Comment that Louka is the most suitable foil to Raina.

What is the dramatic importance of the character of Louka?

Do you consider that Louka is no less great than Raina ?

Ans.

In his preface to ‘Man and Superman’ Shaw professes “Man is no longer victor in the duel of six, which is very clearly proved in the present day by the triumph of Louka over Sergius and of Raina over Bluntschli.” This remark of his is absolutely true and specially so about Louka. She is only a housemaid in the house of Petkoffs but through her tactics and tricks she succeeds in trapping Sergius and thus gets elevated to the higher class.

(1) Her Physical Appearance: About her physical appearance no elaborate details have been provided to us by Shaw. She is only introduced as “a handsome proud girl in pretty Bulgarian peasants dress with double apron, so defiant that her servility to Raina is almost insolent.” This short description gives us only a faint hint about her physical appearance though it sums up her character fairly well. But the events of the play prove that she must be really beautiful and pretty so much so as to win the heart of Sergius who is already betrothed to Raina. He tempts her and even tries to capture her forcibly, even though knowing it fully well that it may mar his reputation. his future chances of success and marriage to Raina Petkoff. He seems to be unable to control himself and ultimately marries her. When. Bluntschli sees her for the first time he cannot resist the comment “That is a remarkable looking young woman.”

(2) Ambitious: Louka was born in a poor peasant family in the countryside of Bulgaria but she has always been highly ambitious burning with a desire to get elevated into the noble class of society. She is working only as a maid servant but has always had designs upon Sergius. Towards the close of the play Nicola very aptly comments that Louka had “a soul above her station.” Earlier Louka herself says to Nicola, “You were born to be a servant. I was not.” Nicola feels a bit daunted by her inexorable high mindedness and observes-“You have a great ambition in you Louka.” This ambitious nature of hers is emphasized again and again throughout the play. Her ambition is to become a respectable lady by marrying some noble man and it gets fulfilled when she becomes Sergius affianced wife.

(3) Insolent and Defiant : Louka’s self pride makes her disrespectful towards almost everyone who comes into contact with her. She is specially jealous of Raina who is almost her own age and her behaviour towards Raina verges to the point of openly insulting the later. She openly says “I have a right to call her Raina; she calls me Louka.” Her mistress Catherine asks her to fasten the shutters but she, with defiance, does so in such a manner that they can be easily opened. She shows the way to open them to Raina, at which Raina reproves her with dignity and says “We must do what we are told”. She feels that she is in possession of some family secrets so nobody will be able to do anything against her and so pays no heed to Nicola’s advice who says, Be warned in time Louka ? Mend your manners. I know the mistress. To this she bluntly replies-“I do defy her. I will defy her. What do I care for her? She is bold enough to say to Sergius. “I don’t care, now I’ve found out that whatever clay I’m made of, you’re made of the same. And about Raina her comment is-“As for her she is a liar: and her fine airs are cheat; and I’m worth six of her.” She annoys Raina by deliberately disparaging Bluntschli-“He has not much heart, that Swiss. He has no word of grief for his poor father.” A bit earlier she displays insolence right in the face of Bluntschli when she flings his letters and telegrams incivily before him. She thinks that these so called noble people are her equals except that they are better stationed in life by some lucky incident.

(4) Contemptuous towards Nicola: Louka seems to have no sense of obligation towards anybody neither towards Petkoff nor towards Nicola who has dore so much for her She follows the teachings of lago to feather her own nest. Slur aubs Nicola: many a time.” When you set up your shop you will only be everybody’s servant instead of somebody’s servant…….” You shall never be master in the house of mine……” Nicela has done so much for her. It was he who advised her not to use artificial hair, not to redden her lips and cheeks, to trim her nails and to keep her hands clean and to be refined in her attitude but she keeps on insulting him again and again without any sense of gratitude. So much so that Nicola feels driven to tell her-“If you want to be a lady, your present behaviour to fne wont do at all, unless when we’re alone. It’s too sharp and impudent…… And don’t you try being high and mighty with me either…….” But Louka gets impatient at his words and humiliates him again by saying, “Oh, I must behave in my own way. You take all the courage out of me with your cold blooded wisdom. Go and put those logs on the fire: that’s the sort of thing you understand.”

