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Arms and the Man Shaw Library George Bernard Shaw 9780140450354 Books

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Arms and the Man Shaw Library George Bernard Shaw 9780140450354 Books

I recently re-read and reviewed Shaw’s Man and Superman (Penguin Classics). I was not overwhelmed, so I decided to give another of his more famous works a try, for the first time. Alas, I found this work even less satisfying.

This play first premiered twenty years before the commencement of the First World War. The setting is the Balkans, the source of much conflict. Events in the Balkans would be immediate cause of the “Great War.” Almost 30 years earlier, those tangled alliances and competing ethnic rivalries were very much extant, demonstrated by the Battle of Slivnitsa. It was a “proxy war,” of sorts. Bulgaria, on the one side, with Russian generals commanding their troops. The other side was Serbia, with Austrian generals. Bulgaria decisively won this battle. The play commences at the immediate aftermath of the battle. For the commencement of WWI, the Russians had changed sides, and were supporting their Orthodox “brothers,” the Serbs, against Austria.

The setting is an upscale room of the Petkoff’s, a leading and rich Bulgarian family. Catherine is approximately 40, her daughter, Raina, 23. She is engaged to Sergius Saranoff, who has just lead a successful cavalry charge in the battle. Suddenly a man breaks into the room, seeking refuge. Turns out he is a Swiss mercenary officer, who did not go to the highest bidder, but rather the first country in the conflict that he came to, when traveling from Switzerland. Shaw plays to the national stereotype, and the officer loves his chocolates, more than bullets even, and is henceforth called the “chocolate soldier.”

Slapstick abounds. Russian officers break into the house, in pursuit of the “chocolate soldier,” whose name is Captain Bluntschli. He is hiding behind the curtain, and is protected by Raina and Catherine, even though Raina’s fiancé had just been in a battle attempting to kill Bluntschli. In addition to the “geopolitical tangles,” Shaw stirs in star-crossed romantic tangles as well, with the forthright and head-strong maid, Louka, playing a prominent role. There is a reasonable amount of social criticism as well, none too shocking for today, but perhaps for the time it was: there is the ever-so-familiar, and ever-so-repeated “folly of war,” and there are the various affairs that the “gratin” of Bulgarian society are engaged in.

For better or worse, for most of two decades my theater-experiences were mainly in Riyadh. The selection of plays was not overwhelming: usually only one, in an expat compound. Comedies of mistaken identity seemed to be a frequent choice, with the denouement being a cheerful resolution and a happy ending. Sometimes I wanted to scream, but these singular plays “were the only game in town.”

Thus, I saw Shaw’s play largely through that Riyadh prism, and therefore may be demonstrating my bias against light-hearted comedies when I rate this play 3-stars.


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Arms and the Man Shaw Library George Bernard Shaw 9780140450354 Books Reviews

The back of this book is quite confusing. The text begins by talking about the correct author but the summary of the play is all wrong. The correct play is printed inside but the outside leads one to wonder about the editor.
A wonderful collection of Shaw's most famous plays. "Pymalion," for example, provided the story for that great film, "My Fair Lady," a classic 1960's production with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews. I don't know anyone who has not enjoyed that story and film. Now's your chance to read Shaw's fine play that inspired the movie. Yet you have 7 other plays to enjoy in this collection. If you enjoy the Theatre,Broadway plays especially, you'll have plenty of enjoyable reading in this anthology of eight excellent G.B. Shaw plays. Shaw lived to be 96 and was self-educated, brilliant and influential playwright. Please purchase and enjoy this collection. I bought a perfectly fine used copy. Plays are fun to read, and don't bother reading the stage directions, just focus on the dialogue.
Most plays run 80 to 100 pages. You can easily read a play in one sitting or over the course of a few nights of bedtime reading, providing enjoyment and a "break" from novels. As for me, novels, short stories, biographies, autobiographies,poetry, plays, non-fiction are all included in my reading choices.Do open yourself to a wide range of reading. Turn off the television and read, read, read~!
For me, this provides an excellent survey of the Ring Cycle, despite being 120 years old, and despite being Marxist in approach. Shaw worked as a music critic, combined a keen appreciation of music with the ability to write about it for a general audience. He was also a social critic, a socialist rather than a communist, but still Marxist in his theoretical orientation. These elements of Shaw combine in this book, and he explicitly views the Ring as a criticism of modern capitalism. His Marxist approach, however, is by no means controlling. This is very useful as a guide.
This is my favourite play of Shaw's helped by the fact that I saw it live at a university theatre while I was in high school It's an interesting version of an English comedy of manners set in eastern Europe where without foreign generals the natives "couldn't have a war.'

