The play questions the place of science in the midst of politics and authority, but can it really provide the answers we need even today?.
For most of his life, Brecht was yearningly inspired by politics, incorporating themes of political aggression and harmony into many of his works. He was titled a Communist, but at heart, he was really a Marxist. Having received inspiration from well-known Communist leader Karl Marx, Brecht refused to adopt Nazi beliefs in Germany in the 1930's when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party were in control of the country. As a result, Brecht and his family exiled themselves from the country and took up residence in Denmark, where the first version of the Life of Galileo, then called The Earth Moves, was written, not because Brecht had interest in the man or his research, but because the conflicts Galileo encountered in his lifetime could create a parallel to Brecht's modern world, which was highly influenced and controlled by the Nazis in the late 1930's. .
In this premiere version of the play, Brecht's Marxist views allow him to outline themes of control, the good for all humanity, freedom of experimentation, and unity in regards to science, through the protagonist, Galileo. He portrays the character as a cunning and strong hero that courageously fights for the scientific freedom of discovery in times of social upheaval. Brecht's Galileo is molded around Marxism, which focuses on having a unitary system of values that could provide all the answers to the problems mankind had not yet solved. In this play, Galileo, whom Brecht illustrates to be a Marxist, spends his entire life struggling to teach the truth to all of mankind about the universe and science, but in order to do so he must oppose the Church officials who "constrain science by the authority of the Scriptures, and yet do not consider themselves bound to answer reason and experiment" (qtd.
