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    Arms and The Man

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    Hina Basharat
    Easy summary of Arms and the man byHenrik Ibsen

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    Arms and The Man

    Uploaded by

    Hina Basharat
    19 views2 pages
    Easy summary of Arms and the man byHenrik Ibsen

    Original Title

    Arms and the man

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    © © All Rights Reserved

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    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

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    Easy summary of Arms and the man byHenrik Ibsen

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    19 views2 pages

    Arms and The Man

    Uploaded by

    Hina Basharat
    Easy summary of Arms and the man byHenrik Ibsen

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    You are on page 1of 2

    When the Act I begins, it is November 1885, when the Serbo-Bulgarian war begins.

    Raina, a
    young Bulgarian woman, stands on the balcony in her night gown and expensive furs. The
    furniture of her room is shabby and worth much less than her furs.
    Catherine, Raina’s mother enters and announces that Bulgarians have won a battle at Slivnitza
    that began on November 17 and lasted three days. Catherine says that Sergius, Raina’s fiancé,
    emerged heroic in the war. He led the cavalry charge.
    Raina is overjoyed to hear this and expresses relief because she has doubts about Sergius’
    heroism. She makes her mother promise not to tell him that she thought he might look bad beside
    the Russian officers. She worried that she only thought he looked good because she had romantic
    ideas from reading poetry and going to the opera.
    The women rejoice that Sergius has proven to be as heroic as they expected.
    Soon, Louka, Raina’s maid, enters and tells them they must close the windows because there has
    been shooting in the streets. The Serbians are being chased back by the Bulgarian cavalry and
    they may run into town. Raina says she wishes their people weren’t so cruel.
    They start securing the house. Nonetheless, a Serbian officer gains entry through Raina’s shutters
    as they aren’t closed. The officer is a Swiss professional soldier fighting for Serbia.
    He threatens Raina to not shout, as he don’t want to get killed. Raina says that some soldiers are
    afraid of death. He says they all are.
    Raina goes to fetch her cloak, but he takes it, saying it is a better weapon than a revolver. She
    says it’s not the weapon a gentleman would choose. As he hears someone approaching, he gives
    back her cloak.
    Impulsively, Raina hides him behind the curtains. Louka and Catherine come in, followed by a
    Bulgarian officer who says someone saw a man sneak up and hide on Raina's balcony. She tells
    him to check the balcony. Raina covers well, and the Russian leaves without noticing the pistol
    on the ottoman.
    When Raina hands the gun to the Serbian after the Russian leaves, the Serbian admits that the
    gun is not loaded because he carries chocolates in his cartridge belt instead of ammunition.
    He adds that old, experienced soldiers carry food while only the young soldiers carry weapons.
    She despises him for being a cowardly and ignoble soldier. He tries to explain to her the realities
    of battle. When he complains of hunger, she gives him a box of chocolate creams.
    The man identifies a portrait of Sergius as the man who led the cavalry charge that won the battle
    —but only because the Serbians had the wrong ammunition for their guns; the man thinks him a
    romantic fool who won the battle by doing the professionally wrong thing.
    Further noises from the street move the man to leave and take his chances, but Raina, at pains to
    demonstrate her aristocratic ideals and background, says that she will save him. She goes to get
    her mother; they return to find him asleep on the bed.
    Raina agrees to keep the man safe, saying that her family is one of the most powerful and
    wealthy in Bulgaria, and that their safety will be ensured as their guest.

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