• Play Title: Doubt: A Parable 
• Author: John Patrick Shanley 
• Published:  2005 
• Page count: 54 

Summary 

It is 1964 in a Catholic primary school in the Bronx, New York. Father Flynn, a recent appointment to the parish, is compassionate with the children and an eloquent preacher on Sundays. He is responsible for physical education and religion classes at St. Nicholas’. Sister Aloysius, the principal, keeps a keen eye on all goings-on in her realm of responsibility. A young teacher named Sister James alerts the older nun to an issue with a Black boy named Donald Muller, and an informal investigation begins soon afterwards.

The chief topic of the play is whether the new priest has molested a boy. Shanley explores this topic with due regard for the historical era; the hierarchical nature of the church; the presumed sexual orientation of the boy; the racial implications; and the immense difficulty of proving guilt in such cases. The theme of doubt emerges from the opening lines, and this doubt is never fully dispelled. Shanley’s play excavates a zone of discomfort, namely when one feels the need to decide on something despite the absence of proof, which makes any decision or accompanying action a leap of faith.

Ways to access the text: reading 

Both Scribd and the Internet Archive have free copies of this play. A simple online search will return multiple other options for online reading.

The play was also adapted for the screen in 2008 with Shanley as writer and director. Doubt, the movie, stars Meryl Streep and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Why read Doubt? 

Doubt is a play that I have resisted reading for some considerable time. A story set in the 1960s about clerical child abuse is not a particularly appealing topic. Also, the barrage of media stories about various church scandals, primarily sexual in nature, has saturated people’s minds for over 30 years already. However, Shanley labels his play a parable, and this frees the work from the stifling confines of the topic it directly addresses and allows one to interpret the situation as demonstrative of a broader problem of getting to the truth of matters. Additionally, the playwright incorporates interesting contemplations regarding budding sexuality, parental culpability, vulnerable individuals, and the questionable, pig-headed arrogance often required for absolute certainty!

Post-reading discussion/interpretation 

_{A Parable for Modern Times}

Doubt by John Patrick Shanley was first performed in November 2004. By the early 2000s, the Catholic Church had already become immersed in various clerical child abuse scandals on a global scale. In Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law “admitted receiving a letter in 1984 outlining allegations of child molestation against [John] Geoghan” (Park). Geoghan was a former priest who had sexually abused approximately 130 individuals, mostly schoolboys, between the years of 1962 and 1995 (Park). Cardinal Law resigned in 2002 and Geoghan was imprisoned in the same year. In Ireland, the first major scandal broke in 1994 when Fr Brendan Smyth was imprisoned for child sexual abuse. Like Geoghan, Fr Smyth was continually moved to new parishes despite a history of sexual abuse allegations. Fr Seán Brady, who later became a Cardinal, knew about these allegations since 1975 (Irish Times). The Irish cardinal refused to resign, even in light of the scandal. Shanley, of Irish descent himself, wrote a play that locked into a discussion about a very topical issue in the early years of the new millennium. Not only were some priests being uncloaked as incorrigible abusers, but high-ranking church officials were being exposed as facilitating cover-ups that lasted decades. By setting his play in 1964, Shanley looks at the beginnings of such widespread abuse, the new societal conditions that somehow facilitated it, and the people who saw and valiantly tried to stop it.

A key inspiration for the writing of Doubt came from Shanley’s adolescence. Talking with fellow playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis, Shanley revealed that his own education brought him into contact with a male teacher whom he later realised was an abuser (YouTube). Shanley had gone to a private school in New Hampshire aged 15 after being expelled from various previous schools. He was taken under the wing of the head of the English department and was “protected” by this individual. Without such guidance and protection, Shanley believes he would undoubtedly have been expelled yet again. Although the teacher never made sexual advances, Shanley later found out that the man was indeed a “predator.” The revelations came from fellow male students during a school reunion many years later. The moral dilemma for the now middle-aged playwright was that even after discovering the damage the man had brought upon others; he remained grateful for his help. Shanley came to realise that this ambivalence could not be reconciled, it simply was. Doubt reflects this state of having incompatible emotional responses that are eternally coupled.

Shanley frames doubt in an unexpected way. Rather than a negative, he presents it as an opportunity for personal growth. Ringing in one’s ears right now could be accusatory lines such as – “You don’t know what you want to do after school? You don’t know if you’re in love? You ‘re quitting your job, but you don’t know what comes next? It is an interesting thought experiment because even the memory of such common situations makes one consider the vital importance of gut feelings. In life, we make many decisions on what instinctively feels right, though it may infuriate everyone around us. Shanley encapsulates his own theory as follows.

