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.
Introduction
Arsenic and Old Lace
- Genre: Drama; farcical dark comedy
- Originally Published: 1941
- Reading Level/Interest: Adult/College
- Structure/Length: 3 acts; approx. 96; approx. 2 hours, 44 minutes on audio
- Protagonist and Central Conflict: When the murderous misdeeds of two spinster sisters, Abby and Martha Brewster, are discovered by their nephew Mortimer, laughable misunderstandings and chaos ensue.
- Potential Sensitivity Issues: Outdated and insensitive portrayals of mental health conditions
Joseph Kesselring, Author
- Bio: 1902-1967; American playwright; taught voice and directed productions at Bethel College in Kansas before working in amateur theater in Niagara, New York and beginning a freelance career in playwriting; honored by the National Arts Club with the establishment of an award in his name (the Joseph Kesselring Prize; 1980) to support rising playwrights
- Other Works: There's Wisdom in Women (1935); “Cross-Town” (1937); Four Twelves are 48 (1951)
CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:
- Family Loyalty Versus Independence
- The Absurd Comedy of Contradictions
- The Endurance and Risks of Love
STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:
- Develop an understanding of the cultural and historical contexts that incite Mortimer’s conflict.
- Analyze paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Family Loyalty Versus Independence and The Absurd Comedy of Contradictions.
- Plan and construct a script that conveys dark comedy based on text details.
