John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt tackles the problem of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. While the issue
largely came to the public’s consciousness in the early 21stcentury, instances of molestation had gone on for
decades and, more than likely, for centuries. In 2002, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice released a
report studying the Catholic abuse scandal from 1950 to 2002. The report recorded slightly more than eleven
thousand allegations made against 4,392 priests in the United States over this time. While the number of
abusers was approximately 4% of US priests over this time, their presence was found in 95% of Catholic
dioceses. The study went on to state that 81% of victims were male, 51% of victims were aged eleven to
fourteen, and 22% were aged ten or younger. The Roman Catholic Church spent $615 million dollars in 2007
alone for restitution to sex abuse victims. Some cities that were especially hard hit included Boston with 552
victims who filed charges and Los Angeles with 508. On February 27, 2007, the Diocese of San Diego paid out
$198.1 million dollars to 144 victims and had to file Chapter 11 protection for the diocese to avoid bankruptcy
from the decision.For your second paper, you can answer one, two, or all three of the following questions: 1)
Whose side of the debate do you end up being on at the end of the play, Sister Aloysius’s or Father Flynn’s?
Who offers the more convincing “case”? Explain your rationale for defending whichever character you chose.2)
The play’s title makes readers contemplate the binary of doubt and faith, certainty and uncertainty. How do
these terms become thematically important to the drama and to life in general? How does the work’s setting (a
Catholic church) enhance the contemplation of this binary?3) Argue your interpretation of the purposes of
Sister James and Mrs. Muller in the play. What do their presences in the text add to the drama? Do these
characters’ words and actions make readers more likely to support Flynn’s side or Aloysius’s? How do they
enhance the play’s theme?
Sample Solution