SUMMARY OF ACT (I)
Act one opens in a lady's bedroom in a small Bulgarian town in 1885. Raina, the heroine of the play is standing on her balcony looking at the beauty of the night round her. The moon is shining and the snow covers the mountains. The view is so romantic but is distant. The room is decorated in the worst possible taste, which reflects Catherine's desire to seem as cultured and civilized as Viennese as possible. The bedroom is mixture of expensive traditional Bulgarian and cheap modern Viennese furniture. The room has many good Eastern European decorations; a painted wooden ivory image of Christ, a Turkish sofa and curtains. The furniture shows that the people are badly imitating fashionable Western European culture. Among the objects in the room are a cheap washstand and a table. The covering and mirror are good. Raina's furs are worth three times the furniture. There is also a box of chocolate creams that will play an important part in Act (I) and which will become a symbol of the type of war which Shaw will satire, and a portrait of a handsome officer. There is a contrast here between the old rich Bulgarian furniture and the modern cheap Viennese furniture.
Raina, a young lady whose age we are not told until near the end of the play, stands on the balcony enjoying the beauty of the night. She is aware of her own beauty compared to the beauty of nature. She is lost in deep romantic feelings. Her character is revealed by this lack of taste, and by the things on her chest of drawers. She appears to be fond of reading and of sweets, and the romance of her nature is shown by the large picture of her lover Sergius in uniform. Her mother, Catherine Petkoff, an energetic, attractive woman of forty, enters. She seems to be a splendid specimen of a mountain farmer, but is determined to be a Viennese lady. Catherine and Raina are contrasted the mother seems to be practical and advises Raina of the dangers of night air while Raina speaks dreamily and sentimentally.
Catherine is excited and tells her daughter that the Bulgarians have won an important battle at Slivnitza over the Serbians. Sergius, Raina's intended fiancé (future husband), disobeyed the Russian officers who directed the Bulgarian Army and led his cavalry against the enemy, and scattered them here and there. Catherine calls Sergius a hero and criticizes Raina for having delayed a year before becoming engaged to him. Raina previously doubted whether the ideals which she and Sergius had were anything more than dreams. While Sergius held her in his arms, she wondered whether their heroic talk was only the result of reading such romantic poets as Byron and Pushkin, and-having been to the opera at Bucharest (capital of Rumania). Now his bravery shows that their ideals were right. She confesses to her mother that she has been wrong and she is filled with worship for her hero. She wonders if such a hero will care any longer for her little affections.
While Raina exclaims on her happiness, Louka enters. Louka is an attractive, defying and insulting young woman, although she is a servant. She tells the two ladies that the windows must be closed and the shutters locked because the Serbs may try to escape through the town, and that some of the fugitives have been chased into the neighbourhood. Thus, the doors must be secured because there might be fighting and shooting in the street below. Raina is a sympathetic character. She feels sorry for the fugitive soldiers who must be killed and wishes that her people were not so cruel. Her mother who is practical says to her,"ln war, everyone can be killed". She says to her mother,"This is the happiest night of my life if only there are no fugitives." This line shows Raina's kindness and tender heart. She finds no glory in killing and feels sorry for the poor fugitives who are chased and killed by her own people. There is also irony in this line because it indeed turns out to be one of the happiest nights in Raina's life because there is a fugitive. Catherine goes down to fasten up the doors, and Louka shows Raina how to fasten the shutters if there is any shooting, then she leaves to help bolt the rest of the house. Raina is left alone, and she holds up the portrait of Sergius romantically and calls the picture her "soul's hero" She exclaims that she will never be unworthy of her hero. She shows no sign of physical longing for Sergius.
As Raina prepares for bed, she hears gun-fire in the distance and then some more shots are heard; these are much nearer. She gets out of bed and rapidly blows out the candle and immediately goes back to bed. She hears more shots and in the dark someone opens a broken shutter, enters the room and lights a match. A man (we are not told his name until Act II) warns her not to try to run away. Raina is told to light a candle, and after she does so, she is able to see a man in a Serbian officer's uniform, an artillery officer. He is completely covered with mud and blood. He warns Raina that if she raises an alarm she will be shot because if he is caught, he will be killed _ and he has no intention of dying. He will shoot the first man who breaks in and it will not be nice. Raina acts very bravely; she shows him that she is not afraid to die. Soldiers beat on the front door of the house.
