The Real vs. the Ideal: An Analysis of the Anti-RomanticView of Love and War in Shaw'sArms and the Man

Arms and the Man is the story of a Bulgarian family who meet a Swiss officer and thisacquaintance affects and changes their overall view of life, especially of love and war. There isagreement that the play is an attack upon the romantic and conventional view of love and war.Throughout the play, by means of the setting and the characters' speech and actions Shaw showsthe confrontation between the real and the ideal in order to underestimate the prevalent notionsof bravery, manhood and higher love. By his characterization of Blunschli, Shaw has suggestedthat the prevalent norms and values are not acceptable and the rational view is in contrast to theabsurd, romantic view of love and war. Throughout the play, the ideal and the real are standingside by side; as a romantic view is expressed it is usually followed by a realistic one and viceversa. In the battle between the ideal and the real, usually it is the latter that wins.

کلیدواژه ها:

Shaw ، Arms and the Man ، real ، unreal ، love ، war