Who Is Sister Aloysius's Doubt

John Patrick Shanley’s “Doubt” tells the story of Sister Aloysius, a nun who is the principal of the St. Nicholas school. Throughout the play, Sister Aloysius starts to be concerned with the possible inappropriate relationship between Father Flynn and Donald Miller. While other nuns aren’t skeptical about the relationship, Sister Aloysius keeps believing her suspicion is true based on her certainty. However, having said suspicion is not enough for her to be happy, as she comes up with more beliefs against Father Flynn, but she begins to change. Even worse, Sister Aloysius’ desire to “prove” that Father Flynn has done wrong eventually impacts everyone around her. Ultimately, Shanley uses Sister Aloysius’ drive to prove Father Flynn to suggest

In the beginning, Sister Aloysius was at first a controlling person as she demanded “That barrette out of your hair, Miss Horan.”(14) This shows that Sister Aloysius liked to have power and control over the students in the school, as well as having things be her way. Sister Aloysius is consistent with her certainty, concluding “But I have my certainty, and armed with that, I will go to your last parish, I’ll find a parent Trust me, Father Flynn, I will.”(85) This illustrates that Sister Aloysius was courageous about Father Flynn so much so that she started to cause destruction within herself. Sister Aloysius ends up crying to Sister James when they had a conversation at the end of the play, stating “‘Oh, Sister James!’... ‘I have doubts! I have such doubts!’ Sister Aloysius is bent with emotion” (93). This proves that Sisyer Aloysus is no longer certain about Father Flynn, instead, she has doubts about her beliefs. Sister Aloysius comes to realize throughout the story that her actions were wrong and harmful and her personality and ways start to

During her confrontation, Sister Aloysius stepped away from God to try to prove Father Flynn had done wrong, noting “In the pursuit of wrongdoing, one steps away from God. Of course there is a price.” (93) This demonstrates that Sister Aloysius will have consequences for being dishonest just to try to prove someone guilty. At the end of the play, Sister Aloysius cries to Sister James while talking about Father Flynn, stating “‘Oh, Sister James!’... ‘I have doubts! I have such doubts!’ Sister Aloysius is bent with emotion. Ister James puts out a hand of comfort. She kneels before Sister Aloysius” (93) This further explains how Sister Aloysius realizes that her being confident with her certainty might not have been worth it in the end. Sister Aloysius finally comes to terms with the fact that being over-certain about something can cause some outrageous effects on people. Her conversation with Sister James at the end of the play symbolizes Sister Aloysius's understanding of her