History Theatre / Doubt

* [[spoiler:LyingToThePerp: Aloysius lies that she interviewed one of Flynn's former priest coworkers, which causes Flynn to get hot under the collar as he assumes she knows a dirty secret of his.]]

->'''Sister Aloysis:''' "But I have my certainty!"

* GoodIsNotNice: One of the central issues in the play. Aloysius is unfriendly, unforgiving, cold and cynical. She treats her students like inmates, unlike the liberal and friendly Father Flynn. But, as mean as Aloysis is (and as much as we want her to be wrong), she may be right.

* [[spoiler:LyingToThePerp: Aloysies lies that she interviewed one of Flynn's former priest coworkers, which causes Flynn to get hot under the collar as she knows a dirty secret of his.]]

** Sister Aloysius protects a senile and blinding nun from getting kicked out.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The play and film are centered around the infamous Catholic sex abuse cases.

* WideEyedIdealist: Sister James.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: The original Sister Aloysius, Creator/CherryJones, is one of the friendliest human beings on the planet. The same can be said of her successor in the film adaptation, MerylStreep.

A 2004 Pulitzer-Prize winning play by John Patrick Shanley (famous for writing ''Moonstruck''), ''Doubt: A Parable'' also won the Tony award for best play, CherryJones (Sister Aloysius) won for Best Actress, and Adriane Lenox picked up the Best Supporting Actress trophy. A film version was released in 2008, adapted by its playwright and starring Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman, and Creator/AmyAdams.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: The original Sister Aloysius, CherryJones, is one of the friendliest human beings on the planet. The same can be said of her successor in the film adaptation, MerylStreep.

* GoodIsNotNice: One of the central issues in the play. Aloysius is unfriendly, unforgiving, cold and cynical. She treats her students like inmates, unlike the liberal and friendly Father Flynn. But, as mean as Aloysis is (and as much as we want her to be wrong), she may be right.
* DoubleStandard: The play is in part about double standards for priests and nuns. Even the ostensibly liberal Father Flynn assumes that the nuns are there to serve him (sometimes literally, as when he [[spoiler: sits down in Sister Aloysis' chair]]). The film pushes this theme even further: at one point, we see the nuns glumly eating a bland, sparse meal, interspersed with shots of Father Flynn and his bishop having a jolly time over wine and steak.

In 1964, a Roman Catholic school in the Bronx welcomes a new preacher, Father Flynn, into its circle. One woman not embracing Flynn's views is a strict nun, Sister Aloysius. One day, a younger nun, Sister James, tells Aloysius of Flynn's relationship with the school's first black student, Donald Muller. Suspecting that the relationship is far from innocent, Sister Aloysius vows to go against the system itself to expose Father Flynn for what ''she thinks'' he is.

* EndOfAnAge: Shanley pointedly sets the action in 1964, the year before the Second Vatican Council ended.

* KickedUpstairs: [[spoiler:Aloysius gets Flynn to resign, but he is then made the pastor of another church and school, which is more of a promotion.]]
* KnightInSourArmor: This is the most favorable interpretation of Aloysius. Although she is mean and unpleasant to nearly everyone, she is dedicated to the welfare of her students and will not stop at anything to ensure their safety. Of course, whether the threat she's acting on is real is still an open question.

* ShownTheirWork: John Patrick Shanley actually attended and graduated from Catholic schools. It's probably not a coincidence, then, that ''Doubt'' offers up the only remotely realistic portrayal of Catholic schools in fiction.

A 2004 Pulitzer-Prize winning play by John Patrick Shanley (famous for writing ''Moonstruck''), ''Doubt: A Parable'' also won the Tony award for best play, CherryJones (Sister Aloysius) won for Best Actress, and Adriane Lenox picked up the Best Supporting Actress trophy. A film version was released in 2008, adapted by its playwright and starring MerylStreep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and AmyAdams.

* [[spoiler:LyingToThePerp]]

* ShrugOfGod: Shanley has been rather hesitant, if not unwilling, to say [[spoiler:whether Flynn was guilty or innocent]]. The only ones who also know this are the actors who have played him, and they aren't telling either.

* TitleDrop: [[spoiler:"I have doubts! I have such doubts!"]]

* HollywoodNuns: Sister Aloysius (harsh disciplinarian) and Sister James (sweet and innocent). The habits, however, are appropriate for the time (1964).
** Specifically, they are the habits of the Religious Teachers Filippini.

* OneSceneWonder: Mrs. Muller. In one scene she almost completely flips the situation (and therefore, the play) on its head. It earned Adriane Lenox a Tony and Viola Davis an Oscar nomination. In the film version, Viola Davis overshadowed '''''MerylStreep'''''. ''The'' MerylStreep.

