Galileo (Masterplots II: Drama)
At a glance:
- Author: Bertolt Brecht
- First Published: 1952
- Type of Work: Epic
- Time of Work: 1609-1637
- Setting: Italy
- Principal Characters: Galileo Galilei, Andrea Sarti, Virginia Galilei, Prince Cosimo de’ Medici, Cardinal Barberini, Cardinal Inquisitor
- Genres: Drama, Epic
- Subjects: Science or scientists, Antiheroes, Seventeenth century, Duty, Ethics, Italy or Italians, Popes or papacy, Astronomy or astronomers
- Locales: Vienna, Austria, Venice, Italy, Florence, Italy, Rome, Italy, Padua, Italy
The Play
Galileo, a play in fourteen scenes, begins in the morning. The initial action takes place in Galileo’s sparsely furnished room in a modest house in the city of Padua in 1609. The audience sees Galileo washing himself. Before breakfast, he teaches Andrea Sarti, the son of Galileo’s housekeeper, the new cosmology—that the earth orbits the sun. Galileo, it turns out, has stolen the design of the telescope; in order to make money, he sells a telescope as his own invention to the senate of the Venetian Republic. In his research, Galileo uses the telescope to...
[The entire page is 1778 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