Louka knocks on Raina's bedroom door and warns her to get up and open the door before the soldiers break it down. The Serbian officer quickly snatches away from her a cloak she was holding in her hand and is about to use to cover herself. He wants now to see if she is willing, dressed in her nightgown, to call the drunken Bulgarian soldiers into her room to capture him. She tells him that it isn't the weapon of a gentleman, but he says that he is doing so for his life. Suddenly the Serbian officer loses his courage; he tells Raina that he is done for. He has had a pistol in his hand, but now he throws it down on the sofa. He clearly does not have Raina's idealism. He admits that he is trapped and finds that his position is hopeless, he now gives Raina her cloak to cover herself. Raina in a mood of generosity, decides to help him to escape. She hides him behind a curtain and opens the door. Catherine, Louka and a Russian officer dressed in a Bulgarian uniform enter, and after inspecting the balcony and hearing Raina testify that no one came in, they leave. Louka sees the man's pistol on the sofa and understands its significance, Raina is hiding somebody, but she says nothing. Raina slams and locks the door after them.
After Louka and Catherine depart, the man comes out from behind the curtains and thanks Raina. He announces that he is not a Serbian officer. He is a professional soldier from Switzerland, hired by the Serbs. He asks to stay a minute to collect his thoughts, and Raina agrees. Raina sits on the pistol on the sofa and she lets out a scream. Raina now realizes what it was that Louka was staring at, and she is surprised that the others didn't notice it. What a narrow escape they had from being discovered! She is frightened of the gun, but the soldier tells her there is no need to be as it is not loaded. He has no ammunition; instead he carries chocolates in case he becomes hungry during a battle. In fact, he wishes he had some chocolates now. Raina's ideals of courage, patriotism, and manhood are shaken. She goes to the chest of drawers and returns with a half-eaten box of chocolates. She insultingly offers him the chocolates which he devours because he is starving. Raina is shocked when he tells her that whereas young, inexperienced soldiers carry pistols and cartridges, old soldiers like himself carry food. When she throws away the chocolate box, he jumps, afraid she will strike him. After three days under the fire of battle, he is extremely nervous.
Raina is offended again when the man says that only an unprofessional would have charged the Serbian machine-guns the way the Bulgarians did. If the Serbians could have fired, not a Bulgarian man or a horse would have lived. The Serbians have not fired because they have had the wrong ammunition. Not knowing he has insulted Raina's fiance, he mocks the leader of the Bulgarian cavalry charge. He compares him to an operatic tenor and to Don Quixote who has charged at the windmills.
Raina is hurt but she still believes in her fiance's heroism. She shows the Swiss her portrait of Sergius, the patriot and hero she is going to marry. He begins to apologize but breaks out laughing at the cavalry charge. He then makes matters worse when he says that Sergius might not have been foolish; perhaps he knew in advance about the Serbians having the wrong cartridges. This makes Raina angrier as it implies that Sergius was a coward pretending to be brave.
Raina says that the Swiss is lucky as she is not a professional soldier because he is at her mercy; she, however, will let him escape. When she tells him to climb down the water-pipe into the street, he almost faints from fear of being chased again. He tells her to call the soldiers instead. Raina says he is 'a very poor soldier: a chocolate cream soldier!' and pities him. Because he has not rested for two days he begins to fall asleep.
Raina becomes more concerned for his safety and says she will help him. She starts to boast of herself and of her family. She explains that they are a rich, well-known family. He pretends to be impressed. She says that their house is the only house in Bulgaria with a flight of stairs, two rows of windows, and a library. The family goes to Bucharest each year for the opera. She mentions the opera "Ernani" by Verdi.
She says that she and her mother has the same sense of honour as the old noble in the opera who saves his enemy. Copying the same nobility of conduct she claims that she would have earlier saved the soldier if he had said that he was a fugitive. He doubts this. Whereas Raina is motivated by high romantic ideals of noble behaviour, the Swiss is unromantic, practical and full of common sense. We learn that his father owns six hotels, which is unusual for a professional soldier working for a foreign country.
When Raina starts to go in search of her mother the soldier begins to fall asleep. Seeing this she is insulted and asks him to stand all the time while she is out of the room. He agrees but falls asleep on her bed as soon as she leaves. Raina returns with her mother who is shocked at seeing the soldier asleep on her daughter's bed. When the mother tries to wake him, Raina surprises her by saying that 'the poor darling is tired and should be Let sleep.
QUESTIONS WITH MODEL ANSWERS
1. What contrast is shown in the furnishing of Raina's room?
The room is decorated in the worst possible taste. The furniture of the room is not like the style of West Europe. It is half rich Bulgarian, half cheap Viennese which reflects the awful taste of Catherine Petkoff. Though she can be a perfect mountain farmer's wife, she has a great desire to seem as civilized and as Viennese as possible.
2. How is this contrast also displayed when Raina talks to the soldier?
At first Raina was offended when the soldier (Bluntschli) spoke scornfully about her fiance and mocked him. Raina was also angry about his cowardice by hiding behind a lady's curtain. But then she is attracted to him and she is secretly happy that her fiance is not as perfect as she has earlier believed. She decides to act a noble part by saving the soldier's life.
