Androcles and the Lion

Androcles and the Lion is a play by George Bernard Shaw.^[1] It was written in 1912.^[2] The play is based on one of Aesop's fables, ancient stories which were supposed to teach moral lessons.^[3]

Androcles and the Lion
Poster from when the play was performed at the Federal Theatre in 1938
Written by	George Bernard Shaw

Plot

The play is about a Christian man named Androcles who lives in ancient Rome. The man is hiding from Roman soldiers who want to arrest him because he is Christian. While hiding, he sees a lion with a thorn stuck in its paw. Androcles feels sorry for the lion, and pulls out the thorn. He is eventually caught by the Romans, who put him in an arena where he is supposed to be eaten by a captive lion for the crowd's enjoyment. The lion that the Romans send to kill Androcles is the same one that he helped earlier, and it refuses to eat him. Androcles and the lion are both freed after this.

Critical response

Critics did not like the play when it first came out, because they thought it mocked Christianity. Different critics began to like it more later, and many people enjoy it today.^[1]