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A review by valtimke
Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht
5.0
The Little Monk: But don't you think that the truth will get through without us, so long as it's true?
Galileo: No, no, no. The only truth that gets through will be what we force through: the victory of reason will be the victory of people who are prepared to reason, nothing else.
...
Galileo: I sometimes think I'll have myself shut up in a dungeon ten fathoms below ground in complete darkness if only it will help me to find out what light is. And the worst thing is that what I know I have to tell people, like a lover, like a drunkard, like a traitor...
Brecht plays knowingly with the reader's expectation of what a hero is, and where those expectations might stem from. If you know about the life of Galileo, it is no secret that he recants his argument against the Ptolemy solar system. But, as someone who still pushed for truth, does this recantation mean he was untrue to himself?
This play deals with themes such as the compatability of science and religion, the duty of a scientist, mortality, and how humans come to make sense of the world. I loved this play incredibly, and I want very much to read more by Brecht now.
Galileo: No, no, no. The only truth that gets through will be what we force through: the victory of reason will be the victory of people who are prepared to reason, nothing else.
...
Galileo: I sometimes think I'll have myself shut up in a dungeon ten fathoms below ground in complete darkness if only it will help me to find out what light is. And the worst thing is that what I know I have to tell people, like a lover, like a drunkard, like a traitor...
Brecht plays knowingly with the reader's expectation of what a hero is, and where those expectations might stem from. If you know about the life of Galileo, it is no secret that he recants his argument against the Ptolemy solar system. But, as someone who still pushed for truth, does this recantation mean he was untrue to himself?
This play deals with themes such as the compatability of science and religion, the duty of a scientist, mortality, and how humans come to make sense of the world. I loved this play incredibly, and I want very much to read more by Brecht now.