3. What shows that Raina is romantic?
- Raina is a romantic girl . This is proved while she is standing in the balcony, conscious of the romantic beauty of the night.
- After her mother has told her that Sergius is a hero and has won a great victory she says that she will never be worthy of him any more.
- She refuses to close the window when her mother advises her to do so because of the shots.
- She wants to stay as long as she could in her romantic dream in the balcony.
- She keeps on looking at the moon and stars thinking about Sergius her hero and future husband.
4. What good news did Catherine bring to her daughter. Raina?
- She came to her with wonderful news. She told her about the latest battle that was won by her fiance, Sergius. He defied the Russian officers' commands and made a cavalry charge on his own responsibility. The brave Bulgarian soldiers followed him with swords in hands like thunder. They scattered the poor Serbs and their Russian officers like chaff and killed as many as they could of them. She added that Sergius won a great victory for Bulgarian and was the "hero of the hour."
5. " If you have a drop of Bulgarian blood in your veins, you will worship him when he comes hack. " Comment.
These words were said by Catherine to her daughter, Raina. Catherine brought Raina very good news about her fiance, Sergius. She told her that her fiance was the hero of the hour and he had gained a great victory for their country. She blamed Raina for her cold behaviour towards Sergius. Raina kept him waiting for a year before she would be married to him. Catherine wanted her daughter to change her attitude towards Sergius and make it up for him when he came back from the battle-field.
6. What will he care for my poor little worship after the acclamations of a whole army of heroes. " Comment.
Raina said that to her mother when Catherine blamed her for delaying her marriage to Sergius and being cold with him. Catherine wanted Raina to make it up for Sergius when he came back. She wanted her daughter to worship him. Raina wondered what use it was her poor little worship for him now that he was worshiped by a whole army of heroes. These words reflect Raina's sorrow and remorse for suspecting her fiance's heroism and patriotism.
7. Why did Raina feel remorseful?
- After hearing about the great heroic victory that was won by her fiance Sergius, she felt sorry for having suspected him. She doubted him and delayed their marriage. She thought that his heroic ideas and qualities were untrue; they were mere imagination because of reading Byron and Pushkin, and because they were so delighted with the Opera at Bucharest. She believed that when he went into real battle and put those heroic ideas to test, he would prove so poor compared to the clever Russian officers.
8. "This is the happiest night of my life - if only there are no fugitives. "Comment.
That was said by Raina to her mother before parting. Catherine gave Raina good news about her fiance who had gained a great victory over the Serbs. He was the hero of the hour. That news filled Raina with joy and happiness; but then they are interrupted by the maid, Louka who told them that the Serbs were chased and killed by their own soldiers. Raina felt sorry for the fugitives and wished that her Bulgarian soldiers wouldn't be so cruel to them. That late news threw a shadow on her joy and happiness. But for that fugitives business, that would have been the happiest night of her life. There is also irony in this line because it indeed turns out to be one of the happiest nights in Raina's life because there is a fugitive.
9. What happened to startle Raima just as she was eoing to read herself to sleep?
As she selected a book and got into bed to read herself to sleep, she heard a distant shot that broke the silence of the night. She was listening with fear when two more shots, much nearer, followed which startled her so that she got out of bed and quickly blew out the candles, put her fingers in her ears and hurried back to bed.
10. Describe the Man as he appeared in Act ( I ).
He is about 35, in a very bad condition, covered with mud and blood and snow. He is dressed in a Serbian artillery officer. He has strong neck and shoulders, with obstinate looking head with hair cut short. He has clear quick eyes and good mouth. In spite of his wretched condition he seems to be well possessed and so sure of himself.
11. How did the fugitive describe the cavalry charge?
He said that the Bulgarians threw a regiment of cavalry on a battery of machine guns which was a suicidal thing to do. The Serbs had the wrong ammunition, so they could not fire their guns, and if the guns went off every single man and horse would be slaughtered. The fugitive described Sergius by saying that he did that like an operatic tenor, he was handsome with flashing eyes and lovely moustache shouting his war cry and attacking like Don Quixote at the windmills and was imagining that he was doing the cleverest thing. He told Raina that the Serbs laughed at that funny sight but later their laughter turned into misery when they knew that they had the wrong size of ammunition.
12. What weapon did the Man use to make sure that Raina wouldn't cry for help?
At first the man threatened Raina not to raise her voice or he would shoot her dead, but she told him that she wasn't afraid of death. Then he thought of a better way to force her be silent and not cry for help He took away her cloak and told her that she would have to face the soldiers in her night-gown which she couldn't do. Indeed it wasn't the weapon of a gentleman but he had to use it to protect himself and save his soul.
