Scene 4 Summary

This scene is set in a small garden. Sister Aloysius tends to a rosebush, "protecting it from frost" as Sister James appears. Sister Aloysius asks where the boys are, and Sister James tells her they're in the rectory, listening to Father Flynn give a talk on "how to be a man" (see "Quotes", p. 18). This leads to a conversation about how each woman experiences being a woman and the revelation that before she became a nun Sister Aloysius was married to a man who died in World War II. This in turn leads to a reference to how the priests and nuns in the convent/school/church complex are kept as far apart as possible as much as possible. Sister Aloysius turns the conversation to Sister James' class, asking specifically about Donald Muller and whether anyone has hit him yet. Sister James tells...