Sketch the Character of Catherine in ''Arms and the Man''.

Character of Catherine in ''Arms and the Man''

Shaw's description of Catherine is very appropriate Catherine Petkoff is a woman of over forty. She is highly energetic. She is the wife of a mountain farmer. But she is determined to be a Viennese lady and so she wears a fashionable tea-gown on all occasions. Catherine is a motherly type of woman. She is a good mistress and a good housewife who manages her household affairs with great skill. She always looks after the comforts of her husband and daughter. She is very practical. She has a strict control over her domestic servants. She is dignified in her manners and bearing. Catherine is a snobbish fashionable lady. She is fond of imitating western fashions. She boasts stupidly of her library, electric bell and civilized culture. She is very proud of the fact that her husband is a 'Major in the army. She has money and position and she is proud of her social prestige. Her foolish pride in the aristocracy of her family is exposed in her words: 'Our position is almost historical: we can go back for twenty years'.

Catherine is a shrewd wife and a wise mother. She knows well how to dominate over Major Petkoff. She is a very affectionate mother. She is always anxious for the future happiness of her daughter. Catherine is a very practical mother. When Bluntschli proposes to marry Raina, Catherine, like a wise mother, raises the question of Bluntschli's social position and financial condition. But on knowing that Bluntschli is a man of vast wealth, Catherine changes her mind for the good of her daughter. She says "I will not stand in the way of her happiness."

Catherine, after all, is a good mother and a remarkable housewife. She has faith in military and heroic ideals. She has a good practical sense. Catherine is a fine example of a people just tasting the fruits of freedom and of western culture and civilization.