrifice, and heroic soldiers. Captain Bluntschli, however, is a practical professional who values survival over glory-and famously carries chocolates in his ammunition pouch instead of cartridges.

Their unlikely encounter sets in motion a sharp and surprising comedy of romance, social convention, class, and mistaken ideals. As Raina begins to question the heroic image of her fiancé, Sergius, Shaw exposes the gulf between how people imagine themselves and who they really are.

Set during the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885, Arms and the Man combines sparkling dialogue, memorable characters, romantic complications, and biting social satire. Shaw takes aim at the glorification of warfare while also questioning conventional ideas about courage, status, courtship, and love.

First performed in 1894, Arms and the Man remains one of Shaw's most accessible and entertaining plays-a clever comedy in which practicality confronts idealism, appearances give way to truth, and the most unlikely character may prove to be the real hero.