The hero is a Swiss mercenary and the other romantic protagonist is both cynic and idealist caught between his urges and ideals. This play is half "She stoops to conquer" and half "The Importance of Being Ernest" This play finds Shaw at his wittiest and least didactic though the social commentary is still both heavy and biting. Here as in many of his plays all sides get their say, and it's not quite clear what the moral is. Which is perhaps how art should be.
Any serious fan of the theater should be fully aware of, if not in love wit, George Bernard Shaw. This volume contains Candida, The Man of Destiny, You Never Can Tell, and, one of the all-time greats, Arms and the Man.

Arms and the Man deals with the subjects of love and war. It takes place in 1885-86 in the backdrop of the very end and aftermath of the Bulgarian-Serbian war. Bluntschli is an incredibly wonderful creation of Shaw's. I'll leave the quips on love alone, but there are some wonderful lines about war that must be laid out here.

Sergius Soldiering, my dear madam, is the coward's art of attacking mercilessly when you are strong, and keeping out of harm's way when you are weak. That is the whole secret of successful fighting. Ger your enemy at a disadvantage; and never, on any account, fight him on equal terms. (46)

Sergius I refuse to fight you. Do you know why?
Bluntschli No; but it doesn't matter. I didn't ask the reason when you cried on; and I don't ask the reason now that you cry off. I'm a professional soldier I fight when I have to, and am very glad to get out of it when I haven't to. (78)
I recently re-read and reviewed Shaw’s Man and Superman (Penguin Classics). I was not overwhelmed, so I decided to give another of his more famous works a try, for the first time. Alas, I found this work even less satisfying.

This play first premiered twenty years before the commencement of the First World War. The setting is the Balkans, the source of much conflict. Events in the Balkans would be immediate cause of the “Great War.” Almost 30 years earlier, those tangled alliances and competing ethnic rivalries were very much extant, demonstrated by the Battle of Slivnitsa. It was a “proxy war,” of sorts. Bulgaria, on the one side, with Russian generals commanding their troops. The other side was Serbia, with Austrian generals. Bulgaria decisively won this battle. The play commences at the immediate aftermath of the battle. For the commencement of WWI, the Russians had changed sides, and were supporting their Orthodox “brothers,” the Serbs, against Austria.

The setting is an upscale room of the Petkoff’s, a leading and rich Bulgarian family. Catherine is approximately 40, her daughter, Raina, 23. She is engaged to Sergius Saranoff, who has just lead a successful cavalry charge in the battle. Suddenly a man breaks into the room, seeking refuge. Turns out he is a Swiss mercenary officer, who did not go to the highest bidder, but rather the first country in the conflict that he came to, when traveling from Switzerland. Shaw plays to the national stereotype, and the officer loves his chocolates, more than bullets even, and is henceforth called the “chocolate soldier.”

Slapstick abounds. Russian officers break into the house, in pursuit of the “chocolate soldier,” whose name is Captain Bluntschli. He is hiding behind the curtain, and is protected by Raina and Catherine, even though Raina’s fiancé had just been in a battle attempting to kill Bluntschli. In addition to the “geopolitical tangles,” Shaw stirs in star-crossed romantic tangles as well, with the forthright and head-strong maid, Louka, playing a prominent role. There is a reasonable amount of social criticism as well, none too shocking for today, but perhaps for the time it was there is the ever-so-familiar, and ever-so-repeated “folly of war,” and there are the various affairs that the “gratin” of Bulgarian society are engaged in.

For better or worse, for most of two decades my theater-experiences were mainly in Riyadh. The selection of plays was not overwhelming usually only one, in an expat compound. Comedies of mistaken identity seemed to be a frequent choice, with the denouement being a cheerful resolution and a happy ending. Sometimes I wanted to scream, but these singular plays “were the only game in town.”

Thus, I saw Shaw’s play largely through that Riyadh prism, and therefore may be demonstrating my bias against light-hearted comedies when I rate this play 3-stars.