Themes
Science for the sheer pleasure of science
This is the other side of science’s responsibility. Galileo admits to living science as a vice, an
irrepressible impulse, a desire for pure knowledge. In order to continue to satisfy this desire, the scientist
from Pisa is also willing to abjure his own ideas.
Modern man’s crisis
This comes from the loss of certainties, of acquired and shared truths, and from that existential solitude
that the new science leads to. As Goethe wrote that night in January 1610, when Galileo directed his
telescope towards the Medicean skies and made his discoveries, man has had to forgo the “exorbitant
privilege” of being the center of the universe.
Galileo as hero/champion of reason
This involves Galileo’s intellectual courage, which holds reason superior to authority. Galilean Pre-
Enlightenment.
Galileo’s humanity/antiheroism
Galileo is not the incorruptible hero unjustly persecuted for the truths he announced; he is also a guilty
and defeated man. His taste for the pleasures of life is very human. He perfected a model of a telescope
from Flanders and, being in continuous financial straits, does not hesitate to sell it to the Venetian
Republic as his own invention.
Relationship between Science and Power
This involves the intellectual/scientist’s freedom within a system of institutional, cultural and social
power. In order to maintain this freedom, Galileo, much like the exiled Brecht who wrote the original
version of the play, is willing to work secretly: “Better strained than empty (hands)”.7 Science should be
free to reveal its discoveries regardless of how unpleasant they may be to the Establishment. According
to the author, the 17th Century Church is only one of the existing power structures.
Science as a bearer of ruin and destruction
After the explosion of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Brecht was inspired to include this
theme in the later versions of The Life of Galileo. However, it already appears in the first draft as a result
of the news of uranium fission.
Science for the good of humanity
This theme manifests itself in the press review in two ways: science is useful to man; science
must/should be useful to man. At the end of the play the regretful Galileo understands that the goal of
science should be to alleviate man’s exhaustion.
Science and class struggle
Galileo’s ideological revolution can, according to Brecht, reach society as well. Just as in the Ptolemaic
System, so too can social classes overthrow the few to which the masses submit.
Anti-religious polemic. Galileo’s blasphemy and anticlericalism.
Although it lies outside of the author’s intentions, this theme is nevertheless found in some productions.
The accusations range from the play or staging of the play as being anticlerical to satirical intent and even
blasphemy in some scenes.
Conflict between reason/science and faith - Synthesis of reason/science and faith
The dissent between religion and science was a dramatic issue in 17th Century culture. How to reconcile
the truths of faith and science? From the play, some articles draw the idea that scientific research “is
authorized to destroy heritages of faith and hope”8 in order to continue its path, while others recall
Galileo’s idea that synthesis comes from the division of both ambits.
Excerpted from "Science in the reception of Brecht's Galileo"
This is the other side of science’s responsibility. Galileo admits to living science as a vice, an
irrepressible impulse, a desire for pure knowledge. In order to continue to satisfy this desire, the scientist
from Pisa is also willing to abjure his own ideas.
Modern man’s crisis
This comes from the loss of certainties, of acquired and shared truths, and from that existential solitude
that the new science leads to. As Goethe wrote that night in January 1610, when Galileo directed his
telescope towards the Medicean skies and made his discoveries, man has had to forgo the “exorbitant
privilege” of being the center of the universe.
Galileo as hero/champion of reason
This involves Galileo’s intellectual courage, which holds reason superior to authority. Galilean Pre-
Enlightenment.
Galileo’s humanity/antiheroism
Galileo is not the incorruptible hero unjustly persecuted for the truths he announced; he is also a guilty
and defeated man. His taste for the pleasures of life is very human. He perfected a model of a telescope
from Flanders and, being in continuous financial straits, does not hesitate to sell it to the Venetian
Republic as his own invention.
Relationship between Science and Power
This involves the intellectual/scientist’s freedom within a system of institutional, cultural and social
power. In order to maintain this freedom, Galileo, much like the exiled Brecht who wrote the original
version of the play, is willing to work secretly: “Better strained than empty (hands)”.7 Science should be
free to reveal its discoveries regardless of how unpleasant they may be to the Establishment. According
to the author, the 17th Century Church is only one of the existing power structures.
Science as a bearer of ruin and destruction
After the explosion of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Brecht was inspired to include this
theme in the later versions of The Life of Galileo. However, it already appears in the first draft as a result
of the news of uranium fission.
Science for the good of humanity
This theme manifests itself in the press review in two ways: science is useful to man; science
must/should be useful to man. At the end of the play the regretful Galileo understands that the goal of
science should be to alleviate man’s exhaustion.
Science and class struggle
Galileo’s ideological revolution can, according to Brecht, reach society as well. Just as in the Ptolemaic
System, so too can social classes overthrow the few to which the masses submit.
Anti-religious polemic. Galileo’s blasphemy and anticlericalism.
Although it lies outside of the author’s intentions, this theme is nevertheless found in some productions.
The accusations range from the play or staging of the play as being anticlerical to satirical intent and even
blasphemy in some scenes.
Conflict between reason/science and faith - Synthesis of reason/science and faith
The dissent between religion and science was a dramatic issue in 17th Century culture. How to reconcile
the truths of faith and science? From the play, some articles draw the idea that scientific research “is
authorized to destroy heritages of faith and hope”8 in order to continue its path, while others recall
Galileo’s idea that synthesis comes from the division of both ambits.
Excerpted from "Science in the reception of Brecht's Galileo"