Loading...
52nd out of 80 books
—
22 voters
My rating:
add to my books
Androcles and the Lion
A retelling of the consequences following the meeting of Androcles, the slave, and a wounded lion.
Paperback, 160 pages
Published
March 29th 1988
by Penguin Books
(first published 1912)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
257)
Shaw was a man of conflicts, and though many came at him from without, the majority were simply Shaw running roughshod over himself. He was quick to adopt new ideas, and vehement in defending them, though he rarely kept them very long.
He firstly fought to abolish censorship, then supported the right of a regime to silence undesirables. He was a lifelong supporter of the people's revolution against economic tyranny, but praised totalitarian rule by both Stalin and Hitler. He condemne...more
He firstly fought to abolish censorship, then supported the right of a regime to silence undesirables. He was a lifelong supporter of the people's revolution against economic tyranny, but praised totalitarian rule by both Stalin and Hitler. He condemne...more
This play, set during the Roman persecutions of the Christians, focuses around a martyr being thrown to the lions. The play, while not an attack upon Christianity per-se, is a critical look at the church in modern times. It appears to be written to remind believers of where they had come from and what they had become.
The background of the play was during a time when the Church still had a dominant place in society, though this was slowly changing. It was the eve of World War I, a war in w...more
The background of the play was during a time when the Church still had a dominant place in society, though this was slowly changing. It was the eve of World War I, a war in w...more
Erik Graff
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Erik by:
Ken Bennett
Shelves:
drama
I hadn't realized until just a few weeks ago that the tale of Androcles and the lion was current in the Roman Empire, but as a fact, not a fable. A lion actually did spare its intended victim in the Coloseum , apparently showing affection towards him. I found the reference in an academic study of the history of Roman gladitorial contests.
The short:
The preface to Bernard Shaw’s Androcles and the Lion is a recommended read for anyone not terribly familiar with the Bible. Shaw’s exegesis is funny, dry, and sociohistorically illuminating — and still relevant. Plus, the play’s pretty funny, too; mewonders if Shaw cast Androcles as a prancing fairy.
The long:
Go to http://www.librarienne.com/2010/11/04/be...
The preface to Bernard Shaw’s Androcles and the Lion is a recommended read for anyone not terribly familiar with the Bible. Shaw’s exegesis is funny, dry, and sociohistorically illuminating — and still relevant. Plus, the play’s pretty funny, too; mewonders if Shaw cast Androcles as a prancing fairy.
The long:
Go to http://www.librarienne.com/2010/11/04/be...
This is a smart satire on religious commitment, love in mixed cultures, and early Christianity. As usual, Shaw writes as if he has the final word, when his is only one perspective, but it is a powerful perspective that must be considered.
Classic Play Note: Although I read these plays in high school, I now have a copy of the 3 plays noted as "read," in the collection titled "3 Plays by George Bernard Shaw"
This was my introduction to Shaw; rest assured I have every intention of reading many, many more of his works!
The bulk of this is not the play, but a dizzying (and I think more enjoyable) literary and historical criticism of the Bible (New Testament mostly). Perhaps half of what he says was with a smirk, but all of it serious to varying degrees.
In some very prominent ways, Shaw can be read alongside Tolstoy's essays on religion and, along with some Romantics, Transcendentalists and Liberationists, they can be very useful perspectives on grassroots and anarcho-Christianity.
In some very prominent ways, Shaw can be read alongside Tolstoy's essays on religion and, along with some Romantics, Transcendentalists and Liberationists, they can be very useful perspectives on grassroots and anarcho-Christianity.
I like to breeze through his plays , to be entertained and not take him too seriously.
Somehow I missed this brilliant extended essay. Take this gem: "...you will learn how the same primitive logic which makes the Englishman believe today that by eating a beefsteak he can acquire the strength and courage of the bull, and to hold that belief in the face of the most ignominious defeats by vegetarian wrestlers and racers and bicyclists, led the first men who conceived God as capable of incarnation to believe that they could acquire a spark of his divinity by eating his flesh and...more
read this in high school ... it was fun
I'm in awe of Shaw!
This and Major Barbara are my favorite Shavian works, fresh and funny. He was such a brave thinker, trying to get God and the devil in front of us, trying to call on the higher instincts of humans and show us our denial and hypocrisy, and spirit.
Don't neglect the preface. I enjoyed it more than the play.
Svanir
marked it as to-read
Ja_coleman
marked it as to-read
Katherine
marked it as to-read
Francesco
added it
Rebecca
marked it as to-read
Jesse
added it
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950)[1] was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays. Nearly all his writings address prevailing social problems, ...more
More about George Bernard Shaw...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality of happiness, and by no means a necessity of life.”
—
104 people liked it
“THE QUESTION seems a hopeless one after 2000 years of resolute
adherence to the old cry of “Not this man, but Barabbas.”
Yet it is beginning to look as if Barabbas was a failure, in
spite of his strong right hand, his victories, his empires, his
millions of money, and his moralities and churches and political
constitutions. “This man” has not been a failure yet;
for nobody has ever been sane enough to try his way. But he
has had one quaint triumph. Barabbas has stolen his name
and taken his cross as a standard. There is a sort of compliment
in that. There is even a sort of loyalty in it, like that of
the brigand who breaks every law and yet claims to be a
patriotic subject of the king who makes them. We have always
had a curious feeling that though we crucified Christ
on a stick, he somehow managed to get hold of the right end
of it, and that if we were better men we might try his plan.
There have been one or two grotesque attempts at it by inadequate people, such as the Kingdom of God in Munster,
which was ended by crucifixion so much more atrocious than
the one on Calvary that the bishop who took the part of
Annas went home and died of horror. But responsible people
have never made such attempts. The moneyed, respectable,
capable world has been steadily anti-Christian and
Barabbasque since the crucifixion; and the specific doctrine
of Jesus has not in all that time been put into political or
general social practice.”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
adherence to the old cry of “Not this man, but Barabbas.”
Yet it is beginning to look as if Barabbas was a failure, in
spite of his strong right hand, his victories, his empires, his
millions of money, and his moralities and churches and political
constitutions. “This man” has not been a failure yet;
for nobody has ever been sane enough to try his way. But he
has had one quaint triumph. Barabbas has stolen his name
and taken his cross as a standard. There is a sort of compliment
in that. There is even a sort of loyalty in it, like that of
the brigand who breaks every law and yet claims to be a
patriotic subject of the king who makes them. We have always
had a curious feeling that though we crucified Christ
on a stick, he somehow managed to get hold of the right end
of it, and that if we were better men we might try his plan.
There have been one or two grotesque attempts at it by inadequate people, such as the Kingdom of God in Munster,
which was ended by crucifixion so much more atrocious than
the one on Calvary that the bishop who took the part of
Annas went home and died of horror. But responsible people
have never made such attempts. The moneyed, respectable,
capable world has been steadily anti-Christian and
Barabbasque since the crucifixion; and the specific doctrine
of Jesus has not in all that time been put into political or
general social practice.”
