The Importance Of Ethics In John Patrick Shanley's Play

Ethics are a moral principle that governs a person 's or group 's behavior. Throughout our lives we’ve alway been told how to act and how to respond to people in different settings. But what does it mean to live a virtuous/non-virtuous life? Virtue is the moral excellence of a person and non virtue is the moral excellence that a person lacks. In our literature class we’ve constantly discussed ethics and what it means to us. Not only have we talked about how we can relate to it but we’ve spoken about how it relates to the plays we’ve been reading.In the literature that we have read each of the main characters will have to make the decision of whether or not they would live a virtuous or non virtuous life. Some of the characters choices are …show more content…
As a principle ethical decisions are what is required in the position Sister Aloysius was in. Her role as a principle was very strict and everything needed to go by the book. She wanted to make sure things were runned they way she wanted at St.Nicholas school. However, her virtue can be questioned in her role of this play. Like Mary, Sister Aloysius was also a static character. She kept the same demeanor throughout the play. Although Sister Aloysius was a nun some of her actions begged to differ. Lying is something that is not tolerated in her religious practices and in this play it was something she did more than once. When Father Flynn asked her about Sister Veronica and her eyesight she replied saying “Her eyesight is fine, Nuns fall you know” (Shanley 28). It seems like a little white lie, after all she is just protecting her friend so that she won’t be replaced but her lies happen more than once. The biggest lie that took place from Sister Aloysius was towards the end of the play. She told Father Flynn that she had phoned another nun from his last parish to ask about him and his history. This put Father Flynn in a nervous state which resulted into him leaving St. Nicholas School and now in another school. She tell Sister James what she’s done and she replies by saying “ In the pursuit of wrongdoing, one steps …show more content…
Throughout each play they kept on with a deceitful and untruthful trait. However, these two characters are also quite divergent. Mary is a child who was not only mean but she was a brat if she didn’t get her way. Sister Aloysius is an adult who is in a leadership position where she was very strict. However, Sister Aloysius also chose to lie when she had no real proof of what was happening. Mary was looking to help herself, while Sister Aloysius was looking to make sure her students were in good hands. Although, they were not showing a certain moral standard. There two very different demeanors brings us back to what ethics are. In reality we have to realize ethics is based on our end result of what our morals stand for