Brecht's ' Life of Galileo'

Brecht – a 20^th century modern playwright – who underwent huge historical happenings – the Hiroshima atomic attack, world war and yes the social and political changes in his society. With his post modern  ideologies, he had his unique notions of theater. Theater for him was a wide field to be filled with both information as well as entertainment. Society needed not an escape into those Elizabethan romantic lures, rather a place to instill new ideas and challenge their society in order to bring significant required changes in the mechanisms of human minds.

In order to treat all these themes of the labyrinth of historical inventions with his day’s social and political structures – he gave rebirth to Galileo – the 16^th century scientist who like any other artist or inventor had faced authoritative sectors of his own time, despite of huge intellect and scientific potential in him. though the play is a systematic light collage of various events of galileo’s life but Brecht has given certain varying attributes to the persona of his central character. Galileo’s individuality hence varies in all three versions of the play. The first version in German has Galileo as a person so optimistic about his discoveries getting reception in the world which has to give its way to those proofs. Second version with Laughton performing Galileo includes a passive, flawed person who had no option but to give those church and political authorities in order to continue with his studies. This was written blending German and English with a monologue altered towards the end. Also, this was the time when American invention – atom bomb – had caused huge disaster, so Brecht’s idea about science and its benefit for mankind had changed. Hence brecht’s Galileo accepts his failure to be a responsible scientist more than a good scientist. Third version was again in German and had less of details of luxury attributed to pope with his wide robe.

The story begins from Galileo – a professor in the university of pusa, with his caretaker – mrs. Sartyr who takes care of him and her son – Andrea , the most trusted disciple of Galileo with whom he shares all his discoveries. Galileo is facing financial problems and is getting less time for personal studies because of his teaching schedules. He is shown to be a man of appetite with humor and a careless attitude.  Unlike other scientists usually shown as dry and half – lost, he rather gets involved with people around him and has huge faith in common men. To meet university’s demands of a huge scientific invention in order to receive amount, he steals the idea of telescope so popular in Amsterdam market but still not known in Italy. He not only received a prize for it but was also later penalized for the same. However, this led him to improvise the uses of a telescope.

 he used it to make significant discoveries about the universe. First being the rejection of Ptolemaic system – so blindly believed during those times. Church authorities believed that man being the center, universe couldn't have been possible without all celestial bodies encircling it – and that included all stars also sun. Ptolemaic system was based on Aristotle’s model of cosmos where earth and universe were half spheres and with one moved the other. People from centuries had faced difficulty in explaining Aristotle’s mathematical model because the eyes saw something different, yet none had the power to challenge beliefs of centuries.

Galileo realized that Copernicus’s heliocentric explanation of universe was true once he observed moon’s surface like that of earth and Jupiter having similar moons like that of earth. He noticed the way of Venus and also marked Saturn’s rings. However he had mistook Saturn to be yet another star. Nevertheless, his discoveries were remarkable and he wanted everyone to share that knowledge. He was one liberal person who didn't want those discoveries to be piled up in his own studies or even be limited to those records of church authorities. He rather wanted the world to know that they had wrong notions about the world and there was no reason for them to accept their poverty and servant-hood as their fate with that god or church authority as center. That after all, earth and moon were all pieces of stone and the universe was working on its own in some pattern without having god – anything to do in it.

He leaves university of pusa to go to Florence which was less flexible but more returning in monetary terms.  He convinces church authorities to publish a book ‘dialogue concerning the two chief world systems’. Though Galileo’s argument was wrong but the way he furnished his book – the dialogues he gave in the form of direct speech and mocked his friend – a mathematician – later pope – all that made church as well as the political authority a rival out of him and he suddenly became an atheist for the world. He argued that tidal waves were due to earth’s moments  as opposed to another scientist who rather believed that they were due to lunar effects. His decision to let the entire world know about his newly discovered explanation of universe – that too not in Latin but in the localized dialect that every layman used –again became a reason for both Catholics and Protestants who for one moment became one – together to save that conservative opinion of saving their own domination by explaining hierarchy as god’s will.