13. What hrousht the Russian officer to the Petkoffs' house?
A Russian officer and a group of Bulgarian soldiers came to the Petkoffs' house looking for an enemy soldier who was seen by the neighbours climbing up the water-pipe of Raina's bed-room balcony. The Russian officer and his men were so mad and wild and wanted to search the whole house for the runaway.
These words were said by the fugitive to Raina when the Russian officer and his group of soldiers left the room. He was so lucky that he escaped death. Indeed it was a narrow escape, but his neck was safe in the end. Never mind whether it was a narrow escape or a large escape. These words reflect the Man's gratitude for Raina for saving his life. He promised to be indebted to her to the last day of his life.
15. How can you tell an old soldier from a young one?
From the fugitive's point of view, we can always tell the difference between an old soldier by the inside of his holsters and cartridge boxes; an old soldier always carries food instead of pistols and ammunitions. But young soldiers who are full of enthusiasm carry pistols and cartridges. In a battle field young soldiers are so wild and rash and want to die for their country while old ones come in big numbers, they know it's no use trying to fight. They do their best to stay alive.
16. Why was Sergius's victory unprofessional?
The Man believed that Serguis' victory was unprofessional because he threw his regiment of cavalry on a battery of machine guns. That was an act of suicide because if the machine guns went off, not a horse or a man would ever survive. The Man said that Serguis was only lucky to win that battle because the guns didn't go off because the Serbs had the wrong ammunition, and so they couldn't fire a single bullet.
17. How did the Man offend Raina?
- He offended her many times; first when he described her fiance, Sergius as a great fool who led a suicidal attack on battery machine guns on horse back. He described her hero as an operatic tenor and Don Quixote who charged foolishly at the windmills thinking that he was doing the finest thing. He also insinuated that her future husband must have known that the Serbs had the wrong ammunitions which made him charge safely. He told her that Sergius was trying to pull his horse back which meant that he was a coward.
18. What was Raina 's reaction to the Man's rude remarks about her future husband?
- When the fugitive told Raina about the cavalry attack on the Serbs, and described her future husband who was leading the troops as a stupid, clown, mad officer she got very angry and ordered him to leave. She deliberately kissed Sergius' portrait in front of him.
19. Why was it better for the fugitive that Raina wasn't professional?
- It was better for the Man that Raina was not professional because if she was, she wouldn't have taken him in, saved his life and hid him behind her curtains. She wouldn't have treated him so kindly or given him chocolate cream to eat. Instead, she would have given him to her people or might have killed him herself.
20. Why does the Man prefer capture to climbing down the water-pipe?
- The Man was so worn out and exhausted that he couldn't stand the idea of climbing down the water-pipe. He preferred to stay in Raina's bed-room and be captured because capture only meant death, and death meant undisturbed long sleep while climbing down meant exerting a lot of effort which he couldn't perform.
21. What is the significance of the cream chocolate ?
- The fugitive who comes into Raina's bed-room is an old professional Swiss soldier fighting for the Serbs. He tells Raina that he never carries any ammunitions, instead he carries chocolate because according to his point of view, he finds food and chocolate more useful to soldiers. Here Shaw, the writer reflects his idea about war. Shaw believes that there is no glory in war and he uses the chocolate cream to satire that subject. Raina also calls the Man the "chocolate cream soldier" when he refuses to climb down the waterpipe because he doesn't want to exert any effort.
22. How does Raina boast of her-family?
- Raina is very proud of her family and boasts so much of it. She tells the fugitive that she is a Petkoff, one of the richest families in Bulgaria; that her father is a major in the Bulgarian army; their house is the only one in Bulgaria that has two rows of windows and stairs inside it to get up and down by. She adds that they have the only library in the whole of Bulgaria and that they go to the capital Bugharest every year for the opera season.
23. Although Seryius does not appear in Act 1. we are given impressions of him hv four people. Discuss.
a) The author, Bernard Shaw describes his photograph as that of "an extremely handsome officer.
b) Catherine describes him as the hero of the hour and the idol of the regiment.
c) He is Raina's hero and she worships him.
d) He is described by Bluntschli as a great fool who has acted like Don Quixote and an operatic tenor.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
1. What did Catherine blame her daughter, Raina for?
2. What little secret did Raina want her mother to keep from Sergius?
3. Why did Louka come and interrupt Raina and her mother?
4. "I wish our people were not so cruel. What glory is there in killing wretched fugitives." Comment.
5. "I have no ammunition. What use are cartridges in battle? I always carry chocolate instead, and I finished the last cake of that hours ago." Comment.
6. The Man believes that Sergius is the maddest man he has ever met. He should be court-marshalled." Discuss.
7. "Of all the fools Let loose on a field of battle, that man must be the maddest." Comment.
8. Sergius' military charge was as foolish as Don Quixote's charge on the Windmills. Discuss.
9. When were Raina's ideals of courage, patriotism and manhood shaken?
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