Preview

The Life of Galileo Bertolt Brecht

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
35877 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Life of Galileo Bertolt Brecht
The Life of Galileo Bertolt Brecht Foreword Two SCENES, numbered 5 and 10 in the original version, are omitted from this edition of The Life of Galileo to reduce it to manageable length for students. A reader can follow the theme of the play clearly enough without them; on the other hand, what they contribute to its background, in the panic-stricken atmosphere of the plague and the wild hilarity of the carnival, needs stage presentation, even more than most of the other scenes, for its full effect. Like nearly all plays, this one is written to he seen and heard. The best way to treat the text is to give it a first reading straight through, trying to visualize the scenes as they follow each other. This should give a clear impression of its main intention. The commentary will then fill in the information that is needed to understand it more fully. For miscellaneous information in the commentary and textual notes, the editor is indebted chiefly to Ronald Grey’s Brecht in the ‘Writers and Critics’ series (Oliver & Boyd, 1961), to The Copernican Revolution by Thomas S. Kuhn (Random House, New York, 1959), and to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and for some useful suggestions to David McCutchion, Reader in Comparative Literature at the University of Jadavpur. A.G. S.

A NOTE ON BERTOLT BRECHT was born at Augsberg in 1898. He was educated, like most middle-class German boys, at primary and secondary school, and studied science for less than a year at Munich University before he was called up in 1918 for service as a medical orderly in the First World War. He came home in 1919 to a Germany that was defeated and badly disorganized. From the beginning his sympathies were with the communists. Even more .certainly, if we are to judge from his work, he was against the rising Nazi
BERTOLT BRECHT

movement; but he was a creative artist more than a politician-Like Shakespeare, Brecht was a man of the theatre from the beginning of his career. In 1920 he was a kind of dramatic

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Notably, he treats the characters as players of his game, manipulating their lives and playing off their superstitious beliefs. A Brechtian style is explored through the Narrator to make the audience reflect on unravelling themes and to unmask the naturalism of society at the time. The narrator is important within the play as he shows the movement and progression of time, ‘when you’re sweet sixteen.’ ‘At seventeen.’…

    • 897 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He states that God has provided man “with senses, language, and intellect” which should be applied to acquire knowledge about this earth. Galileo recognizes that a small section of the text addresses astronomy, but not “the names of all the planets.” This incomplete set of information instigates man to further exploration and gain more knowledge. Additionally, these discoveries need to be backed by facts and experiments. However, Galileo states that doctrines surrounding faith and salvation “are firm enough that there is no danger of any valid and effective doctrine ever rising against…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In his Letter to Grand Duchess Christiana, Galileo made an attempt to explain his discoveries and defended that they do not discredit the Church or religion. He insisted that science and religion could coexist. He explained how and why. He expressed his personal opinion on the reasons why certain people did not believe him and his discoveries. Galileo expressed confidence in his knowledge, sarcasm in some regards, and the letter’s overall tone seemed to upset many.…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Restrictions on our rights and freedoms can push us to revolt. It is in these denials of our sense of freedom, not rather the method by which we are deprived, which we are so against; as a threat to deny our ability to do what we want, is often construed as a direct reduction of ourselves. It is in this; between our perception of future opportunities that the Catholic Church in Brecht’s The Life Of Galileo is so against. As for the church, the widespread acceptance of the Ptolemaic model is representative of their own influence. As such Brecht’s point transcends the historical example of the church’s restrictions, into a broader articulation of how we, in general revolt to perceived idealistic restrictions; not because of tangible detriment per se, but because we bundle our self image with our sense of freedoms. Although Galileo recanted; once knowledge has been shared, it is impossible to return to the uninformed past. Hence the Ptolemaic system forced…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

    • 4427 Words
    • 18 Pages

    Brecht wished to create theatre that did more than just result in the audience feeling, but instead, in the audience thinking.…

