Raina Petkoff
Raina is the play’s protagonist, a 23-year-old Bulgarian woman who is betrothed to the “heroic” Sergius, and who speaks in a dramatic, affected manner and (for much of the play) sing Sergius’s praises. The…
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Captain Bluntschli
Bluntschli is a Swedish professional soldier who fights with the Servians during the war. He has none of Raina or Sergius’s romantic notions about war. He thinks courage is overrated and that war is…
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Major Sergius Saranoff
Sergius is a typical “Byronic Hero” according to the stage directions, and everything about him seems perfectly suited to a kind of romantic ideal. He is tall, handsome, wealthy, well-spoken, and seems to be deeply…
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Louka
Louka is an opinionated, beautiful young servant working for the Petkoffs . She is expected to settle down with and marry Nicola, the family’s head servant. However, she rejects the idea that her being…
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Catherine Petkoff
Catherine is Raina’s mother, an older wealthy woman who is delighted at the prospect of a marriage between her daughter and the wealthy, seemingly heroic Sergius. She cannot see through Sergius’s act…
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Major Paul Petkoff
Major Petkoff, though wealthy in Bulgaria, is a somewhat bumbling and inept man who, despite his rank, doesn’t seem to be good at or interested in dealing with military affairs. Though he is immensely proud…
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Minor Characters
Nicola
Nicola is the family’s longtime servant. He is mistreated by the Petkoffs but never talks back or objects. He believes he was born to be a servant and does not question the class system of social norms.