A 2004 Pulitzer-Prize winning play by John Patrick Shanley (famous for writing ''Moonstruck''), ''Doubt: A Parable'' also won the Tony award for best play, CherryJones (Sister Aloysius) won for Best Actress, and Adriane Lenox picked up the Best Supporting Actress trophy. A film version was released in 2008, adapted by its playwright and starring MerylStreep. Philip Seymour Hoffman and AmyAdams.

* KnightInSourArmor: This is the most favorable interpretation of Aloysius. Although she is mean and unpleasant to nearly everyone, she is dedicated to the welfare of her students and will not stop to ensure their safety. Of course, whether the threat she's acting on is real is still an open question.

* AmbiguousSituation: The entire story. And, considering the title and central theme, this is very much the point.

A 2004 Pulitzer-Prize winning play by John Patrick Shanley (famous for writing ''Moonstruck''), ''Doubt: A Parable'' also won the Tony award for best play, Cherry Jones (Sister Aloysius) won for Best Actress, and Adriane Lenox picked up the Best Supporting Actress trophy. A film version was released in 2008, adapted by its playwright and starring MerylStreep. Philip Seymour Hoffman and AmyAdams.

* OneSceneWonder: Mrs. Muller. In one scene she almost completely flips the situation (and therefore, the play) on its head. It earned Adriane Lenox a Tony and Viola Davis and Oscar nomination.

* OneSceneWonder:
** Viola Davis, as the boy's mother, appeared for a short time in the film, but that was enough to earn an Oscar nomination.
** And Adriane Lenox picked up a Tony Award for the role on Broadway.

* OmegaCast

* KickedUpstairs: [[spoiler:bAloysius gets Flynn to resign, but he is then made the pastor of another church and school, which is more of a promotion.]]
* KnightInSourArmor: This is the most favorable interpretation of Aloysius. Although she is mean and unpleasant to nearly everyone, she is dedicated to the welfare of her students and will not stop to ensure their safety. Of course, if the threat she's acting on is real is still an open question.

In 1964, a Roman Catholic school in the Bronx welcomes a new preacher, Father Flynn, into its circle. One woman not embracing Flynn's views is a strict nun, Sister Aloysius. One day, a younger nun, Sister James, tells Aloysius of Flynn's relationship with the school's first black student, Donald Muller. Suspecting that the relationship is [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean far from innocent]], Sister Aloysius vows to go against the system itself to expose Father Flynn for what ''she thinks'' he is.

!!!!This work features examples of:

* TheFundamentalist: Sister Aloysius, at least [[spoiler: until the last line or two.]]

* KickedUpstairs: [[spoiler: Aloysius gets Flynn to resign, but he is then made the pastor of another church and school, which is more of a promotion.]]

* OneSceneWonder: Viola Davis, as the boy's mother, appeared for a short time in the film, but that was enough to earn an Oscar nomination.

* TitleDrop: [[spoiler: "I have doubts! I have such doubts!"]]
* VirginityMakesYouStupid: Sister James initially seems to belong to this trope, although the play and film eventually call that judgment into question. (Not incidentally, Sister Aloysius ''isn't'' virginal: she joined the convent after her husband's death).

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<<|TheatricalProductions|>>

A 2004 Pulitzer-Prize winning play by John Patrick Shanley (famous for writing ''Moonstruck''), ''Doubt: A Parable'' also won the Tony award for best play, Cherry Jones (Sister Aloysius) won for Best Actress, and Adriane Lenox picked up the Best Supporting Actress trophy. A film version was released in 2008, adapted by its playwright and starring MerylStreep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

* FridgeHorror: If Father Flynn ''is'' a child molester, while it's certainly good that Sister Aloysius has forced him to resign from the school, she seems oblivious to the fact that he will no doubt repeat his crime at his new assignment, and due to his more powerful position, can now keep it under wraps.
** Actually she ''is'' aware of this, hence why she [[spoiler:has Doubt at the end.]]
** I don't feel this was FridgeHorror -- rather, I think that the mention of [[spoiler:his promotion]] just makes it so obvious that he's won in the end. The horror of the situation is so clear that it doesn't need to be explained aloud: regardless of his guilt or innocence what is horrible is that he's in a position of such power, with such little oversight, and there's no way for her to question his authority or bring a charge against him.

* InnocenceVirginOnStupidity: Sister James initially seems to belong to this trope, although the play and film eventually call that judgment into question. (Not incidentally, Sister Aloysius ''isn't'' virginal: she joined the convent after her husband's death.)

** I don't feel this was FridgeHorror -- rather, I think that the mention of [[spoiler:his promotion]] just makes it so obvious that he's won in the end. The horror of the situation is so obvious that it doesn't need to be explained aloud.