Doubt Question ***Contains Spoilers****

[ArtMan]

Posted: 12/28/08 at 11:08pm

Contains Spoilers!!!! I have a Doubt question for those of you who have either seen the movie or the play. At the end of the movie (or I guess the play also)...when the Meryl Streep character states that she has doubts. I believe her doubts are with her faith and of the church. My friend states that her doubts are with the guilt and/or innocence of the Phillip Seymour Hoffman character. Which is it? Many thanks. Also if you have seen both the play and the movie..how is the movie presented differently from the play?

[AdamBritten]

Posted: 12/28/08 at 11:37pm

I've seen both.

I've always thought that at the end she was doubting the actions of Father Flynn and whether or not she had done the right thing. And the differences I noticed were just obvious things they had to do to adapt it for the screen. In the play, the only characters are the two sisters, the father, and Mrs. Miller - the film added in a lot more characters (more sisters, all the children, and all the other adults they added in)

Another thing that I noticed was in the play I viewed Sister Aloysius as being much more sure of herself, and much angrier. This made it even stronger when she came crashing down at the end as she had doubt. Meryl played it a little softer, in my opinion. Also, the fact that there are kids in the movie had a huge impact on my view of Father Flynn. We actually get to see him interact with children, which sometimes made me suspect him and sometimes made me think he was just a genuinely good man who cared about the kids. Depending on whether or not you think he actually did it, the movie can reinforce your view.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 1:55am

My feeling was that she doubted if she went far enough. This man is really just being moved. I don't think she ever lost faith that he did SOMETHING. Maybe not with Donald, but he did something, somewhere. I think her doubt that crushes her is the doubt and fear that she didn't go far enough and it'll happen again.

[rjjn]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 2:07am

I think the point of the movie and play is that the audience even doubts what she doubts. So many aspects of the plot are undetermined, so I don't think the character was meant to be specific.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 2:09am

I always believed (having seen both the stage and film versions) that Father Flynn's "promotion" instead of a traditional reassignment leads Sister Aloysius to doubt her faith in the institution of the Church, not her confidence in his guilt.

Regardless of whether or not she ends up questioning her certainty, the fact that her superiors ultimately treat the situation with such disregard would still be equally disturbing to her.

Updated On: 12/29/08 at 02:09 AM

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 3:08am

I'm not sure the institution of the Church was aware of anything untoward in Father Flynn's behavior. I have "doubts" in that area.

To me, Sister Al's breakdown was about her doubts whether or not he was guilty and did she do the right thing in accusing him without proof. It showed she had a conscience.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 3:53am

I disagree. I don't think there's a question as to whether Sister Aloysius (sp?) has a conscience or not, at least in both interpretations I have seen (on stage and in the film). DOUBT is not about whether Flynn is guilty or not, that's why the play never bothers to answer the question in itself. Hence, I think it's too simplistic to just reduce the very final line of the play to his guiltiness/innocence. I feel there's much more than that in the Sister's final words. To me she is just doubting herself, her devotion and trust in the Church (as somethingwicked said, Father Flynn just ended up being promoted), and the unorthodox way she had to go about making him quit (considering how proper and traditional she is). I also feel she is questioning whether she did all of this for Donald and the children or to punish Father Flynn for promoting change in the Church.
Right before that line she tells Sister James that she is certain that he did it and that she didn't need to prove it to anyone, so I really don't think the "I have such doubts" line is about him.

[Weez]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 5:57am

I think if you're casting Philip Seymour Hoffman, you've GOT to show him interacting innocently with kids, otherwise no one'll have any doubts at all. ;D

Mind you, just because the play only had four characters doesn't mean we didn't see Father Flynn interacting with children onstage. They were just... invisible and silent. Obv. :P

The thing about this play that makes it so powerful for everyone and so difficult to get right unless you have a super-strong cast and so frustrating for certain others is that it is SO open to audience interpretation. Watch the performances, and draw your own conclusions from what you see. They may be different to everyone else's conclusions, but I firmly believe Shanley purposefully wrote the play so that there are no right or wrong answers, only individual interpretations. If he wanted there to be one definite answer for every question, he'd've written them in. :P

(Unless you're one of the lucky men who get to play Father Flynn, then Shanley will draw you aside and whisper secrets in your ear. How drunk d'you think I'd have to get Hoffman/O'Byrne/Shanley before they'd tell me if Flynn was *actually* guilty or not?)

