He shows through his characters that we must divest ourselves of all romantic illusions about war and real success falls to the man who acts with a realist’s self composure. He does not write this drama to speak about the glories of war. But Shaw does not look at war with the same eyes as Virgil looks.

Virgil in his famous epic The Aeneid recounts the martial exploits and adventures of Aeneid. It is an ironical reversal of Virgil’s original intention.

The title is both apt chosen attractive and the dramatist’s choice is justified. The title of Arms and the Man is chose after careful consideration. “Arms and the Man I sing, who forced by fate Drydon’s translation of Virgil’s Aeneid begins with the following couplet: The title of Arms and The man as Shaw himself says in his preface has been taken from the first line of Dryden’s Virgil. “To suggest that no man could compare to a mythological hero in reality” He struggles to be defined as one himself, but Shaw uses the character, Saranoff becomes a caricature, desperately clinging to his romanticized ideal of a hero. The characters in Shaw's play, especially Major Sergius Saranoff, serve to underscore the traditional heroism in war of the epic. In Shaw's vision, war is dirty, brutal, unforgiving, and serves to support the inequalities inherent in the society. Rather than praising 'arms' & the men who use them by describing epic battle scenes and glorious triumphs, Shaw is dissecting the reality of war, showing the futile nature of taking up those arms. However, because Shaw's play is a satire, the title should be looked at ironically. The Aeneid stands as a glorious epic, depicting battles as defined by their heroes, who emerge from the war triumphant. In Virgil, 'the man' is, of course, Aeneas, and 'arms' refers to the Trojan War & Aeneas' journey from Greece. The title is an allusion to the first line of Virgil's Aeneid.

Let us apply these criteria for judging the aptness of the title of George Bernard Shaw’s plays Arms and the Man. As a signboard indicates the contents of a shop, so also a good title should indicate the theme of the play. It should also be attractive and sticking to capture the attention of the audience or the readers. A good title should be apt and suggestive.

George bernard shaw aeneid