Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
Androcles and the Lion (Dodo Press)
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was a worldrenowned Irish author. Born in Dublin, he moved to London when he turned twenty. Having rejected formal schooling, he educated himself by independent study in the reading room of the British Museum; he also began his career there by writing novels for which he could not find a publisher. His first success was as a music and litera...more
Paperback, 56 pages
Published
October 1st 2007
by Dodo Press
(first published 1912)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
425)
Shaw was a man of conflicts, and though some came from without, the majority were simply Shaw running roughshod over himself. He was quick to adopt new ideas, then vehement in defending them for as long as he kept them--which was rarely very long.
He first fought to abolish censorship, then supported the right of a fascist 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 con...more
He first fought to abolish censorship, then supported the right of a fascist 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 con...more
I read this as an ebook - so I seem to have a slightly different edition than my fellow goodreaders, many of whom seem have enjoyed a rather lengthy introduction by GBS in which he dissects the gospels. My cheap little ebook did not include this, but instead tacked on a epilogue in which Shaw chides as all for being just as stupid and cruel as the crowds that filled the Roman forum. I could have done without this tongue lashing - I prefer a play to speak for itself and if the author feels the ne...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 which...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 which...more
Nov 04, 2010
Anittah
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone not terribly familiar with the Bible
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...
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...
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.
It's been years since I read it; I remember liking it well at the time.
I love George Bernard Shaw and his commentary on human nature.
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 drin...more
read this in high school ... it was fun
I'm in awe of Shaw!
Feb 13, 2012
Erik Graff
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
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.
Shaw, George Bernard
The Complete Bernard Shaw Plays
In compilation only.
The Complete Bernard Shaw Plays
In compilation only.
Apr 25, 2008
Teryl
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
plays,
spiritual-texts
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.
Apr 27, 2013
Ana
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
ebooks-comprados-sin-leer
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, socialist, 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. Over the course of his life he wrote more than 60 plays. Nearly all his plays address prevailing social problems, but...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.”
—
162 people liked it
“No, really: I can't fight, I never could. I can't bring myself to dislike anyone enough.”
—
4 people liked it
More quotes…
