Monologue

Raina Monologue from Arms and the Man

From Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw

female · contemplative · 57 sec

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Well, it came into my head just as he was holding me in his arms and looking into my eyes, that perhaps we only had our heroic ideas because we are so fond of reading Byron and Pushkin, and because we were so delighted with the opera that season at Bucharest. Real life is so seldom like that—indeed never, as far as I knew it then. (Remorsefully.) Only think, mother, I doubted him: I wondered whether all his heroic qualities and his soldiership might not prove mere imagination when he went into a real battle. I had an uneasy fear that he might cut a poor figure there beside all those clever Russian officers.

About this piece

Raina reflects on her romantic ideals and doubts about her lover's heroism while being held in his arms, revealing her internal conflict between fantasy and reality.

20s · fear · identity · honor · love

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