Sayyed Rahim Moosavinia - Chamran University of Ahvaz
Mina Etemadnejad - MA in English literature, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz

As the first play which brought George Bernard Shaw fame and critical acclaim, Arms and the Man is concerned with issues of war and marriage as seen by two opposing systems of thought, characterized in Petkoff family and Captain Bluntschli. While the Petkoffs are highly idealistic about war, Bluntschli is very realistic about this phenomenon. For the Petkoff family, war is equal to altruism and honor, while Bluntschli holds that it is an endeavor to keep one’s life and to kill others. Such ideological honor is so great in the minds of the Petkoff family that it is influential in their daughter’s marriage. They believe that their daughter should marry a man who is a hero in war and who holds a military rank. All through the play, all these ideological viewpoints are attacked by Bluntschli’s realistic reactions. Such a confrontation paves the way for an Althusserian reading of the play. Louis Althusser argues that ideological discourses take individuals away from a true understanding of their situations, while scientific discourses, as practices by Marxian approaches, provide them with realistic understanding of their surroundings. It seems all through the play, the responsibility of presenting scientific discourse is on the shoulder of Captain Bluntschli. To discuss this issue, the present study identifies such ISAs as family, cultural, and political in the play to see the dissemination and workings of ideological discourses in the play and how they are confronted and challenged by scientific discourses.

Louis Althusser, George Bernard Shaw, Ideological State Apparatuses, Scientific Discourse, Ideological Discourse