Arms and the Man for West Bengal Ssc

Q.1.How does Shaw categorized his plays as ‘ Pleasant and Unpleasant’?
Ans: Shaw had deliberately made the distinction of ‘Plays Peasant and Unpleasant’ because hitherto plays were characterized as either tragedies or comedies.Life wIth all its day-to-day complications could not be portrayed in either tragic downfall consisting of blood,sweat and tears   or comic incidents consisting of all fun and games.What Shaw was interested in showing was the social conditions that made life miserable for a large number of people because people were insensitive to conditions around them and hence this distinction.
Q.2. Appeal of ‘Arms and the Man’
Ans: The play ‘Arms and the Man’ has survived many others with the same message because the dialogue is crisp and to the point and therefore as fresh and up-to-date as when it was first written. What Shaw was amused at were not the temporary injustices of passing follies of his generation but certain human   characteristics that were common to all and passed on from generation to generation.
      Q.3. Setting of ‘Arms and the Man’/ Universality of setting.
Ans: Though the play is set in Bulgaria in 1885 with characters who are Bulgarian soldiers and their women and a Swiss hotel-keeper’s son, this setting is universal in nature. The play could be set anywhere in the world and the characters could be drawn from any country.(The play does not depend   for its impact upon plot or scenery or costumes.) The Bulgarian setting was chosen to make the stage look more attractive as it was so different from an English or Irish setting.
  Q.4. Historical background of the play.
Ans:   Prince Alexander I, the Regent of Bulgaria, led the Bulgarian army against the Serbs who had declared war in November ,1885.In the war, the Bulgarian were helped by the Russians where the Serbs were led by Austrian Army. In the war the Swiss supplied a large number of mercenaries and captain Bluntschli is one such soldier fighting on the Serbian side....