NON-AFRICAN DRAMA
BERNARD SHAW: Arms and the Man
Comment on the relationship between the Petkoffs and their servants.
Explanation
The Petkoffs are Major Paul, Catherine, his wife, and Raina, their daughter. Louka and Nicola are their servants. one being a maid and the other, a man-servant. The two groups constitute a relationship best described as that of master and servant. The Petkoffs are of high social standing, educated and wealthy. Their relationship with their servants must be seen in this light. Their behaviour and comportment portray the presumptuousness of their class.
They talk down to their servants whom they assume are unintelligent and have no ambition. The servants on the other hand have more intelligence than the Petkoffs credit them with. For example, Nicola is a very wily character. He is perceptive enough to recognize Louka’s potential and the possibility of propelling herself into the higher class. Thus while the Petkoffs think he is engaged to Louka, Nicola is in fact counting on Louka’s future patronage.
There is also an air of frivolity about the Petkoffs’ manners and language. They pretend they know so much about the art libraries, exhibitions, war etc while their conversations ramble on meaninglessly on these issues. Compared with the Petkoffs, the servants are more purposeful. Louka for example would stand up to Raina in addressing her on a first-name basis, indicating her scorn, if not outright disrespect of the high-handedness of the Petkoff’s in their relationship with their servants. It needs to be emphasized that Louka refuses to accept the position which the Petkoffs believe she must occupy. She is ambitious and is intent on rising to the upper class. She is Raina’s rival. for Sergius’s love without Raina knowing it. Thus, Raina, in her complacency, gives Louka the opportunity to her advantage. She reveals Raina’s apparent infidelity to Sergius and is, therefore, able to scheme her way into Sergius’s arms.