“Life happens when the tectonic power of your speechless soul breaks through the dead habits of the mind. Doubt is nothing less than an opportunity to reenter the Present.” (Shanley 6) 

Still, it is a difficult theory to promote. Few of us relish being unsure, especially if it lasts for a prolonged period and involves big life decisions. At first glance, it appears to be a plea for personal flexibility and openness. People should be willing to invest themselves intellectually in the ever-changing world they inhabit, just as Doubt outlines the tectonic shifts of people’s lives in the 1960s. On the other hand, Sister Aloysius, the play’s heroine, can be interpreted in completely contrasting fashions. Either she is steadfastly relying on her long-established and frequently tested experience of human nature, so she knows with utter conviction that Fr. Flynn is a paederast, or she simply acts like she knows but beneath her calm exterior are countless, gnawing doubts. Cleverly, Shanley will not resolve this bind because even though the nun confesses to doubts, they could be about God, hubris, or anything – except Fr. Flynn. What one does know is that the playwright dedicates this work to Catholic nuns, so his heroine must at least be on the right track. In an interview with Rob Weinert-Kendt, Shanley outlines the essential approach to doubt.

“If you’re going to be an effective human being in a social situation, you are going to have to proceed as if you do know when you don’t and hope for the best that your instincts are correct.”

Sr. Aloysius is an embodiment of this strategy. She slowly accrues bad impressions of Fr. Flynn that make her increasingly suspicious of his motivations. The priest spends time alone with Donald Muller (25), becomes his special protector (23), possibly gives him wine (25), and promotes him to the altar boys. Then there’s the cleric’s character. Another boy, William London, instinctively recoils from the priest’s touch (47): a priest with long, pristinely kept fingernails, which may be seen as a stereotypical sign of effeminacy or homosexuality. Fr Flynn understands and maybe exploits the vulnerability of a boy like Donald who is regularly beaten by his father, shunned by his classmates, and who clearly needs an ally. Without the protection of hard evidence, Sr. Aloysius needs courage to overcome her doubts and confront Flynn, repeatedly, until she succeeds in removing him from the school. It is about having faith in doing the right thing in the face of possibly making a horrible mistake that will cost one dearly. The nun appears to have had the correct instincts, and she consoles herself by saying – “His resignation was his confession” (51). However, doubt remains.

Doubt is part of everyday life, and one place it is regularly encountered is in the legal system. In the 2005 preface to the play, Shanley explains that society has adopted a “courtroom culture” that has superseded the previous “celebrity culture” (5). He writes, “We are living in a culture of extreme advocacy, of confrontation, of judgment, and of verdict” (5). He argues that the explanation for this change in society is our communal discomfort with not knowing – with doubt. Within the legal system, a person is presumed to be innocent in a criminal trial until the prosecution presents evidence to the contrary that shows proof of guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.” In other words, some niggling element of doubt is always going to be present, but the final decision is still clear and decisive. This is what appeals to a confused, busy, society that is relentlessly bombarded with conflicting information and, dare one say it, ‘fake news.’ People look for clear, concise, answers to everyday problems because such answers give instant reassurance. If you are depressed, then take a pill. If you have lost your way in life then find God, or yoga, or the miracle of the microbiome, or a guru – whatever works! Our communal discomfort with doubt is comprised of myriad problems that call out for easy answers. Shanley locates society’s sore spot, it is just that he uses a different historical era to expose it.

The play addresses significant doubts apart from the question of child sexual abuse. The first of these is a faltering belief in God during troubled times, as exemplified by Fr. Flynn’s sermon about the shipwrecked sailor. Karl Marx once described religion as “the opium of the people” (The Guardian) because it sanctifies human suffering. Without such a soothing placebo, people would likely rebel against injustices. In other words, unfairness would not be tolerated. The second area of doubt highlighted by the play refers to victims of abuse and whether they may be implicated in the wrongdoing, namely that they allowed or even invited it. This second example is quite an incendiary topic. On closer inspection, the issues of personal faith and culpability point to one’s identity. Shanley uses specific examples of misconduct to show how 1960s society operated. Personal issues serve to expose societal problems.

The message of Fr Flynn’s sermon is that doubt is a very personal burden. Yes, one may understand that others suffer similarly, but that does not alter one’s lonely journey. In the 1960s, Fr. Flynn’s insular worldview was solidly supported by an exclusively male, hierarchical church. These men were celibate and any transgressions they made were confessed to fellow priests, in secret. The Seal of the Confessional meant that any information divulged would never be made public. Thus, a priest educated in Catholic theology, housed in clerical accommodation, preaching in a church, and teaching in a Catholic-run school would operate in an echo chamber – to use a derogatory descriptor. Fr Flynn’s private views are in fact contrary to the ideas of a modernising, open society that he publicly espouses because he does not believe in equality, openness, or accountability. His sermon about the gossiping woman who must shred a pillow on a rooftop is a message Fr Flynn fails to understand himself. Gossip is speculative, often unkind, but not always untrue. He holds a deeply solipsistic view that only he can know the truth. Rumours, which are indicative of unavoidable public discussions, are seen as sinful i.e. punishable. Revelations are seen as threats. Therefore, guilt is internalised and processed in great pain and uncertainty, but also at a great cost to others: the victims. Revelations about the church show this to be a fact rather than a theory.