(5) A Coquette-Clever, Vile, Mischievous: Louka is a very clever and cunning girl. She exhibits her shrewdness and tactfulness on all occasions. Nothing escapes her attention. She notices the empty revolves of Bluntschli lying on the ottoman in the bedroom of Rains even though it was not seen by the searching Russian officer and his soldiers. She is cunning enough to know that the Swiss soldier must be hiding in Raina’s bedroom behind the curtains. And then like a coquette she blackens the character of Raina in front of Sergius to make him disillusioned towards Raina and trap him into the snares of her beauty and youth. She uses all the tactics in the world to win Sergius over to her side. She knows it fully well that Sergius considers his relationship with her only a pastime, some sort of relief after the fatiguing higher love. Even then just after Raina departs she pretends to be innocent and stretches her hand towards him on the pretext of the coffee pot. When he takes it in his hands she immediately shows fright that she will be disgraced but at the same time asks him to stand back where they can’t be seen. And then she immediately.starts disparaging Raina suggesting that she is an eavesdropper, a spy. When Sergius feels angry she very demurely asks him to leave her. Then she chides him, insults him, calls him an unfaithful lover, drops hint about Raina’s midnight visitor and declares that if that man came back Raina would definitely marry him. When Sergius hurts her she makes a display of it not for everybody but for Sergius because he knew it well what she was hiding underneath that bracelet with her sleeve tied upto the shoulder. Sergius feels guilty about hurting a woman. Then Louka resorts to a trick which can never be tolerated by any soldier least of all by the romantic fool like Sergius–a suspicious comment regarding his bravery. She calls him an immature schoolboy without any knowledge of real courage. She compares him to herself saying that she herself was much better because if she had power and were the Empress of Russia she would marry the man she loved. This sort of talk elicits a promise out of Sergius that if he were the Czar uf Russia and loved Louka he would marry her. Feeling satisfied she tells him that she is not jealous of Raina because Raina has changed her object of love. She is now interested in Bluntschli who is worth ten of Sergius. By thus snocking Sergius she succeeds in making him promise-“If I choose to love you, I dare marry you. inspite of all Bulgaria. If these hands ever touch you again. they shall touch my affianced bride.” She then eavesdrops and does not feel any hesitation in proclaiming that she is not ashamed of herself because “My love was at stake.” She retorts Raina’s contempt by openly professing “My love is stronger than anything you can feel, even for your Chocolate Cream Soldier.” She keeps on making constant sly references to Bluntschli because unless Raina is out of the way she cannot be absolutely sure about her future with Sergius. She traps Sergius into kissing her hand and as soon as he does so she says.” That touch makes me your affianced wife.” Nicola was wrong when he judged Louka’s character and told her in her very face.” Louka is not in the least a fool, it is she who makes Raina go out of the way by her tricks, befools and snares Sergius and clears the way for herself. She is so shrewd that she can mould things to her benefit.

(6) Witty: Louka’s wit becomes visible in her conversation many a time. One example, however stand out. Sergius asks her “If you were in love with me, would you spy out of the windows on me? See how wittily she wriggles out of such a tricky situation. She replies “Well, you see, sir, since you say that you are half a dozen different gentleman all at once, I should have a great deal to look after.” This witty answer fascinates Sergius and he remarks “witty as well as pretty.”

Yes, this comment made by Sergius sums up her character fairly well. She inheres a very rare combination of wit and charms. Her role in the play is highly significant from the point of view of the story and purpose of her creator G. B. Shaw. Through her Shaw, the socialist iconoclast successfully shows the hollowness of man made barriers of money or otherwise between one human being and the other. Louka is, thus, a memorable, commendable and indispensable character of the play ‘Arms and the Man.