Hence, after a series of interrogations, he was forced to recant his discoveries and accept that his works had no premise. His students got disappointed with his conduct and the affect of social and political changes became apparent as many changed their beliefs including a priest who though had huge faith in Galileo’s discoveries yet returned to church’s dogmatic blind beliefs once Galileo recanted. His favourite student Andrea also got disappointed and upset with him. For many years Galileo lived under house imprisonment along with his spinster daughter Virgenia. He was however allowed to continue his studies and receive visitors with a strict check upon his publishing.

It is in the last scene where Andrea visits the blind old decayed Galileo in his house. Galileo still has that humour and appetite left in him. However, he accepts his failure as a responsible scientist and told Andrea about a book he had written consisting all of his discoveries. It is here that the future generations along with Andrea forgives him for giving up science and rather appreciates his efforts. After all he had sacrificed his life – his entity – for science to survive. But Galileo denies any such names, rather claims to have his own self interest in all these decisions.

Nevertheless, the play ends with a positive note, where Andrea easily smuggles his book ‘discorsi’ out of Italy and there was a new hope for the world – a new beginning,  new dimensions of science – that changed the way world looked at itself – even till  the time of Brecht.

Galileo’s discoveries later inspired Newton’s theories; rather his first law of motion was a product of galileo’s observation that if a certain object moving in a certain direction at a certain speed would remain moving infinitely the same way, if not disturbed by an external force. Galileo had made many scientific discoveries which included his revelation that all objects dropped at the same rate despite of their varying weight and sizes.  he explained the workings of  simple  tools like liver and pulley. Call it physics, astronomy or any other dimension of science. Galileo had land-marked significant journeys in every field.

So, what made Brecht write so much a scientific play? What was the reason to showcase an old scientist on stage when after him so many discoveries had been made? Why him – to be specific, and why that theme? Well, the theme was not science. It was knowledge and its encounters with power and society. it was to bring out that ever since history, every word of truth has to struggle through a no. Of dominant forces till the time it creates its own facts and gets approved to be truth. It was to mark the victimhood of a man who wanted common man to be a part of communal bliss. This was to bring out the humane side of a scientist who despite of being flawed had made significant discoveries and yet, even he had to undergo martyrhood in front of those oppressive systems of society and yet that man won- atleast his knowledge did. The aim was to bring out the responsibility of science which had power enough to create nuclear energy yet could have turned equally oppressive and destructive.

The picturisation included most of Brecht’s beliefs where having a historical setting immediately compelled the audience to not identify , rather have a critical distance of culture, beliefs and ideologies and yet see their workings were similar. It was to make them understand the victim and oppressor in each one of us and our society, the possible damage that can happen and the imprisonment that most of us live in – just to have our secret desires run free. The ending monologue though didn't go with Brecht’s belief as he believed that conclusion shouldn't be drawn in any play and that a play needed no climax scene. Galileo’s final speech and his acceptance of failure of his social status of a scientist – was indeed a climax and had huge role to manipulate with the spectator’s mind. 

However, Brecht did succeed in creating an epic of infotainment. The three versions, connection with various artists, and his own flavours made sure a success for the play. His aim was to make people understand Althusser’s system of ideological apparatus.  That dominant ideology is always designed to ensure its smooth success along with state ideologies. That a truth is a truth coz everyone believes it to be so. That any truth could become a fact if another ideology gains dominance over the previous truth. So, being rigid about any notion or belief is equivalent to blinding yourself to wisdom and reality. Servant-hood or being the masters of our own life – both were merely our state of mind and had nothing to do with god, religion, political structures or any other dominant beliefs.

So charged and monumental was the play that we still read it and we still feel all aroused with galileo’s play and all happy with science’s triumph. So much of power politics is same even till now that the society seems to be running in circles with various names. So all it needs is to take a turn or two and explore with those alienated eyes – some historical facts, some silence of wise. And there you attain wisdom in simple fiction of reality. How else life could be defined but Galileo as every man’s formality. 

Written by - Mystical Wanderer