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SERGIUS. Dearest, all my deeds have been yours. You inspired me. I have gone through the war like a knight in a tournament with his lady looking on at him!
RAINA. And you have never been absent from my thoughts for a moment. (Very solemnly.) Sergius: I think we two have found the higher love. When I think of you, I feel that I could never do a base deed, or think an ignoble thought.
This exchange occurs in Act II after Sergius returns home from battle and reunites with Raina. As they celebrate his homecoming, they use chivalric and romantic language in order to describe their relationship, and this choice makes it seem as though they have achieved a form of “higher love.” The over-the-top phrasing that appears in this scene, however, hints at the largely superficial nature of their romance. Sergius and Raina are so focused on creating the image of an ideal love story that they fail to acknowledge that they are ill-matched.
And I tell you that if that gentleman ever comes here again, Miss Raina will marry him, whether he likes it or not. I know the difference between the sort of manner you and she put on before one another and the real manner. (Sergius shivers as if she had stabbed him. Then, setting his face like iron, he strides grimly to her, and grips her above the elbows with both bands.)
In Act II, Louka warns Sergius that Raina will marry her “chocolate cream soldier” if he ever finds a way back in to her life. Not only does this moment shine a light on Sergius’s infidelity, it also acknowledges that his relationship with Raina is inauthentic. Their romance is performative while Raina and Bluntschli have a genuine, emotional connection with one another. This difference puts Sergius on edge as it forces him to consider the possibility of losing his fiancée and, more importantly to him, his idealized public image.
LOUKA. I would marry the man I loved, which no other queen in Europe has the courage to do. If I loved you, though you would be as far beneath me as I am beneath you, I would dare to be the equal of my inferior. Would you dare as much if you loved me? No: if you felt the beginnings of love for me you would not let it grow. You dare not: you would marry a rich man’s daughter because you would be afraid of what other people would say of you.
These lines, which Louka delivers to Sergius in Act III, comment on the relationship between love and social status and ultimately suggest that marrying outside of one’s class takes great courage. Louka’s role as the Petkoffs’ servant complicates her relationship with Sergius, yet she believes in their love so strongly that she is willing to pursue it regardless of how others may perceive them. Although she suggests here that Sergius would refuse to make the same sacrifice, they do ultimately get engaged by the end of the play, an outcome which emphasizes the importance of love over maintaining a particular public image.
