Galileo Essay Questions

Why does Galileo recant?

Years later, when he encounters his old student, Andrea, Galileo tells him that he recanted during the Inquisition because he was afraid of the pain of torture. While Andrea imagines that perhaps it had something to do with his loyalty to science, his desire to continue working, Galileo (rather humorously) dispels this by telling him that he was simply afraid of death.

Why does Ludovico refuse to marry Virginia?

Ludovico, a wealthy gentleman, is engaged to be married to Galileo's daughter, Virginia. However, when Galileo does not abandon his controversial ideas, of which Ludovico's mother in particular does not approve, Ludovico ends up abandoning the engagement. As Ludovico explains to Galileo, Galileo's ideas threaten to demotivate the workers on his vineyard. By publishing his findings about the workings of the universe in common Italian, rather than elevated Latin, Galileo has ensured that the workers can read his work and, discovering that the earth is not at the center of the universe, question their position in an unequal society.

Why is Andrea so disappointed in Galileo when he recants?

Andrea has been Galileo's pupil since he was a small child, and has internalized the importance of his teacher's lessons. Thus, when Galileo decides to go back on all his discoveries and tell the Inquisitor that what he believed was wrong, Andrea feels that his mentor is betraying years and years of study. While it would be a tragedy, Andrea would rather Galileo sacrifice himself on behalf of his beliefs than be forced to go through the indignity of recanting.

How does the play fit into Brecht's vision of epic theater?

While there are no moments of direct address or breaking the fourth wall, the play does little to align the audience or reader with the character in a way that might be described as psychological realism. The action is more straightforward, an account of history rather than an emotional representation of history. Additionally, Galileo is positioned as a revolutionary in that he is interested in spreading knowledge as a way of unraveling economic and political hierarchies. In this way, the play has a certain didactic and rhetorical bent, one that is anticapitalist and anticorruption. The reader/viewer must orient themselves in relation to this stance, whether they are aligned with Galileo or with the institutions against which he fights.

Is Galileo a hero or an antihero?

His position in history—and in the play for that matter—is heroic in that he spreads truth that contemporary readers and viewers now take for granted. From the perspective of modernity, his "controversial" views are embedded into modern science and have been proven in countless ways since his trials. In the context of the play, his heroism is complicated. While he stands up for what he believes in and spreads the truth to the people who need it most, he also recants in order to save his own life, a decision which disappoints those closest to him. Even after recanting, however, he continues his progressive scientific project, and eventually hands over his Discorsi to Andrea to carry across the Italian border to the more progressive Holland, thereby pushing his ideas forward and heroically standing up for the truth after all.