In his notes, Bertolt Brecht says of this play, "But it would be highly dangerous, particularly nowadays, to treat a matter like Galileo's fight for freedom of research as a religious one; for thereby attention would be most unhappily deflected from present-day reactionary authorities of a totally un-ecclesiastical kind."
With this comment, Brecht demands that his audience sees this play as more than a battle between science and religion. It is, as he says, a conflict between progressive and conservative thinking, it is a conflict between political activism and political indifference, a conflict between freedom and oppression and a conflict between the individual and authority. Underlying all these is the central tenet of inquiry.
Without inquiry, without "hypothesis" or "doubt", we are merely "gawping", and "Gawping isn't seeing". Life of Galileo suggests that it is only through the process of questioning – and engaging that society can learn and grow. How much success we have depends on our preparedness to "have a look for ourselves".
What do you do when you are considered a dissident and your views are considered reactionary? What do you do when regardless of where you go, you are an exile? Such a dilemma was faced by Brecht.
In Germany, during the rise of Hitler and the Nazis he was labelled an insurgent. His outspoken views were in conflict with those of the Nazi party and so he escaped from the tyranny of Nazi Germany in 1933. He moved to Russia, only to escape the Nazis again in 1941. Relocating to the United States, his communist philosophies caused him to make a quick exit but not before being called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in 1947.
So it makes sense that Life of Galileo would reflect Brecht's own observations and experiences with fascism, Nazism, communism and atomic warfare. Through Andrea, Brecht proposes, "One cannot fly through the air on a broomstick. It must at least have a machine on it. And as yet there is no machine. Perhaps there never will be, for man is too heavy. But, of course, one cannot tell. We don't know nearly enough, Giuseppe. We are only at the beginning."
And, of course, it is in these final lines that the audience understands Brecht's comment to the world; that scepticism, doubt and inquiry are essential if humankind is to learn from life – from conflict. To question and challenge, as Galileo does, is inextricably linked to movement and growth.
Having endured a life of conflict, Brecht uses Galileo as a vehicle to truth, "belief ... is one thing; facts, tangible facts, are another ... Gentlemen, I beseech you in all humanity to trust your eyes."
So what does it mean then, that Galileo recants on his beliefs? Does it suggest that he "buckles under the pressure"? Does it suggest that Galileo is weak in conflict? For a man who is at first so determined to prove heliocentrism – a contentious and dangerous belief that the Earth moved around the sun, to then recant these views in order to escape execution, would suggest so.
Working with a prompt
In developing a piece of writing using Life of Galileo it is essential that complex thinking take place before writing occurs. Any piece of writing must convey a close knowledge of the text, its issues and the contexts that "generated" the writing in the first place, hence the importance of thinking about Brecht and his time in conjunction with Galileo and his time.
Examine the exchange between Galileo and Vanni in scene 11. As Galileo and Virginia wait in the lobby of the Medici Palace, the conversation that takes place could easily work as a comment about Brecht's interrogation at the HUAC trials. Rector Gaffone, according to Galileo is a "fool [who] will involve me in another hour-long conversation". A pejorative comment aimed at those who entertain "blackcoat" beliefs.
Vanni's pronouncement, "They are holding you responsible for those pamphlets against the Bible which have lately been on sale everywhere" could easily be transposed to echo Brecht's own interrogation during the HUAC trials,
"Well, from an examination of the works which Mr Brecht has written, particularly in collaboration with Mr Hanns Eisler, he seems to be a person of international importance to the Communist revolutionary movement. Now, Mr Brecht, is it true you have written articles which have appeared in publications in the Soviet zone of Germany within the past few months?"
So begins the process of thinking about the play and how it suggests conflict. Remember a prompt is, as the word suggests, a starting point for investigation. In a way it is the very same process Galileo demands of the young Andrea: "What do you see? You see nothing. You only goggle. Goggling is not seeing."
What does Galileo mean by this quote? How does it suggest a conflict? What is implied in the way Andrea is "learning"? It can be hypothesized that there is a conflict between passive and active learning. Why could this be important to Galileo, in fact to Brecht? Go back to Brecht's beckoning to the audience to question and doubt, "Thinking is one of the chief pleasures of the human race."
For example, take last year's VCE exam prompt, "The experience of conflict changes people's priorities." In developing and shaping your ideas on the play it would be judicious to ask – and keep asking – What is this text's message about conflict? What do all Galileo's actions and exchanges reveal about conflict?
More specifically, how does this text suggest, confirm or deny that in Life of Galileo conflict changes people's priorities? So the process of "doubting" begins; whose priorities are changed and why are they changed? It is worthwhile to remember that the audience, too, may change its priorities from the conflict it witnesses in the play.
To conclude that this play is only about the conflict between fact and belief is naive, and is the very "goggling" to which Galileo refers. Rather than conclude that Galileo is weak for recanting, ask, "What does the play suggest from his gesture in handing the 'Discorsi' or manuscript to Andrea?"
Could it be that in recanting, it actually allows Galileo to continue his work "without interruption"? Why might this be important to him?
In scene 9 Signora Sarti says to Galileo, "You have set yourself up against the authorities and they have already warned you once ... you show signs of sense and tell me that you know you must control yourself because it's dangerous, but two days' experimenting and you're as bad as ever."
Perhaps there is no conflict within Galileo; his truth is the indulgence in the sensual and a fundamental belief in "the eyes". His priorities never change.
too much qstns
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