Arms and the Man is set against the backdrop of the Serbo-Bulgarian War and is one of Shaw’s first commercial successes. It portrays its heroine Raina Petkoff as a young, idealistic Bulgarian woman who is engaged to Sergius Saranoff, a war hero and someone whom Raina admires. One night Captain Bluntschli, a Swiss mercenary soldier in the Serbian army, climbs in through her bedroom balcony window in an attempt to escape from the Russian and Bulgarian troops. Raina protects him by hiding him and later in a conversation that follows after the soldiers have left, Bluntschli's pragmatic and cynical views towards war and soldiering break the shackles of masked idealism. A moment of high was the revelation of Bluntschli that he carries chocolates instead of cartridges in his ammunition pouches for his pistol. Bluntschli is sneaked out of the house in one of Raina's father’s old coats and he escapes. After the end of the war, Raina’s father Major Paul Petkoff and Sergius return home. Raina and Sergius start to find each other tiresome and Sergius begins to flirt with Raina's insolent servant girl Louka, who in turn is engaged to Nicola, the manservant employed under the Petkoffs. When Bluntschli unexpectedly comes back to return the old coat and to also to see Raina, he is invited to stay for lunch by the Petkoffs. In a conversation solely between the two, they discover their softness for each other. Louka informs Sergius about Raina and Bluntschli and Raina's engagement with Sergius is broken. Bluntschli narrates the whole story to Major Petkoff. Sergius proposes marriage to Louka, to everyone’s horror. Nicola quietly and gallantly disengages himself to let Sergius have Louka. Bluntschli, realizing the inner strength of Nicola's dedication and ability, offers him a job as a hotel manager. The play ends with Raina professing her love for Bluntschli and Bluntschli on his accord, solves the major's troop movement problems and promises to return to be married.

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