WORKBOOK ACT 2 SC 2 PGS 123 TO 126

5(i) : Catherine is talking about the surprise of her husband Paul Petkoff returning from the war and arriving so early in the morning (Raina and Catherine had just finished their breakfast, which they had probably had in a very relaxed manner in the garden outside their house), not in the least expecting Paul's return.
   (ii):This tells us that Catherine is a caring person, she is a good and conscientious mother and homemaker.
    (iii): major Petkoff is talking about the recent war the Bulgarians had fought against the Serbs, beating them at a great battle at Slivinitza. The battle was fought between the Bulgarians with the Russians as their commanders against the Serbians with the Austrians as their officers. Major Paul Petkoff was on the side of the Bulgarians.
    (iv) : The treaty major Petkoff is talking about is the one which was signed after the Bulgarian army had defeated the Serbs. The treaty had been signed at Bucharest. It had been signed three days before. The result of the treaty, according to Paul Petkoff, was that a decree had been issued the previous day, demoblising the Bulgarian army. According to Paul the treaty signed was an honourable ones and that while it declared peace with Serbia it did not mention friendly relations.
    (v) Instead of signing the peace treaty, Catherine wanted Serbia to be annexed to Bulgaria and Prince Alexandra of Bulgaria declared the Emperor of the Balkans. This tells us that Catherine is a strong and aggressive character. She is a proud and patriotic Bulgarian who harbours animosity for Serbia.

6(i) : Catherine wanted the Bulgarians after their victory over the Serbs at the great battle at Slivinitza to annex Serbia. Catherine wants this to be done as to her that would be the natural step to be taken to defeating a neighbouring country in a battle.This shows Catherine to be a proud and patriotic Bulgarian. It also reveals her strong a combative character.
   (ii) : Major Petkoff doesn't doubt that if Catherine were part of the treaty negotiations she would have been hawkish in her stance and would have demanded the annexation of Serbia and declaration of Prince Alexander as the Emperor of the Balkans.
   (iii): The reasons Major Petkoff gives are that firstly the Austrians, who were the allies of the Serbs, would not have given into that demand and the war would have continued until the Bulgarians could defeat the Austrian Empire. Being part of that war would have kept Paul too long away from Catherine (his beloved wife) and he says he would have missed her too much.
            I believe that Paul's reason was reasonable and made practical sense as a victory in one battle does not necessarily mean the defeat of the whole of a country. The second part of Paul's response is to bring what would surely have continued as a heated discussion to and end.
     (iv) : The war the Bulgarians have fought against the Serbians, a war in which Paul Petkoff participated as a major, kept him away for that length of time from Catherine.
     (v) : The extract tells us that the husband and wife, Paul and Catherine have becoming sparring partners in their relationship. Paul knows how to charm Catherine with his turn of words. Catherine is forthright and openly puts forward her ideas, even though they may be contrary to her husband's.

for class 12 ENG LIT AATM ACT 2 SC 1

Work Book

Pg 116 (1)

         i.           i.  Nicola warns Louka about being defiant and disrespectful in her attitude to the family who employs her, especially to Catherine, as she is the mistress of the house and thus responsible for the servants in the home.

       ii.            ii Louka is defiant. George Bernard Shaw has noted in his introduction to Louka that she “is so defiant that her servility to Raina is almost insolent” and that even though she is afraid of Catherine “even with her goes as far as she dares”.

      iii.          iii  The mistress whom Louka is talking about in the extract is Catherine Petkoff. Catherine is the mistress of the Petkoff home. Nicola says that Catherine is “so grand” – meaning very large hearted or positively inclined to persons. However, he notes that Catherine is also a very decisive person who will not tolerate disrespect and will be decisive in her actions.

     iv.           iv  According to Nicola, if the mistress would come to know that Louka is defying her she would be immediately dismissed from service and that no one would ever believe her after she was dismissed or give her a job.

       v.          v  Louka says that she will continue to defy her mistress because she has a strong sense of self-pride. Louka feels that being a subdued servant diminishes her self worth.

It tells us that she has an assertive character. However, it also tells her that she is rash and experienced and realize how such behavior will work to her disadvantage.

     vi.            vi Nicola is an experienced and practical person. Being middle-aged he has reasonable but not idealistic expectations for himself and his future. Louka on the other hand is “young” and idealistic and is ambitious for her future. She seems like someone who will aggressively follow her dreams for her self-actualisation.

Pg 118 (2)

         i.            i Nicola is talking about the Petkoff family – Catherine, Paul and Raina in particular and maybe even Sergius, since it is expected that he will soon be married to Louka. He would also mean anyone who is acquainted with the family.

Louka is dependent on the goodwill of the family as he does not plan to remain in service with the family for long. He hopes, in the future, to set up a shop in Sofia. He hopes that ‘the family’ would look favourably on his venture and that they would be important customers and that they would also recommend his shop to their acquaintances.

       ii.           ii  Nicola hopes to get the money for starting his shop from , I presume, his savings from having worked with the Petkoff’s for the last ten years. When he says “their custom will be half my capital”, I think he means that their coming to his shop and buying goods would make up have his business earnings.

