Write a short note on the importance of the bidding scene in Arms

Write a short note on the importance of the bidding scene in Arms and the Man.

Ans.

Shaw’s plays are primarily composed for the presentation of one or the other idea and so frequently in his plays there are often unnecessary scenes which seem to be redundant. In fact, Shaw never cared much for his plots. In Arms and the Man also we find the same technique. His aim is to stress realism and shatter the web of useless romanticism. He has performed this work through the character of Bluntschli and the Petkoff family. As we notice from the very first scene, the Petkoff are money minded and they care more to look refined and modern but in fact they are not so. Raina’s romantic glow of higher love has been completely destroyed and she has realised very well that this is not the fact of life. At the end of the play, Shaw has introduced a scene when Bluntschli proposes to Raina but Catherine and Petkoff disagree because they think that he is simply a poor soldier and so he is not worthy of Raina, a rich girl who has always passed her life in great luxury and comfort. In the plot of the play, this scene has been called the bidding scene. Through this scene, the dramatist has ridiculed the foolish craze for money and physical comforts. He has mocked the hollowness of artificial life and the extreme money mindedness among the rich class of society through the behaviour of Petkoff and Raina. The frequent references by the parents that Raina is habitual of living a comfortable life, a first rate stable and such other luxuries bears a mocking tone and there is nothing serious in it. In comparison to Bluntschli, they prefer Sergius for they think that he is an officer and is far richer than Bluntschli. It is this aspect that enrages Bluntschli. He thinks that in fact, all of them are great fools to think that the worldly wealth is the only asset for man and so he also presents the long list of his possessions. Chiefly after the death of his father, a rich hotelier, that has made him the richest man of Switzerland, so much so that even in Bulgaria there is nobody to compare with him in matters of money and social status. How ridiculous is the idea of Catherine when she objects to the proposal of Bluntschli, “The Petkoffs and the Saranoffs are the richest and the most important families in the country. Our position is almost historical.” And Major Petkoff looks to be a greater fool when he says, “Raina is accustomed to a very comfortable establishment. Sergius keeps twenty horses.” Shaw’s bitter remark at this foolish attitude to life through Bluntschli exposes all the hollowness “We’re not going to keep a circus” and he again bitterly remarks, “Oh, well, if it comes to a question of an establishment, here goes.”

The parents of Raina wish that she should be married to a very rich man and this is why they have decided for her engagement with Sergius. But when Bluntschli puts before them a very long list of his possessions, they are all very much surprised. The whole presentation has been made most satirically to expose such money minded people of society. Bluntschli tells them that he has two hundred horses and seventy coaches and twenty four of them will hold twelve inside, besides two on the box, without counting the driver and the conductor. He is the owner of six palatial buildings, two stables, a tea garden and a private house. There is a bitter irony when he counts that he possesses nine thousand six hundred pairs of sheets and blankets, ten thousand knives and forks and the same quantity of dessert spoons. All this has been done to show that such pride on the richness is merely a folly. The remarks of Catherine and Petkoff about the wealthy status of their own and that of Sergius do not create any impression on Bluntschli because in his opinion these things are quite meaningless in real life. To the remark that their position is historical, he partly says, “I have four medals for distinguished services, I have the rank of an officer and the standing of a gentleman and I have three native languages.” He explains that he failed to make adjustment with his father joined the Serbian army only because he saw these soldiers passing through his country. This makes him a real professional soldier. After presenting the whole list of his assets and possessions, he says in a challenging tone, “Show me any man in Bulgaria that can offer so much!”

We laugh even more when all this falls upon the Petkoff’s unexpectedly. They were thinking Bluntschli merely a poor soldier but he came out to be the richest, even far more richer than they could ever guess. Major Petkoff is so deeply shocked that in astonishment he simply utters. “Are you the Emperor of Switzerland ?” The folly of Catherine is exposed even more poignantly when she expresses her agreement, “Then, Captain Bluntschli, since you are my daughter’s choice……I shall not stand in the way of her happiness” and Major Petkoff is awed to think, “Two hundred horses ! Whew!” The whole scene is deeply ironical and is a solid evidence that Shaw has quite aptly called this play as An Anti-romantic Comedy. We feel as if Raina is being sold in the market of marriage and she will go to the highest bidder. She is fed up with this folly and shallowness of her parents and remarks disgustedly, “I am not here to be sold to the highest bidder.” This is why this scene has been termed as the ‘bidding scene’. The dramatic importance of this scene is that it helps in bringing about a convincing end of the plot.