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Hemingway once called A Farewell to Arms his Romeo and Juliet.
The resemblance goes deeper than the fact that both tell tragic love stories. Both works are constructed along the same lines. A Shakespearean tragedy has five acts that work out the plot in a standard pattern: 1. introduction; 2. complication; 3. climax; 4. resolution; 5. conclusion. As the acts progress toward the conclusion, they get shorter, the fifth often being half the length of the first. Additionally, each act is divided into a number of scenes. The scenes are usually short. Very often they are like miniature stories, the sum of all the stories making up the entire play.
Hemingway builds his novel in much the same way. It consists of five books, arranged in the same introduction-to-conclusion pattern. Book I introduces us to the major characters and to the book\'s setting, war-torn Italy. Book II provides complications in the form of Frederic\'s growing love for Catherine, his wounding, and her pregnancy. The climax of the novel comes in Book III, when the disastrous retreat at Caporetto and his near-execution by the carabinieri completely change Henry\'s attitude toward the war. Book IV achieves a seemingly happy resolution as the lovers escape to Switzerland; but like Romeo and Juliet, the story concludes in tragedy in Book V.
Book I goes on for twelve chapters, Book V for only three. Most of the chapters, moreover, have what can be called a dramatic structure. Typically, a chapter will open with the establishment of the setting, frequently a short description. Then the actors arrive. Their conversation often points toward a revelation of character, a promise of action. Finally there is a conclusion, often a terse statement. For example, \"Let\'s not think about anything.\" \"All right.\" in Chapter 34 sums up the entire scene.
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