Androcles and the Lion

Nov 28, 2025 1:31 AM

Author:Dan Laurence,George Bernard Shaw

Androcles and the Lion is a 1912 play written by George Bernard Shaw.

Androcles and the Lion is Shaw's retelling of the tale of Androcles, a slave who is saved by the requited mercy of a lion. In the play, Shaw makes Androcles out to be one of many Christians being led to the Colosseum for torture. Characters in the play exemplify several themes and takes on both modern and supposed early Christianity, including cultural clash between Jesus' teachings and traditional Roman values.

Reviews

Alice Hoffman is erotic and romantic, funny and clever and humane

—— The Times

Alice Hoffman is a daring and able writer; she plots conjunctions of mundane and magical events with such ease that the reader never doubts her word

—— New Yorker

Like her contemporaries, Carol Shields and Alice Munro, Hoffman has an acute eye for detail - Hoffman writes with heartbreaking clarity

—— The Times

[Hoffman] does it beautifully, composing a lyrical tale that does not waster a single word, a shamelessly heart-breaking story that will leave barely a dry eye in the house

—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on Sunday

Enchanting

—— Sunday Times

It's easy to get absorbed in this novel...Life is not like this, but would it be such a bad thing if there were a it more magic in the world?

—— Daily Telegraph

Hoffman delivers one of the best plot twists I can remember

—— Observer

Hoffman is a skilled and experienced writer... beautifully constructed

—— Guardian

A strangely provocative, grown-up fairy fable

—— Good Housekeeping

Cuts deeply into the griefs and passions that shape us all and into heartbreaking secrets

—— The Times

Emotionally compelling

—— Psychologies Magazine

Hoffman writes as beautifully as ever

—— Marie Claire

Hoffman knows that good fairytales, like people, are never simple

—— Herald

Beautifully written, mystical and intriguing, this is a story of life, death, love and second chances. Enthralling

—— Woman and Home

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