Arsenic and Old Lace

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. He explains to Elaine that he cannot pass on those genes. (Act II)

2. He thinks his aunts have killed another elderly gentleman in the time since he left the house. (Act II)

3. He has killed the same number of people as his aunts and plans to kill a thirteenth victim to have a higher body count than the aunts. (Act II)

4. The Brewster sisters refer to their victims as “our gentlemen,” claiming a type of connection to the people they have buried in their basement. The women are also protective of their basement, not wanting a stranger buried under their roof. (Act II)

Act III

Reading Check

1. Teddy (Act III, Scene I)

2. Call the police (Act III, Scene I)

3. He is not in his signing clothes. (Act III, Scene I)

4. The Melbourne Method (Act III, Scene I)

5. Teddy blows his bugle. (Act III, Scene I)

6. Officers Brophy and Klein (Act III, Scene II)

7. Mr. Witherspoon (Act III, Scene II)

8. He tells him he is going to Africa. (Act III, Scene II)

9. Elderberry wine (Act III, Scene II)

Short Answer

1. Jonathan tells O’Hara that Mortimer is demonstrating something he saw in a play earlier that night. Because O’Hara has an interest in plays, he decides to stay and discuss plays with Mortimer. (Act III, Scene I)

2. He tries to tell the officers his aunts have 13 bodies in the cellar, but they scoff and do not believe him. Klein tells Jonathan he looks like Boris Karloff; this enrages Jonathan, and he attempts to kill the officer but is subdued. (Act III, Scene II)

3. He is a German man posing as a doctor. (Act III, Scene II)

4. He is not a legitimate Brewster, he was adopted. Mortimer is overjoyed that he is not related to the Brewsters and repairs his relationship with Elaine. (Act III, Scene II)