    • 4427 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Brecht's Epic Theatre was a break from the prevailing form of theatre - what Brecht called Dramatic Theatre. Epic theatre was a clearly different type of theatre and Brecht sought to make it popular - taking emphasis away from the dramatic theatre that he hated so. He truly believed that naturalism was unrealistic, as it created an ineffective barrier between the actors and the audience - a fourth wall -that made naturalistic theatre suggestive, not questioning. By defining his epic theatre he created a way to make watching plays a learning experience:…

    • 816 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Galileo Galilei, the protagonist of Life of Galileo, was put at odds with himself, forced to face an internal conflict. He was a university lecture by occupation, but was first and foremost a researcher, specifically interested in astrology. However, Galileo was financially struggling. In order to advance his findings, he found himself in a personal predicament; to lie about inventing the telescope to gain 500 scudi. Unashamedly, Galileo fabricated that it was his own invention to procure the extra funding. Although this deceptive act caused dispute, both within Galileo, and later on in the play with the Procurator, it demonstrated the need for conflict to enable progress. Galileo so blatantly stole someone else’s invention, as he saw it as an opportunity to help himself and the greater society by advancing his own research, rather than an issue of moral responsibility. By pushing aside this conflict, he was able to progress his learning and find evidence of a heliocentric solar system, rather than the geocentric model advocated by the Church. Furthermore, the extra 500 scudi allowed Galileo to continue to subsist- moving him forward from his financial troubles. When he was confronted…

    • 1056 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Galileo vs. Church

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages

    At the time, the church was the legal authority of the land and anything that went against the church's doctrine of what the Bible said, was considered heresy and punishable by excommunication, imprisonment, or death. In this case Galileo violated the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching the heliocentric theory. According to the church these theory’s by Galileo was trying to prove the bible false.…

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Galileo Accomplishments

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Whenever history is reviewed on Astronomy, great Scientists such as Nicholas Copernicus and Galileo Galilei must be mentioned for their great contribution in the world of Astronomy. Comparing Copernicus with Galileo, we see that Copernicus made great discoveries which Galileo would later use in making his scientific discoveries and proofs. Copernicus is regarded to as the father of Astronomy because of his great contribution towards making the universe understandable to many people. This essay focuses on major accomplishments of Nicholas Copernicus and how Galilei Galileo used them later to become successful scientist explorer.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Di, Canzio Albert. Galileo: His Science and His Significance for the Future of Man. Portsmouth, NH: ADASI Pub., 1996. Print.…

    • 3154 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    A realisation that “The world is out of joint, certainly and it will take powerful movements to manipulate it all back again”, convinced Bertolt Brecht that his role in fixing the world’s wrongs was to use theatre as a tool for social change.…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Galileo and Newton

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages

    material things have "this or that shape" and are small or large in relation to…

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    facts

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Brecht was both playwright and producer/director of his own and other peoples plays. He also wrote on dramatic theory. The theory describes theatre as Brecht wished it to become. This theory is only partly realised in his own work. Brecht would say that this is the result of the theatre's and society's not being ready yet for the final, perfected version of epic theatre. Modern theatre critics might say that Brecht's practical sense of what works in the theatre has happily overruled the more extreme applications of his theory.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    I have no idea how to make my thesis statement!! The Scientific Revolution lasted between 1540-1690. Although in 1453 the Ottoman Turks invaded the city Constantinople, scholars fled west bringing ancient knowledge just in time as Europe started to challenge Aristotle's physics. Advancements in many fields of science were made.…

    • 1440 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Worker Reads History

    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Berolt Bercht wrote a poem “ A worker reads history” In the poem who was the people behind all the major events in the history books. There were many great people behind the scenes. Did Adolf Hitler kill over thousands of people by himself? Having lived during the time of Hitler’s rule Brecht knew that Hitler wasn’t the only one behind it all. Brecht wanted his readers to know that there are more people behind the scenes, and though this poem he tells his readers that ordinary people can change history as we know it as well.…

    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays