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The Realism of Shaw in the play



The Realism of Shaw in the play

In Bluntschli, Shaw has presented a realistic portrait of an average soldier, who is ready to fight when he must and is gland to escape when he can. Shaw has shown that a soldier is an ordinary
creature of flesh and blood, who suffers from hunger and fatigue, and who is roused to action only by danger. In short, as Sergius puts it, war is a trade like any other trade; it is the coward's art of attacking the enemy when one gets him at a disadvantage, and of avoiding to fight him on equal terms.
Of course, war is to be fought when absolutely necessary, but there should be no glorification of war. War is a brutal affair, and we should not sing songs of it. The cruelty and horror of war one highlighted through the relation of the horrible death of the twelve soldiers burnt alive in a farmhouse. In this way idealistic notions of war are punctured.
Both Sergius and Raina are disillusioned in their romantic or idealistic notions of war; they are also disillusioned in their romantic attitude to love. Raina had glorified Segius as a hero, and tales of his heroism had fed her love for him. On his return from the war, we get a scene of, 'higher love,"
between the two. He calls her his "Queen" and she calls him her "King", and her hero. Such romantic love, is a sham; it has no basis in fact and reality. As soon as Raina's back is turned, Sergius flirts with Louka. Raina also, is already in love with Bluntschili.

Shaw's views on love and war are characterized by strict realism. Shaw tells men that romantic war is only butchery and that romantic love is only lust. Shaw's objects not so much to war as to the attractiveness of war. He does not so much dislike love as the love of love. Shaw murmurs “ Wars if you must, but for God’s sake, not war-songs.
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