Conflict in Life of Galileo. Scenes 8-15

Scene 8

The little monk (Fulganzio) experiences personal/internal conflict between wanting to pursue physics and astronomy but also believing that the Church’s interests are best served by him choosing not to pursue it. He says that he has seen ‘the wisdom of the decree’ and it has drawn his attention to ‘the dangers to humanity in wholly unrestricted research.’ He concludes ‘I have decided to give astronomy up.’ Galileo agrees that the threat of torture is a reason to do this, but the monk has different motives.

The little monk uses the poverty and ignorance of his own family as an example of why this knowledge is best suppressed. He argues that their lives are hard and laborious but they have certainty that God’s eye is on them and their existence matters. He believes that without their faith they would think their lives are for nothing. If the earth is not at the centre of the universe and the Holy Scriptures have not correctly explained and justified their lives, then everything is pointless. The little monk sees the Church’s desire to prevent this loss of faith and purpose as ‘a noble motherly compassion; a vast goodness of soul.’ He says, ‘We have the highest of motives for keeping our mouths shut – the peace of mind of the less fortunate.’

Galileo sees things differently – there is enough wealth in adjoining areas to obviate any need for this poverty to exist. If the Pope were not waging wars in Germany and Spain, the wealth of the country would not be siphoned off into paying for his wars and the overall standard of living could improve for everyone. Galileo believes that the Pope wants the earth to be the centre of the universe so that he can be the centre of the earth. Keeping new knowledge away from the people at the bottom of the social order keeps it stable and maintains the hierarchy. The position of the powerful is protected.

We see that the church will reward Galileo with wealth if he agrees to keep his mouth shut.

However, both the little monk and Galileo feel a strong compulsion to study and share this knowledge. Galileo describes the monk as a ‘glutton’ wolfing down an apple of knowledge.

The obvious conflicts in this scene involve internal conflict for both Galileo and the little monk who wish to study and share this knowledge but can see compelling reasons not to. Galileo is driven to pursue truth and reason. He says ‘We cannot invent mechanisms to pump water up from rivers if we are not to be allowed to study the greatest of all mechanisms under our nose, that of the heavenly bodies.’ ‘The only truth that will get through will be what we force through: the victory of reason will be the victory of people who are prepared to reason, nothing else.’ There is also conflict between the interests of the Church and its desire for stability, power and control over what people think and the interests of men like Galileo who seek to explore and understand and want the pursuit of knowledge, reason and truth. Galileo says ‘And the worst thing is that what I know I have to tell people, like a lover, like a drunkard, like a traitor. It is an absolute vice and leads to disaster. How long I can go one shouting it into the void, that’s the question.’ We see from the end of the scene that despite the reasons to give up physics and astronomy, both men cannot help going on with their study of it.

Scene 9

Galileo has kept silent for eight years. Virginia has been engaged to Ludovico Marsili all this time, suggesting that Ludovico’s family will only allow the marriage to take place once they are sure that Virginia’s father will not embarrass them.

Galileo appears to have been conducting experiments on floating objects but has been secretly researching sun spots. The news that Barberini will be Pope gives him confidence to openly research the earth going around the sun again. Andrea Sarti, Fulganzio the little monk and Federzoni the lens grinder are Galileo’s pupils. We see that Galileo has damaged his eyesight through his experiments observing sun spots.

Ludovico breaks off his engagement to Virginia because Galileo has taken up his controversial research again. Mrs. Sarti tells Galileo that she will never get over this and Galileo responds ‘I’ve got to know.’ There is no obvious conflict for him in choosing between continuing his research and his daughter’s happiness. In response to Ludovico’s objections to Galileo continuing his research, Galileo observes, ‘Yes, I might stir up his peasants to think new thoughts. And his servants and his stewards.’ Andrea and Federzoni remark ironically that they send their regards to the Marsilis ‘Who command the earth to stand still so their castles shan’t tumble down.’

