The play begins with very detailed stage directions, which annoyed me somewhat when I first read it. But slowly I realized that the stage directions do not inhibit the reader’s imagination. On the contrary, they help to create a space which is as real as our own home, our own world. Bernard Shaw shows the world as it is, and for that he has to create a world that lives beyond fiction, and the meticulous detailing is necessary. Raina is not a girl like any other, but she seems very familiar, and the Swiss soldier is an endearing figure. The latter reminds us of Wilfred Owen, who pointed out that in a war all soldiers are besieged with the same problems. One camp demonizes the enemy camp and believes all evil of the enemies, but the enemies are also scared people who just want the war to be over. In Sergius we see the man who has started doubting the naïve convictions of his youth. He doesn’t understand himself, and wonders why he should want things that he doesn’t feel good about wanting. Arms and the Man is a wonderful exploration of the human psyche, and as such it is a timeless classic.
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