71 pages • 2 hours read
Joseph KesselringArsenic and Old Lace
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1941A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Answer Key
Act I
Reading Check
1. President Theodore Roosevelt (Act I)
2. To a play (Act I)
3. His manuscript (Act I)
4. Teddy (Act I)
5. With arsenic-laced elderberry wine (Act I)
6. Jonathan and Dr. Einstein (Act I)
Short Answer
1. He describes them as generous and kind. (Act 1)
2. He is digging to bury the bodies of the men who have been killed by the sisters. (Act I)
3. The Brewster sisters kill lonely old men to show, in their minds, mercy for their victims and their lonely situation. Their behavior is contradictory to their personalities, as the sisters feel they are being generous and kind by committing the murders. (Act I)
Act II
Reading Check
1. In Chicago (Act II)
2. Cellar/Panama Canal (Act II)
3. Yellow fever (Act II)
4. Jonathan (Act II)
5. Mr. Hoskin’s body (Act II)
6. Officer O’Hara (Act II)
Short Answer
1. Mortimer realizes that the Brewsters have a long history of violence, starting with those that crossed over on the Mayflower.