Galileo states excitedly that he and his pupils will set out to prove that the earth does not move, and only after they have failed dismally will they start asking if they were right and it does move after all. By this he means they will prove no evidence exists to support the Ptolemaic model and then having destroyed it, they will construct the case for the Copernican hypothesis and prove it.

The significant conflict in this scene is between those who are excited by the pursuit of knowledge and those who wish to suppress it to protect their own power.

Scene 10

A decade later, Galileo’s ideas are more widely known among the common people, but not always positively accepted. The song at the beginning of this scene shows that some people saw them as a threat to the proper order of things and an excuse for people to do as they pleased instead of doing what they should. Scene 11 The scene opens in the Medici Palace where Galileo is waiting with Virginia to see the Grand Duke. It is evident that Galileo’s eyesight is very poor because Virginia is telling him who people are as they approach. Rector Gaffone, a man who expresses profound admiration of Galileo in scene 8, deliberately ignores him – a warning sign that Galileo is in trouble. Virginia asks him what he wrote in his book to get such a reaction – could it be regarded as ‘heretical’? Vanni, the ironfounder, tells Galileo that he is being blamed for pamphlets against the Bible. Galileo remarks that the Bible and Homer are his preferred reading. Vanni tells Galileo that manufacturers are behind him because he is ‘the man who is battling for freedom to teach what is new.’ He refers to people who are trying to block Galileo as the same ones who are preventing doctors from dissecting bodies for medical research. It appears that Germany and Holland are more accepting of change and exploring what is new.

The Cardinal Inquisitor is announced. When the Grand Duke comes down the steps, Galileo speaks to him about his book, but the Grand Duke is non-committal, makes a remark that expresses disapproval of Galileo spending so much time looking through ‘that tube of yours’ and does not take the book. Galileo interprets all of this as danger and tells Virginia he has a plan in place to get out of the city. Before he can act on it, he is told that the city of Florence no longer opposes the Holy Inquisition’s desire to interrogate him in Rome – the Inquisitor’s coach awaits him.

Conflict in this scene seems to be caused by the power of the Church to intimidate people. Rector Gaffone and Grand Duke Cosmo Medici were previously supporters and admirers of Galileo but they abandon him when their own safety is threatened or when they have to choose between supporting him or the Church. Galileo is not choosing science over the Bible. He remains someone who is committed to Christian beliefs. In publishing his book, it is not his intention to be heretical or to incite attacks on the Church or the Bible. The character of Vanni shows us that there are men who seek change and new knowledge but come up against the obstruction of the Church, which opposes new practices and inventions. This opposition creates conflict with those who want progress.

Scene 12

This scene shows us conflict between the Inquisitor who wants to interrogate Galileo and the Pope (formerly Cardinal Barberini) who wants to protect him. The Inquisitor wants Galileo’s mathematical charts destroyed, which Barberini compares to having the multiplication table broken. The Inquisitor argues that to support Galileo is equivalent to going before all the representatives of the clergy and telling them that the Scriptures can no longer be regarded as true. The Inquisitor sees no middle ground – both Galileo/physics/science and the Church/the Bible/faith cannot both be right. Galileo has to be publicly perceived as being wrong to maintain faith in the Church. The Inquisitor says ‘a terrible restlessness has descended on the world. It’s the restlessness of their own brain which these people have transferred to the unmoving earth.’ He asks, ‘Are we to base human society on doubt and no longer on faith?’ In terms of conflict, doubt and certainty are opposites and thus are in opposition. People who want to ask questions and explore are the natural opponents of those who want to regard the world in a fixed and certain way. The Inquisitor will not compromise and has the power to force Galileo’s submission. Galileo’s book was written on the condition that he leaves the last word to faith and although he has done this, the structure of his book (built around conflict and opposition) shows a stupid man arguing the established view and a clever man presenting the arguments for the Copernican view. The Pope (Barberini) reluctantly concedes the need for Galileo to withdraw his theorem and gives the Inquisitor permission to show him the instruments, knowing that the threat of torture will be sufficient.

Consider the methods of the Inquisition. Inflicting torture and forcing people to say what the Church wants is perceived as valid. As a method of resolving conflict, it is brutal, heavy-handed and hard to respect.

