Androcles and the Lion [Paperback]

George Bernard Shaw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2006

George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin in 1856. Before becoming a playwright he wrote music and literary criticism. Shaw used his writing to attack social problems such as education, marriage, religion, government, health care, and class privilege. Shaw was particularly conscious of the exploitation of the working class. When the Romans intend to throw Androcles and the other Christians to the lions, it turns out that the lion who is supposed to eat the Christians is a personal friend of Androcles. This famous story begins "A jungle path. A lion's roar, a melancholy suffering roar, comes from the jungle. It is repeated nearer. The lion limps from the jungle on three legs, holding up his right forepaw, in which a huge thorn sticks. He sits down and contemplates it. He licks it. He shakes it. He tries to extract it by scraping it along the ground, and hurts himself worse. He roars piteously. He licks it again. Tears drop from his eyes. He limps painfully off the path and lies down under the trees, exhausted with pain. Heaving a long sigh, like wind in a trombone, he goes to sleep."

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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About the Author

BERNARD SHAW was born in Dublin in 1856. After his arrival in London in 1876 he became an active Socialist and a brilliant platform speaker. He wrote on many social aspects of the day: on Common Sense about the War (1914), How to Settle the Irish Question (1917) and The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism (1928). He undertook his own education at the British Museum and consequently became keenly interested in cultural subjects. Thus his prolific output included music, art and theatre reviews, which were collected into several volumes such as Music in London 1890-1894 (3 vols, 1931); Pen Portraits and Reviews (1931); and Our Theatres in the Nineties (3 vols, 1931). He also wrote five novels and some shorter fiction, including The Black Girl in Search of God and Some Lesser Tales and Cashel Byron's Profession, both published in Penguin's Bernard Shaw Library. He conducted a strong attack on the London theatre and was closely associated with the intellectual revival of British theatre. His plays fall into several categories: 'Plays Pleasant'; 'Plays Unpleasant'; comedies; chronicle-plays; 'metabiological Pentateuch' (Back to Methuselah, a series of plays); and 'political extravaganzas'. Bernard Shaw died in 1950. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Hard Press (November 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1406926000
• ISBN-13: 978-1406926002
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,537,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars this book was an enchanting fable..., October 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Androcles and the Lion: An Old Fable Renovated (Shaw Library) (Paperback)

the story sets a scene of serenity, but later the plot thickens and complications trouble androcles and his lion friend, but old friends remain friends, and it is their friendship that saves them in the end.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm so glad to have found it, June 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Androcles and the Lion: An Old Fable Renovated (Shaw Library) (Paperback)

I first this read this book in Baltimore, MD at the tender age of 7, 1952. I thought that I would never see this book again in my life time. But fate has it that I'm able to read it again. I've used this book in my lectures and motivational speeches. Because I love the message that it portrays and illustrate to children as it did mine. Thanks for letting me share. I'm 57 yo now.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read the whole book!!!, November 16, 2001

By 

Thom Mulkey (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Androcles and the Lion: An Old Fable Renovated (Shaw Library) (Paperback)

Do not be tempted to pass over the essay that begins this book. It is a delightfully thought provoking essay that sets up the story of the play. Shaw writes of his views of organized religon with support for his thesis. It is important to read this before diving into the play itself.

The play is wonderful, but the theater program must be 200 pages long. You need all the 111 pages before the play to get all of the meanings of the play.