The play takes place during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War. Its heroine, Raina (rah-EE-na), is a young Bulgarian woman engaged to one of the heroes of that war, whom she idealizes. One night, a Swiss voluntary soldier to the Serbian army, Bluntschli, bursts into her bedroom and begs her to hide him, so that he is not killed. Raina complies, though she thinks the man a coward, especially when he tells her that he does not carry pistol cartridges, but chocolates.

During the course of the play, Raina comes to realize the hollowness of her romantic idea and her fiancé's values, and the true nobility of the "chocolate-cream soldier." The play concludes with her renouncing her idyllic love and proclaiming her love for Bluntschli.