The Life of Galileo

The Life of Galileo: summary

Set in Renaissance Italy, The Life of Galileo follows the famous astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei. The play moves from his initial discoveries of the Copernican system which supports the idea that the earth orbits the sun, a belief considered heretical by the Catholic Church, through his public recantation and ending with his final years under house arrest by the Inquisition.

The play culminates in Galileo handing over this book to his student, a symbol of his belief in the enduring power of scientific truth.

Fig. 1 - The Life of Galileo is a dramatic examination of the tension between the pursuit of scientific truth and the power of institutional authority

The play opens with Galileo talking to his housekeeper’s son, Andrea, about the solar system. Galileo shares with Andrea the ideas of Nikolaus Copernicus and explains how this changes what was believed about the Sun until this moment: Copernicus places the Sun at the centre of the solar system. Andrea’s mother, Mrs Sarti, enters and is concerned about what she sees. What Galileo is teaching Andrea goes against what the Roman Catholic Church approves, and she is worried that her son might get in trouble for sharing what Galileo has taught him.

Although he has a position as Professor of Mathematics at Padua University in Venice, Galileo has money troubles. That is why, when Ludovico arrives and asks Galileo to be his tutor, Mrs Sarti convinces him to accept. The astronomer unwillingly agrees to tutor Ludovico. Soon after, Galileo’s supervisor, the Procurator, lets Galileo know that his request for a raise has been denied.

The Procurator reminds Galileo that he should feel lucky to be working at Padua University because, even if it doesn’t pay him as much, it is a place that grants freedom from the Church. Galileo, in turn, doesn’t see what the use of free thought is if one spends all his time working to make enough to survive.

Ludovico offers Galileo a solution to his problems, a Dutch device called a telescope. Galileo recreates it, and the Procurator is so impressed, thinking that Galileo invented it, that he gives him his raise. Soon after, a Dutch merchant arrives, bringing many telescopes, and Galileo’s deception is revealed. However, Galileo has already used the telescope to prove Copernicus’ theory that the Sun is at the centre of the solar system.

The knowledge that a man has been burned at the stake just because he was quoting Copernicus doesn’t stop Galileo from moving to Florence, a place under much stricter control by the Church. Galileo hopes that in Florence, he will have the time and money to pursue his research. When he gets there, he shows the workings of the telescope to a theologian, a mathematician, and a philosopher, all three of whom are sceptical and unsupportive.

Fig. 2 - The Life of Galileo explores the life of the 17th-century astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei.

The plague doesn’t affect the characters, and Galileo meets with Clavius and his party of Church scholars at the Vatican. Although Clavius admits that Galileo is correct, he and the other scholars are convinced that his findings are dangerous because they go against the age-old wisdom of the Church.

The Pope is dying, and it seems entirely possible that the next Pope could be Galileo’s fellow mathematician, Cardinal Barberini. Galileo is so hopeful that the Cardinal would be in favour of his work that he resumes the publication of his research. He quickly becomes very famous, which brings the Inquisition to his door. They take him to the Vatican, where he is imprisoned.

It turns out that even though Cardinal Barberini, who has now officially become the Pope, agrees with Galileo’s ideas in theory, it is far too risky for him to support them. The Inquisition threatens Galileo with torture, and eventually, he gives in and renounces his work. His students are extremely disappointed by this and abandon the astronomer.

Almost a decade later, Galileo is still imprisoned in his home, where he will remain until the end of his life. He is under constant surveillance and is forced to write documents that approve of the Church’s opinion. However, when Andrea visits him, he reveals that he only renounced his work so that he could continue to pursue it in secret.

He then finishes his magnum opus, The Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences. Galileo and Andrea sneak the book out of the country and into the Netherlands, where it is published without censorship.

The Life of Galileo: themes and quotes

The key themes of The Life of Galileo are the social responsibility of scientists, freedom of speech, and progress vs. tradition.

The social responsibility of scientists

When he finds out that Galileo has continued his work, Andrea apologises for speaking ill of him. He lifts Galileo’s spirit by pointing out that his contribution to science matters more than his weakness in the face of the Inquisition.

Progress vs tradition

Galileo teaches his students this lesson after explaining to them why ice floats on water.