Scene 13

It is 1633. Andrea, Fulganzio, the little monk and Federzoni argue about whether Galileo will recant. Andrea is certain that Galileo will die and his work will never be finished because he cannot believe that Galileo will deny the truth. Virginia is praying that he will recant because she wants him to live.

Andrea affirms Galileo’s truth by reciting his scientific findings and the little monk says ‘And no force will help them make what has been seen unseen.’ Think about whether truth is more powerful than the violence and intimidation of its opponents. When Andrea believes that Galileo has not recanted he says, ‘So force won’t do the trick. There are some things it can’t do. So stupidity has been defeated, it’s not invulnerable. So man is not afraid of death.’ The three pupils rejoice when they believe Galileo has not recanted, even though it means he is dead. When the bell rings, Virginia is happy to know that he has recanted and is alive, but also that ‘He is not damned.’ Andrea’s response is ‘Unhappy the land that has no heroes!’

When Galileo returns after his trial of 24 days, he appears so changed as to be ‘almost unrecognisable.’ His response is ‘No. Unhappy the land where heroes are needed.’

We see conflict between Andrea and Galileo because Andrea believes that Galileo should not have betrayed the truth, even if the cost of being true to it was his life. Virginia, on the other hand, simply wants her father to live. We are not shown what Galileo himself is thinking or feeling in this scene, but it is evident that he is afraid to die for his beliefs or wants to live to continue his research. The conflict between Galileo and the Church is contained rather than resolved. The Church uses force to overpower Galileo’s opposing view but cannot prevent that view from existing. Scene 14

For the next nine years, Galileo lives under house arrest with all of his writing monitored and controlled by the church. Virginia is now forty and has missed out on her chance to be married and have children.

From Galileo’s correspondence with the archbishop we see that he deals with conflict now by avoiding it and hiding his true opinions. Note that he makes no comment on the saying ‘When I am weak, then I am strong.’ How might this apply to Galileo’s choice to recant?

Andrea Sarti visits Galileo and remarks that no new theories have been expounded in Italy since Galileo recanted. Fulganzio, the little monk, has given up science and gone back to the bosom of the church. Federzoni is grinding lenses in a shop in Milan and Andrea himself has to go to Holland to be able to conduct research. When Galileo tells Andrea that he has finished the ‘Discorsi’ (‘Discourses Concerning Two New Sciences :Mechanics and Local Motion’) and the church has it locked away, Andrea seethes with frustration, knowing how badly scientists in Amsterdam, London and Prague want it. We get the sense that science has been prevented from moving forward by religion.

Galileo tells Andrea that he has secretly made a copy of the ‘Discorsi’ and hidden it in a globe. He gives it to Andrea to take to Holland. Andrea repents of his former condemnation of Galileo for recanting, believing that it was a clever choice to enable him to finish his work. Galileo tells him it was not planned and that he recanted because he was afraid of physical pain. He chooses not to accept the noble view of himself and his actions that Andrea is offering.

Galileo’s final speech expresses harsh criticism of his own lack of courage and potentially poor judgement. He questions whether he was ever really in danger and whether if he had held firm science might have taken a direction like that of medicine in which it dedicated itself to use its knowledge exclusively for mankind’s benefit.

Scene 15

Andrea crosses the border out of Italy with Galileo’s ‘Discorsi’ hidden among his things. The scene is full of references to superstition and religion. Andrea’s lines reflect the possibilities science offers to bring change, new knowledge, truth and new ways. The idea of doubt (as opposed to certainty) is reinforced when he says ‘There are a lot of things we don’t know yet, Giuseppe. We’re really just at the beginning.’

Throughout the play, many things are presented as being in opposition.

Science and religion

Doubt and certainty The desire to tell the truth and the desire to be safe.

Truth, reason, thinking for oneself and blind faith, superstition and accepted dogma

Heroism and pragmatism

When people encounter conflict, some of the important aspects can include:

Who has the power?

Is there room for compromise?

What do people have to gain or lose by the outcome of the conflict?