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.