Sr Aloysius suspects that Fr. Flynn’s sermon on doubt is not simply an eloquent parable to share with his flock. Neither is it likely to be an expression of his ‘dark night of the soul’ – a common dilemma for those in religious orders who begin to doubt God’s existence. No, she sees it as a clue to something else amiss in the priest’s life (19). The nun later suspects that the priest is a paederast, but why does she tell Sr James to “be alert” (20) ever before the incident with Donald Muller is known? The answer is based on a split-second reaction by a rowdy boy named William London who flinches from the touch of Fr Flynn’s hand. Although never said plainly in the text, Sr Aloysius suspects that the new priest is a homosexual. Her initial doubt, though ever so slight, is based on a reading of this man’s character. It is old-fashioned homophobia in an institution where same-sex relations were, and still are, viewed as sinful. Homosexuals had long been seen as a threat to young boys. As recently as 2016, “The Vatican … declared that “persons with homosexual tendencies” cannot be admitted to Catholic seminaries” (O’Loughlin). Ironically, the priesthood was traditionally one of the few life paths that silenced speculation about a man’s sexuality and thus it attracted an unusual proportion of gay men. Sr Aloysius may harbour various doubts, but in her eyes, the priest is fundamentally flawed due to his sexuality and therefore worthy of suspicion from the outset. In this way, accumulating doubts are first founded on a core prejudice.

Donald Muller is also a character who engenders doubt. Rather than a simple depiction of victimhood, Shanley complicates Donald’s story with domestic abuse, racial difference, effeminacy, and a mother who is willing to compromise far too much. As Gary Alan Fine writes, “We may feel that there is just too much plot” (71). Mrs Muller is willing to ignore Sr Aloysius’s grave suspicions of an inappropriate relationship because there is no definitive proof. It is an excuse. Mrs Muller sees the priest’s bond with her son as helpful – “The man gives him [Donald] his time, which is what the boy needs” (41). The mother refers to “the boy’s nature,” indicating that Donald is homosexual. The clean-cut scenario of a paederast priest making sexual advances on pubescent boys is complicated if “maybe some of them boys want to get caught” (44). What if sexual advances are not rejected, but are instead welcomed or invited by a confused teen who has become enamoured? The narrative commonly used by paederasts, namely that the sexual relations were consensual, is now being presented by the mother of a suspected victim. Shanley’s plot is indeed too convoluted here, but his point is clear – some situations allow for no easy answers. Sr Aloysius will likely expel the boy if she cannot remove the priest from the parish, which would put the boy in far greater physical danger from his own father (45). Labelling the priest as deviant or queer is helpful to succeed in removing him from ministry, but labelling the boy simply muddies the temporarily crystal-clear conscience of the nun. Wilful ignorance and doubt align strangely when an argument becomes too intricate.

By calling his play a parable, Shanley opens the work up to diverse approaches. According to Marjorie Garber, “The playwright added the phrase “a parable” at the last minute to indicate that the topic was not so much the specific question of accusations of sexual abuse among the Catholic clergy as it was the general question of certainty versus salutary doubt” (626). M. H. Abrams defines a parable as follows.

“A parable is a very short narrative about human beings presented so as to stress the tacit analogy, or parallel, with a general thesis or lesson that the narrator is trying to bring home to his audience. The parable was one of Jesus’ favorite devices as a teacher; examples are His parables of the good Samaritan and of the prodigal son.” (Abrams 7)

Is the parable of Doubt relevant in our current era? It is not a giant step for a reader to contemplate whose identity is in question in today’s society. Shanley’s classification of his play invites such ponderings. One minority that immediately springs to mind is transgender people. It is an identity that literally dismantles the binary of male and female as traditionally understood. These people believe that their gender and [assigned] biological sex are misaligned. A boy may believe that he is a girl, and a girl may believe that she is really a boy. Additionally, for genderfluid persons, the idea of gender being eternally welded to biological sex is also a falsehood and they express gender not as a solid given state, but as something malleable: alternating based on internal feelings. This is the supreme expression of doubt, but also an example of how it may be embraced, just as Shanley promotes. Australian writer Yves Rees explains that the path to recognising one’s trans identity is often confusingly complex.

