Story summary
Краткое содержание: Arms and the Man
- Чтение: 8 мин.
- 9 parts
- Аудио скоро
A Swiss soldier who carries chocolate instead of ammunition climbs a Bulgarian balcony, and a romantic girl hides him.
3 months free · unlimited eBooks, audiobooks and summaries, and print and large print at cost
Nothing to pay today · Мы отправим вам электронное письмо до списания средств. · Отмените онлайн в два нажатия
Arms and the Man — кратко о книге
Краткое содержание: 8 min на чтение
- Время чтения
- Около 1 h 35 min1 h 15 min fast, 1 h 50 min slow
- Длительность
- Слов: 22 3003 chapters
- Страницы
- Страниц: 69104 in large print
- Уровень в библиотеке
- Средний longer sentences, everyday words
- Первая публикация
- 1898by Bernard Shaw
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Сколько времени нужно на чтение классики · Обновлено
Бесплатно на 3 мес.
Получите полное краткое содержание Arms and the Man бесплатно
- 200 000+ классических книг в формате электронных книг, аудиокниг и кратких содержаний на 15 минут, а также печатные книги, в том числе крупным шрифтом, по себестоимости печати
- До 5 читателей в вашей семье на одном плане
Arms and the Man in short
The story runs from one night to the next spring. Raina Petkoff worships Sergius, the hero of a cavalry charge. A tired Swiss soldier climbs into her room, laughs at the charge, eats her chocolate creams and sleeps in her bed.
What Arms and the Man is about
What would you do if a stranger with a pistol climbed onto your balcony in the middle of a war? In Arms and the Man, a young Bulgarian woman hides him, feeds him chocolate, and lets him sleep in her bed. It is the start of a comedy that laughs at almost everything people admire.
Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright who used the stage to argue with his audience, sets this play during and after the war between Bulgaria and Serbia in 1885. He tests the dashing cavalry officer and the noble lady who adores him against a tired professional soldier who carries sweets instead of bullets.
Для кого. You will love this if you enjoy sharp comedy, witty talk, and stories that poke fun at heroes and high ideals. It suits anyone curious about how war, love and class look when someone stops pretending.
The story in 9 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A battle won and a hero adored
The play opens on a late November night in 1885, in a lady's bedroom in a small Bulgarian town. The family wants to be modern and European, and is not quite there.
Raina's mother Catherine rushes in with news. There has been a great battle, and Raina's fiancé, Sergius, has led a cavalry charge against orders and broken the Serbian guns. Raina is overjoyed. She once worried that her ideas of heroism came from Byron, Pushkin and the opera, not from real life. Now she feels everything is proved true. She lifts his photograph like a priestess.
Shaw plants his target early. Raina does not love Sergius so much as the picture of a hero she has built from books and music. The maid Louka rolls her eyes at the whole performance, and she secretly shows Raina that the shutter has no bolt.
Then the firing starts close by. Raina blows out her candles and gets into bed with her fingers in her ears. The shutters swing open, a man appears for a moment in the starlight, and the room is dark again.
The play begins with a dream, and the dream is about to be tested.
- 2Начните читать бесплатно
A fugitive with a pistol, and a cloak
In the dark, a match flares, and a man's voice orders Raina to be silent or be shot.
- 3Начните читать бесплатно
Chocolate creams instead of cartridges
Once the danger passes, Raina hands back the man's pistol, mocking him.
- 4Начните читать бесплатно
A spring morning of comfortable hypocrisy
Act Two jumps to March 1886, in the garden of Major Petkoff's house.
- 5Начните читать бесплатно
A bruise, a rival and a returning guest
No sooner is Raina out of sight than Sergius turns to Louka.
- 6Начните читать бесплатно
Orders, a coat and a photograph
Act Three takes place in the library after lunch.
- 7Начните читать бесплатно
War as a trade, not a romance
The first of the play's great themes is war.
- 8Начните читать бесплатно
Poses, class and who is really honest
The second theme is the pose.
- 9Начните читать бесплатно
How Shaw builds the comedy
Shaw uses the shape of a conventional romantic comedy, then bends it.
Read all 9 key ideas now
3 months free, then 0,14 USD a day: unlimited eBooks, audiobooks and summaries, and print and large print at cost.
- Nothing to pay today
- Мы отправим вам электронное письмо до списания средств.
- Отмените онлайн в два нажатия
Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Raina Petkoff A young Bulgarian lady who adores a heroic picture of war and love, and who must learn what she really wants.
- Captain Bluntschli A Swiss professional soldier, tired and practical, who carries chocolate instead of cartridges and sees through every pose.
- Sergius Saranoff Raina's handsome fiancé, a cavalry major who talks of the higher love and struggles to live up to his ideals.
- Louka The Petkoffs' proud maid, who sees the household clearly and wants to be treated as an equal.
- Catherine Petkoff Raina's commanding mother, who longs to be a Viennese lady and guards the family's good name.
- Major Paul Petkoff Raina's cheerful, simple father, newly returned from the war and proud of his library.
- Nicola The calm manservant who knows his place and plans to use it to open a shop in Sofia.
How it ends (spoiler)
Louka makes Sergius apologize and he accepts her as his fiancée, giving up Raina. Catherine objects, but Bluntschli shows that he is rich enough to marry into the family after all. Raina first protests, then admits she gave her shelter to her chocolate cream soldier. Bluntschli leaves, promising to return on Tuesday fortnight, and Sergius admires him.
The whole book is coming to your plan
The full text of Arms and the Man opens soon. Keep this summary as a file today.
Paperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way. Email me when it is printed
Вопросы о книге Arms and the Man
What is Arms and the Man about?
It follows a Bulgarian family during the 1885 war with Serbia. A Swiss soldier hides in Raina Petkoff's bedroom, and his plain good sense challenges her romantic ideas about war, heroes and love.
Who is the chocolate cream soldier?
He is Captain Bluntschli, the Swiss officer who shelters in Raina's room. He carries sweets instead of cartridges, and Raina gives him her chocolate creams, which gives him the nickname.
Where does the title Arms and the Man come from?
The title echoes the opening of Virgil's Roman epic, which begins with arms and a man. Shaw uses it ironically, because his soldier carries chocolate and cares more about sleep than glory.
Is Arms and the Man based on a true story?
The story is invented, but its setting is real. It uses the 1885 war between Bulgaria and Serbia and the battle of Slivnitza as its background. Shaw wrote the play in the 1890s.
Is Arms and the Man easy to read?
Yes, it reads quickly. The play is in three acts with lively dialogue, short speeches, clear stage directions and plenty of jokes, so you can follow who is who and what each person wants.
Как сослаться на это издание
Shaw, Bernard. Arms and the Man. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/arms-and-the-man.
Shaw, B. (2026). Arms and the man. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/arms-and-the-man (Original work published 1898)
Shaw, Bernard. Arms and the Man. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/arms-and-the-man.
@book{shaw2026arms,
author = {Shaw, Bernard},
title = {Arms and the Man},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/arms-and-the-man},
note = {First published 1898}
}
Crime and Punishment
Wuthering Heights
Pride and Prejudice
The Iliad
Romeo and Juliet
The Picture of Dorian GrayБесплатно на 3 мес.
Получите полное краткое содержание Arms and the Man бесплатно
- 200 000+ классических книг в формате электронных книг, аудиокниг и кратких содержаний на 15 минут, а также печатные книги, в том числе крупным шрифтом, по себестоимости печати
- До 5 читателей в вашей семье на одном плане
