Lust And Love In Sergius's Arms And The Man

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While romantic love is a strong component of the story, other characters are drawn towards each other not emotionally, but instead physically. Lust and desire play a great role in determining those who are to be pursued. Men are instinctively attracted to women who have more exaggerated features such as wider hips and more voluptuous breasts. When a woman seems to reveal or even slightly accentuate such noted feature men go crazy with desire. Love at first sight has never been proven to be truer than in Arms and the Man. The first example of physical love is displayed through Sergius and Louka. Louka, the maid of Raina becomes the center of Sergius’s attention. Being betrothed to Raina, Sergius has refrained from acting on his attraction to…show more content…
His eye gleams at once. He takes a stealthy look at her, and begins to twirl his moustache nervously, with his left hand akimbo on his hip. Finally, striking the ground with his heels in something of a cavalry swagger, he strolls over to the left of the table, opposite her, and says) Louka: do you know what the higher love is? LOUKA (astonished). No, sir. SERGIUS. Very fatiguing thing to keep up for any length of time, Louka. One feels the need of some relief after it. LOUKA (innocently). Perhaps you would like some coffee, sir? (She stretches her hand across the table for the coffee pot.) SERGIUS (taking her hand). Thank you, Louka. LOUKA (pretending to pull). Oh, sir, you know I didn't mean that. I'm surprised at you! SERGIUS (coming clear of the table and drawing her with him). I am surprised at myself, Louka. (Shaw…show more content…
It's no use. He never apologizes. LOUKA. Not to you, his equal and his enemy. To me, his poor servant, he will not refuse to apologize. SERGIUS (approvingly). You are right. (He bends his knee in his grandest manner.) Forgive me! LOUKA. I forgive you. (She timidly gives him her hand, which he kisses.) That touch makes me your affianced wife. SERGIUS (springing up). Ah, I forgot that! LOUKA (coldly). You can withdraw if you like. SERGIUS. Withdraw! Never! You belong to me! (He puts his arm about her and draws her to him.) (Shaw 740) At last Louka and Sergius have been united through physical means. Louka has suffered great humiliation in the matter of love and status. However, when he kisses her hand he has given his vow to marry her. Though at first he feels that he has been tricked into marriage, he confirms his dedication to her through greater physical interaction. He holds her in his arms and keeps her close. Touch is the final action that binds them together, thus proving that their love is built around physical infatuation. Louka and Sergius have a love that is different from everyone else. While Raina and Bluntschli have great emotions for one another and speak in a romantic manner proclaiming their love through words, Louka and Sergius proclaim their affection through touch. While their love seems to be more intimate than what Raina and her true love has, it fails to seem to be as

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