Updated On: 12/29/08 at 05:57 AM

[Winston3]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 3:41pm

I just went back and re read the final couple of scenes in the play before posting.


I think that she is doubting the whole ordeal and everything that went on. I think that the key thing that is getting her to doubt the whole thing is the fact that he got a promotion. Whereas if he actually did it and got caught then he would have either gotten a demotion or thrown out of the clergy altogether.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 6:54pm

From what I've read and heard even Shanley doesn't have a definitive answer. The only one who can tell you is the actor who is playing Flynn, who definitely does need to make a choice as to what the character's history is. When I worked on the show in Kansas City the actor and the director had a very private meeting where they came to their conclusion, which remains a secret to this day.

It's definitely a very powerful piece when put in the right hands and I'm looking forward to seeing it later tonight.

[MrSweetNAwful]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 7:24pm

I just found out my University is doing this show next fall, I'm quite stoked.
I had the same discussion with my friend after we saw the show. I belive it's an amalgamation of wondering if she handled the matter correctly, worrying about the state of the church and a crisis of faith.
I don't think she was talking about Flynn being truly guilty or not, she said herself she never thought otherwise, that was the one thing she never doubted.

[stridergx35]

Posted: 1/25/09 at 10:44am

I think as far as the film is concerned, the intentions for Sister Aloysius's final words and when she refers to doubt relates to her now failing faith and uncertainty in the institution of the Church and perhaps even furthermore her faith in God. In the conversation between her and Sister James in the final scene where the dialogue is regarding her having "lied" to sort of get the truth out of Father Flynn and her justification and interpretation of that event as stepping away from God or turning her back from God's grace to do so (*in the film, her turning her cross to face down) This sort of encompasses this idea of doing wrong for the greater good, despite the consequences of disobeying one's own God and being condemn to hell or falling away from grace as a price for doing so. You can even go further on and say she's sacrificing everything in the name of her personal morals and virtues. Her breakdown in the final scene shows how she is conflicted with juggling between her faith, in again..., the church and of God, with her conscience. The film is just so well done with these underlying statements regarding faith, conviction, and of course doubt that despite it being centered around this drama between Flynn and the Sisters, it has so much more to do with the characters, these greater themes in faith, and ideology then whether Flynn did or didn't do it.

Apart from Flynn being seen as the villain in this case, in many ways he isn't, and in many ways he is a great messenger of God aside from his wrong doings. His first sermon in the subject of "Doubt" should be watched and listened to again after the final scene in the film. Perhaps the sister is somewhat lost and isolated in her troublesome road as a fellow servant of God, especially during this particular time where so much is happening that really doesn't make all that much sense to her, Father Flynn as one of them. Father Flynn in his sermon about Doubt says many of the things that really foreshadow the the later scenes in the film and clearly the last one where he basically states that at times, the road to God is one that is bumpy and full of obstacles, but with the help of people around us, we get through it and we aren't alone in this pursuit but rather share the same uncertainties and whatnot.

So like... the bad guy is the good guy, but he's really is a bad guy? And the good guy needs to be the bad guy to be the good guy whattt??? J/k HAHA

Updated On: 1/25/09 at 10:44 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/25/09 at 11:27am

I think she says, "doubts" (plural) because she is doubting many things.

Mostly her certainty.

All through the play and movie she is so certain about everything. And suddenly, we see her crack wide open. She admits that she isn't really certain at all.

About faith, God, humanity, righteousness, human nature, goodness, evil, etc.

She has such doubts.