John Patrick Shanley s Doubt A Parable, The Principal...

In John Patrick Shanley’s 2005 play, Doubt: A Parable, the principal of a Catholic school believes one of the teachers is making sexual advances on one of the boys. Shanley argues through this text that sexism in the Catholic Church in the 1960s placed children in danger. He does this by establishing a positive ethos, or ethical appeal, of one of the four characters, Sister Aloysius Beauvier, and then proceeding to limit her ability to protect her students because she is a woman. Shanley begins his establishment of Sister Aloysius as an ethical character in the stage directions introducing her. At the start of Scene II, Shanley writes, â€Å"The principal, Sister Aloysius Beauvier †¦ is in her fifties or sixties†¦ She wears a black bonnet and†¦show more content†¦This implies Aloysius holds a warm spot in her heart for the children, that she cares for them and views them as important. Despite this, she claims the â€Å"wits must be cold.† If the hear t is warm but the brain cold, then the interior thoughts and feelings of a person likely differ from the exterior presentation. In this, the audience may come to a sense that, when saying or acting in harsh ways such as accusing William London of giving himself a bloody nose, Aloysius is acting out of a place of warmth in her heart that wants to better the children and protect them (8). In perhaps the greatest addition to the credibility of Sister Aloysius, Shanley ascribes dialogues to her that states, â€Å"When you take a step to address wrongdoing, you are taking a step away from God† (20). In this, Aloysius appears to accept that chasing after someone who does wrong can be wrong in and of itself. She acknowledges the idea that fixing a problem can occasionally only be accomplished by working outside of the parameters set as morally or ethically good. She understands that by going after Father Flynn, she may sin. However, she proceeds anyways. She continues to attempt to protect the boys of her school and bring Father Flynn to the justice she believes he should be brought to. Through these words, she shows she is more than willing to put herself in harm’s way in order to protect her students. Self-sacrifice is oft times viewed in light of good moral standing. Through having Aloysius beShow MoreRelatedThe Bad Sleep Well By John Patrick Shanley Essay2179 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"The bad sleep well.† This quote is actually the name of a 1960’s Japanese film directed by the world renowned director Akira Kurosawa. There isn’t much to say about the movie, but it has a key role in the 2005 Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama play Doubt: A Parable. Out of all of the places that the author John Patrick Shanley puts this quote is right at the first page before chapter one and after the preface with two other quotes. The location of the quote and what the quotes say give the reader