Arsenic and Old Lace

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

1. What does Arsenic and Old Lace imply about murderous tendencies?

A) It is inherited.

B) It is unavoidable.

C)  It is normalized.

D) It is a learned behavior.

2. What does the Brewster family have a history of?

A) Goodness

B) Wealth

C) Criminal behavior

D) Psychiatric conditions

3. What plot scenario serves as comedic relief in the satirical play?

A) The sweet elderly sisters who murder frequently

B) Jonathan’s manipulation of his aunts

C) Mortimer’s forgetfulness in losing his manuscript

D) Teddy’s role in digging the Panama Canal

4. What is the purpose of Kesselring’s dark comedy in Arsenic and Old Lace?

A) To make light of serious issues

B) To instruct the audience on taboo subjects

C) To aid in acceptance of difficult subject matter

D) To serve as a coping mechanism in similar circumstances

5. Which of the following best describes Jonathan’s character?

A) Cunning

B) Flippant

C) Determined

D) Terrifying

6. What is unusual about the way the Brewsters discuss their victims?

A) They show no remorse and bury them without care.

B) They discuss the bodies as though no one is surprised by the victims.

C) They are polite and humanize them by calling them by their appropriate titles.

D) They refuse to bury the bodies in the same grave out of respect for the victims.

7. What is the mood of the scene when Mortimer calls his aunt’s behavior a “very bad habit?”

A) Dramatic

B) Comedic

C) Carefree

D) Tense

8. Why does Mortimer fear for his future relationship with Elaine?

A) He does not want Elaine to fall victim to his aunts.

B) He thinks Jonathan is a threat to Elaine.

C) He is afraid of the genetic faults he could pass on to his offspring.

D) He realizes he is not fully committed to the relationship with Elaine.

9. Which of the following serves as dramatic irony in Arsenic and Old Lace?

A) Jonathan describes the Brewster sisters as helpless old women.

B) Mortimer is ashamed of the family he is part of.

C) Elaine thinks Mortimer is having an affair.

D) Teddy is viewed as dangerous but is more innocent than his relatives.

10. Based on the play, what can the reader infer happens to the Superintendent of Happy Dale after the curtains close?

A) Mortimer intervenes before the Superintendent is harmed.

B) He becomes the 13th victim of the Brewsters.

C) He takes the sisters away to Happy Dale with Teddy.

D) The sisters decide to stay in their own home.

11. What role does repetition play in Arsenic and Old Lace?

A) It contributes to the somber mood.

B) It deflects from the plot to create interest.

C) It reestablishes the purpose of the play.

D)  It creates an expected pattern for the audience to follow.

12. How are the officers in the play often depicted?

A) Carefree

B) Irrational

C) Incompetent

D) Antagonistic

13. What is a motivating factor for Mortimer throughout the play?

A) His relationship with Elaine

B) His career as a dramatic critic

C) His relationship with his aunts

D) His identity in relation to the Brewsters

14. Why does the audience perceive Jonathan as eviler than the Brewster sisters?

A) He has evil intentions throughout the play.

B) His motives for killing are more trivial.

C) He has a criminal history.

D) He does not try to justify his actions as kindness.

15. Why is Dr. Einstein a humorous contradiction in the play?

A) He is not as well-known as his name suggests.

B) He operated on Jonathan and made him look like Boris Karloff.

C) He has does not want to kill people like Jonathan.

D) His personality is nothing like the man he is named for.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Why is Mortimer so intent on protecting his aunts despite his fear of the Brewster legacy?

2. What does Jonathan’s reaction to the 12 bodies buried in the cellar indicate about his character?