>>> test1 = u'"Hello," he\u200b said\u200f\u200e.\n\t"I\u200b am\u200b nine years old\xe2"' >>> test2 = '"Hello," he\\u200b said\\u200f\\u200e.\n\t"I\\u200b am\\u200b nine years old"' >>> test2.decode('unicode-escape') u'"Hello," he\u200b said\u200f\u200e.\n\t"I\u200b am\u200b nine years old"' >>> print test2.decode('unicode-escape') "Hello," he said. "I am nine years old"