The plot of the play revolves around Galileo’s struggle to bring progress to a country that is so rooted in tradition that it sees progress as its enemy. Although some of the authorities of the Church, such as Cardinal Barberini and the scholar Clavius, understand that Galileo’s findings are true and important, they refuse to make them known to the world because it would disrupt traditional beliefs.

Tradition gives them power because it keeps the masses ignorant and, therefore, susceptible to the control of the Church. Scientific progress would lead to people questioning the traditional system, which is something the Church could not allow Galileo to achieve. However, the play shows that the power of human progress is so strong that it cannot be stopped. Sooner or later, it will find a way out of the boundaries of tradition.

Additionally, the story of Galileo’s scientific progress in the Renaissance is an allusion to the political changes in 1930s Europe. As a Marxist, Brecht used Galileo’s fight to refer to his own opposition to Capitalism. You might have come across Marx’s famous statement:

For Brecht, reason was the ultimate weapon against any oppression, be it the Inquisition or capitalist society. He believed that once the masses see the possibility of progress in a rational way, their uproar against the confines of the old ways would be unstoppable.

Freedom of thought and speech

The following quote is Galileo’s critique of the scholar Mucius, who wants to explain why he doesn’t agree with Copernicus’ theories about the rotation of the Earth. Galileo tells him that explaining why the truth isn’t true is pointless.

Freedom of thought and speech is a central theme in The Life of Galileo. Galileo’s speech is censored by the Church; he is not allowed to share his discoveries. Although he is technically allowed to think freely, he is repeatedly told that the work he’s doing is wrong and that he shouldn’t be doing it.

By exploring the censorship of free thought and speech imposed by the Inquisition, Brecht alludes to the censorship in his own time and country. He wrote The Life of Galileo right after he had fled Germany, being afraid of persecution. In the 1930s, Hitler was in power, and Brecht’s works were banned.

The Life of Galileo: characters

Some of the most important characters of The Life of Galileo are Galileo Galilei, Andrea Sarti, Ludovico Marisli, and Virginia Galileo.

Galileo Galilei

The main character, Galileo Galilei, is based on a real historical figure, the astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei who lived from 1564 to 1642. Galileo, as presented in the drama, is a man torn between science and religion, between the desire and ambition to pursue his scientific discoveries and his loyalty and fear of the Roman Catholic Church.

Andrea Sarti

Mrs Sarti

Mrs Sarti is Galileo’s housekeeper and Andrea’s mother. At first, she doesn’t approve of Galileo teaching her son, but she does remain loyal to her master throughout the play. She doesn’t leave him, even when the plague breaks out in Florence. Mrs Sarti is also a companion to Galileo’s daughter, Virginia.

Virginia Galileo

Virginia is a young woman who is Galileo’s daughter. She remains loyal to her father throughout the play even though his actions have a negative effect on her happiness. She gets engaged to Ludovico and is looking forward to marrying him. She’s hurt when Ludovico breaks off the engagement. Nevertheless, she takes care of her father and supports him, despite the fact that she is also deeply religious and loyal to the Church.

Cardinal Barberini

Cardinal Barberini is based on the historical figure who lived from 1568 to 1644. As Pope Urban VIII, he was tasked to deliver the Pope’s decree against Copernican cosmology. At first, as a mathematician himself, Cardinal Barberini is supportive of Galileo’s research. However, when he becomes Pope, the Cardinal has to side with the Inquisition. He lets them force Galileo to renounce his discoveries.

How has The Life of Galileo influenced today’s culture today?

The Life of Galileo is one of Bertolt Brecht’s most famous plays. After its premiere in Zürich in 1943, there was a second post-war edition in 1947. To translate it into English, Brecht collaborated with actor Charles Laughton who played the role of Galileo at the first performance at the Coronet Theater in Los Angeles.

Since the 1940s, The Life of Galileo has been staged many times in different countries and languages around the world. Bertolt Brecht's play explores a multitude of philosophical and societal questions that are accessible in any language, including:

1. What is the role of science and intellectualism in society?
2. How does the pursuit of truth conflict with institutional power structures?
3. What are the ethical responsibilities of scientists and scholars in disseminating their findings to the public?
4. How do personal beliefs and societal norms shape the acceptance or rejection of scientific truths?

The theme of science and the allusion to social and political issues are what make the play relevant in today’s society.

¹ Karl Marx, ‘A Contribution to a Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: Introduction’, 1843.