He intends to work conscientiously for the time in the Petkoff service – this would help him get the money he needs for the shop and be an investment for a future successful business.

      iii.          iii  Louka tells Nicola that he does not have ‘spirit’ because she does not hear in his words or see in his behaviour any ambition to be on par with the highest in society. She sees in Nicola someone who will always consider the Petkoffs and people of that stratum in society always superior to himself. He does not seem to realize that he is equal to any and every person.

Later, Louka tells Nicola that he would “never put the soul of a servant” into her.

     iv.        iv    When Louka tells Nicola that she’s “young”, he emphasizes that she is inexperienced and idealistic and not aware of how to achieve her objectives in the real world.

       v.         v   The extract tells us that Nicola has a “clear and keen intelligence” and that he is “an accurate calculator who has no illusions”. Nicola also does not want to remain a servant all his life, but he is realistic and experienced enough to know that he has to work to move up in society. He also has shrewd commercial sense, knowing how important it is to cultivate and build up a clientele.

Louka shows herself to be bold and aggressive. She shows a fighting spirit of one who will not allow others to dominate her or foil her attempts to claim her rightful place in society.

Pg 119 (3)

         i.         i   Louka believes that Nicola likes her and would like to be married to her because she is young. However, later on the play we learn that Nicola had brought Louka to the Petkoff home and secured a job for her. He had probably felt that Louka coming from a similar background that he had, she would be a suitable match for him and had tried to help her and her family as best he could.

       ii.        ii    One of the family secrets that Louka knows is that Raina and Catherine had not handed over an enemy soldier to the Bulgarian soldiers and their Russian officers but had disguised the man in Paul Petkoff’s coat and sent him away. In that way Raina and Catherine had not been patriotic and would probably suffer the wrath of Paul Petkoff and Sergius who had fought in the Bulgarian army against the Serbs.

      iii.       iii     Louka thinks that the family will not dare to offend her because she knows the secret that Catherine and Raina had not handed over a runaway Serb soldier to the Bulgarian army but had set him free in a disguise – public knowledge of the incident, she believes would surely disgrace the family. She feels that the family would not dare face the disgrace and would therefore not to want to offend Louka.

     iv.          iv  According to Louka, the Petkoff family, realizing that they were one of the most prominent families in the country and enjoying the respect of the people of Bulgaria, would realize that none would believe a servant who would be expelled from their service against their word. Thus Nicola tells Louka that they would immediately dismiss Louka from their service for dishonesty.

       v.        v    Nicola warns Louka that if she behaved inappropriately she would be dismissed from service in the Petkoff family. She would not be able to get another position like it and her father who was a poor farmer would not be able to meet his expenses on his farm and would lose his means of livelihood.

     vi.       vi     This extract underlines the fact that the different strata of society are really closely knit groups. It tells us that in each stratum the members are more supportive of their own and suspicious of those below their strata trying to weaken on enter into their strata. It also reveals how challenging it is for those from the lower starts of society to rise above their levels.

Pg.121 (4)

         i.        i    The secret that Nicola is talking about is that Raina had hid a fugitive Serb soldier in her room and not reveleaded his presence to the Bulgarian soldiers and Russian officer who had come to follow a lead that a Serb soldier was seen climbing into the house. The Serb soldier had been disguised in the coat of the master of the house – Paul Petkoff – and had been allowed to escape.

       ii.     ii       Nicola advises Nicola to be respectful to Catherine and Raina even though she may not agree with their action. He advises Louka to behave in such a manner that Catherine will be sure that louka will never disclose any of the happenings of the house to others and not even to Paul Petkoff and possibly Sergius Saranoff, who being part of the family may still be offended on hearing of such an action by the ladies of the house.

Louka does not listen to Nicola and reveals the ‘secret’ to Sergius.

      iii.   iii         Louka tells Nicola that he has the “soul of a servant” because Nicola will forever be subservient to the Petkoffs and those of their social strata even when he is not in their service (when he has set up his own shop in Sofia) as he would still be currying their favour in order to secure their custom and those of their associates.

Louka is only partially right in her assessment of Nicola. She is right in the sense that Nicola is willing to be deferent to Petkoff’s and others in their strata of society always. However, Nicola does not want to be a servant all his life and has reasonable ambition which will make him financially independent and not of the servant class any more. He merely puts on a subservient attitude in order to further his own ends.

     iv.      iv      According to Nicola the “secret of success in service” doing what it takes to ensure that your employers have complete faith and trust in you and thus to be guaranteed job security and favour. Thus he will be a totally faithful servant who will be trusted to keep family matters to himself and to preserve the reputation of the family he serves. He will also be suitably subservient and respectful in behavior.

       v.       v     Ultimately it is Louka who makes the “most out of them in the play”. It is Louka who reveals to Sergius who Bluntschli is. Louka is defiant to Raina and does it what it takes to win the hand of the man she loves – Sergius. Finally Raina does marry Sergius and not Nicola.Luka uses the family to rise in station in society. Nicola remains a servant in the house.