“… doubt, ambiguity and belatedness are not antithetical to “authentic” trans experience; rather, they are common and often necessary elements of coming into yourself in a world that hates trans people” (The Guardian) 

Just like Fr. Flynn’s idea of faith necessarily being blind, where one needs to hold to a set course regardless, feelings about gender are also a belief. One could even call it a faith. Superficial expressions of gender like clothing, makeup, or posture merely comply with the person’s inner feelings. What one sees on the outside is merely a secondary expression, so to speak. Like Sr Aloysius, society is inordinately discomfited by a new, unclassifiable identity and seeks to unmask it as something familiar in more traditional language. In this light, one may view the nun as not simply plain talking, but also bigoted and discriminatory. This interpretation goes against the authorial intent, but doubt can infect all areas of a discussion.

The transgender issue also involves children. Like Donald Muller who is a vulnerable youth, the younger generation of today are seen as vulnerable to advocates of ‘gender ideology.’ The narrative around confused young people is that they can so easily be led astray. The chief claim is that it constitutes abuse to encourage or affirm children’s non-traditional identities regarding gender expression. Of course, the true fear is that once a young person adopts a gender expression that contrasts with their biological sex then there is no undoing that new identity. The lived-in identity becomes the stable, lifelong norm. Like homosexuality in a bygone era, gender issues are being branded a ‘lifestyle choice’ instead of something inherent. Apparently, the onus on more right-thinking, conservative adults is to save these children from themselves. The argument is that adult ‘propagandists’ do not yet realise the damage they are doing by supporting medications and surgeries that facilitate transitioning teens. It is not clear if children are the true priority, or simply a bulwark used by conservatives to block societal changes.

Taking Shanley’s play as a parable on today’s transgender issue is apt. It is an area where, due to a lack of conclusive long-term studies and the ferocious debate, it is impossible to know who is right or wrong. The recent and headline-catching Cass Review in the United Kingdom found “that gender medicine is “built on shaky foundations” (Gregory and Davis). While many young people successfully transition both socially and then later through medical interventions, many others regret their transitions and fail to find the personal resolution and happiness they sought. At the core of this issue is the problem of affirming someone’s identity, especially when doing so suggests that a non-conforming identity is acceptable. Isn’t this what Sr Aloysius is doing when she disapproves of Fr Flynn taking an interest in a queer (non-conforming) boy? Does she fear that the boy will be inducted into a lifestyle choice that he will be unable to undo later? Does not the whole argument return us to the idea of the knowability of someone’s inner, core identity? If Fr Flynn was merely sympathetic and supportive of a queer youth, then Sr Aloysius is a homophobe instead of a child protector. If he made sexual advances on the boy then he is a predator, even if the boy was not averse to such attention (it makes no difference). However, the core problem is that Donald will turn out to discover that he is gay in any case. The problem with trans issues is that we do not yet fully accept the concrete nature of gender identity when it contrasts with one’s biological sex. It is an issue that epitomises the doubts of modern society.

Although the subject matter of Doubt largely belongs to a bygone era, the playwright’s use of the parable label transforms the work into something timeless. Shanley deals with issues like identity politics, sexuality, faith, parental responsibility, and the art of adjudication. Not knowing if one is right, or who to turn to, or how to go forward – these are themes that imbue all our lives.

Works Cited 

Dramatists Guild Foundation. “John Patrick Shanley & Stephen Adly Guirgis.” YouTube, uploaded by DGf, 6 Dec 2016, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJOBPxAAfYA

Fine, Gary Alan. “Doubtful.” Contexts, vol. 5, no. 2, 2006, pp. 70–71. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41800966.  

“Fr Brendan Smyth: a timeline.” The Irish Times, 22 June 2015, Fr Brendan Smyth: a timeline – The Irish Times 

Garber, Marjorie. “Loaded Words.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 32, no. 4, 2006, pp. 618–28. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.1086/508084.  

Gregory, Andrew, Nicola Davis and Ian Sample. “Gender medicine ‘built on shaky foundations,’ Cass review finds.” The Guardian, 10 Apr 2024, http://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/10/gender-medicine-built-on-shaky-foundations-cass-review-finds 

“Is religion the opium of the people?” The Guardian, 29 Jun 2009, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2009/jun/26/religion-philosophy 

O’Loughlin, Michael J. “Vatican reaffirms ban on gay priests.” America Magazine, 7 Dec 2016, http://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2016/12/07/vatican-reaffirms-ban-gay-priests 

Park, Madison. “Timeline: A look at the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandals.” CNN World, 29 June 2017, Timeline: Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandals | CNN 

Rees, Yves. “My experience as a trans person doesn’t fit the script, but why should it? The Guardian, 31 Aug 2021, http://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/aug/31/my-experience-as-a-trans-person-doesnt-fit-the-script-but-why-should-it 

Shanley, John Patrick. Doubt: A Parable, Dramatists Play Service Inc, 2005.  

Weinert-Kendt, Rob. “John Patrick Shanley on ‘Doubt,’ sex abuse and his Catholic upbringing.” America Magazine, 23 February 2024, http://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2024/02/23/interview-john-patrick-shanley-doubt-247358