Bernard Shaw

Bernard Shaw

BERNARD SHAW'S "ARMS AND THE MAN":AN ALLEGORICAL PLAY

BERNARD SHAW’S ARMS AND THE MAN: AN ALLEGORICAL PLAY 

AYOOLA AKINKUNMI OLAMIDE 

mide_ayoola2002@yahoo.com  

   George Bernard Shaw was one of the greatest Irish writers. Among his contemporaries early writers were Samuel Beckett, W.B Yeats, Henry James, James Joyce, T.S Eliot and Woolf. 

Shaw as he was fondly called was born on July 26, 1856 in Dublin, Ireland. His father, from the protestant Irish upper class was an unsuccessful businessman and alcoholic, while his mother was a poor singer. As a result of this, it was self- striving for the children. Shaw attended both Protestant and Catholic Day schools before he took a clerical job at the age of 16. When he was 20 years, he joined his mother and sisters in London after his parents’ marriage failed in 1876. Bernard Shaw imbibed a sense of the ridiculous and love of anti-climax from his father. He was a lover of arguments who believed that theatre must do away with the drama of romantic (unrealistic) to the drama of edification (moral realism). His plays are didactic in nature. He uses his play to espouse and expose the hypocrisy, stupidity and conventionality of the modern ways of life, most especially war and its effects. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925 but he refused the prize money, instead he arranged for the money to go toward funding the translation of Swedish literature into English language. Shaw, a prolific playwright wrote fifty plays and he died a vegetarian, who neither took alcohol nor coffee, in his country home at Ayot, St. Lawrence on the 2nd of November, 1950 at the age of 94.

Arms and the Man: An Allegorical Play

A work of literature is said to be allegorical when it has a double meaning, that is, behind a simple tale, readers can perceive a great truth or moral lesson. This is the situation in Bernard Shaw’s play Arms and the Man.

The play Arms and the Man is set in Bulgaria in late 1885.It is about the war between the Bulgarians and Serbians. In the 19th Century war was a regular occurrence in Europe – Napoleonic War and Crimean war.

The play is a satire on the concept of war, heroism and glory. Shaw was of the opinion that those who wage wars are stupid; since a conflict brings nothing good. He believed conflicts should be settled by other means but not through wars. Majors Paul Petkoff and Segius Saranoff make known unfairness of wars:

“I won the battle the wrong way when our

Worthy Russian generals were losing it the

right way. In short, I upset their plans,

      and wounded their self-esteem.”       P.41

The playwright in order to show his bias against war ridicules the key war personalities:

“Nine soldiers out of ten are born fools

I’ve no ammunition. What use are cartridges

In battle? I always carry chocolate instead; and

    I finished the last cake of that hour ago”   P.25

 

“You can always tell an old soldier by the inside

of his holsters and cartridge boxes. The young

ones carry pistols and cartridges; The old ones, grubs. ”

                                                                   P.26

Shaw’s mission in the play is a call for consonance in the war. This is revealed in subsequent professional relation, that is, the cause for consonance between Petkoff and Saranoff on one hand and Bluntschli on the other hand. The reader or audience is surprised that the unexpected arrival of Bluntschli is warmly welcomed by Petkoff and Saranoff. For progress and peace, we need cooperation, tolerance and unity in this modern world and not war.

Dramaturgy:

Arms and the Man is a comedy because the principal characters are strong enough to overcome the obstacles to their happiness. The play ends as captain Bluntschli and Riana Petkoff are looking forward to getting married and earning comfortable income, Thereby giving the readers a familiar happy ending. The fact is that the play is also a serio-comic because a serious issue– war and its effects, is discussed all through, in a funny manner. The play is of low mimetic move, that is, about the real life experiences of the commoners and the oppressed due to the following factors:

1. It is about simple everyday issues, that is, the principal concerns of the play are those of the everyday happenings among common people. The play is not centred on the high and mighty. It is true to life and it has sympathy with ordinary people. This reflects in the language, plot and setting which are considerately simple. In essence, the play possesses the quality of verisimilitude, that is, illusion of reality or semblance of truth.
2. The values and assumptions in the play are firmly low mimetic, that is, they are romantic values, radicalism and change of opinions. For instance Sergius abandons most of his empty heroic attitude, breaks his engagement to Riana and makes plans to marry the housemaid (Louka). Bluntschli is also able to convince the Petkoff that through an inheritance from his father he has more than ample means to cater for Riana and the Petkoffs are glad to settle for a son-in-law less socially prominent than Sergius.
3.      The play is a blend of illusion and reality. For   instance, Catherine Petkoff sees Sergius to be a true hero; this is both romance and reality. Also the idea that Riana saves Bluntschli’s life (Pp. 20-26) is both romance and reality. Therefore, in respect to narrative pattern and theme. Arms and the Man is solidly in the mainstream of low- mimetic comedy.?

 

 

 

 

About the Author

Ayoola Akinkunmi, Born 1977, is a graduate of English and Literature from the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria. He is a Creative writer, Mystic Poet and Literary critic. He is Currently a teaching Literature in English.

What was George Bernard Shaw's view about Islam?

I would like to know what skilled people like "George Bernard Shaw's " view about Islam.

The learned of Europe were not as ignorant as some might think even though the majority was still quite ignorant about Islam.

In the words of Sir George Bernard Shaw, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1925,

“I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him - the wonderful man and in my opinion for from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Savior of Humanity.”

At another occasion he said,

“I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad, that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today.”- Sir George Bernard Shaw in 'The Genuine Islam,' Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936.

You can read about other prominent non-Muslim scholars who had something good to say about Islam in this article despite the times they lived in.

http://www.alislam.org/quran/Quran-and-non-Muslims-20080128MN.pdf

I hope this addresses your quesiton.

George Bernard Shaw Defends Hitler, Mass Murder