Character Relationship Map: Bedtime for Bonzo

Characters

• Professor Peter Boyd (played by Ronald Reagan) — protagonist

  A psychology professor who believes upbringing, rather than heredity, determines character. He raises a chimpanzee in a simulated human family to prove his point, while facing opposition to his relati...

• Jane (played by Diana Lynn) — supporting

  A young woman hired as a nanny who helps Peter raise the chimpanzee as a child. She develops romantic feelings for Peter, assists in resolving the necklace incident, and becomes engaged to him.

• Professor Hans Neumann (played by Walter Slezak) — supporting

  Peter's colleague, from whom Peter acquires the chimpanzee. He later discusses the impending end of Peter's experiment with him.

• Valerie Tillinghast (played by Lucille Barkley) — supporting

  Peter's fiancée at the beginning of the story. She misinterprets a situation involving Peter and Jane, angrily returns Peter's ring, and is affected by the conflict surrounding their relationship.

• Dean Tillinghast (played by Herbert Heyes) — supporting

  Valerie's father and a prominent college dean who opposes her marriage to Peter because Peter's father was a former criminal. He believes heredity strongly influences character, but ultimately gives h...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Professor Peter Boyd → Professor Hans Neumann (Professional Colleagues) — Neumann supplies Peter with the chimpanzee and later discusses the experiment's approaching conclusion with him.

  Peter acquires the chimpanzee from colleague Hans Neumann, and the two later discuss the experiment's imminent end.

• Dean Tillinghast → Valerie Tillinghast (Family Father) — As Valerie's father, the Dean initially forbids her marriage to Peter and later gives his blessing to Peter and Jane's marriage.

  The plot identifies Valerie as Dean Tillinghast's daughter.

• Professor Peter Boyd → Valerie Tillinghast (Romantic Broken Engagement) — Their engagement ends amid Valerie's misunderstanding and her father's opposition to the marriage.

  Valerie is engaged to Peter at the beginning, but after misreading the scene with Jane she angrily returns his ring.

• Professor Peter Boyd → Jane (Romantic Partners) — Jane becomes Peter's partner in the experiment and, after helping resolve the necklace incident, is set to marry him.

  Jane develops romantic feelings for Peter, helps him raise Bonzo, and the ending describes their impending marriage.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Dean Tillinghast → Professor Peter Boyd (Conflict Opposing Prospective Father-in-Law) — The Dean's opposition makes Peter's background and the heredity-versus-upbringing debate a personal obstacle; he ultimately approves Peter's marriage to Jane.

  The Dean forbids Peter's marriage to Valerie because Peter's father was a former criminal, citing his belief in heredity.

Story Analysis

Peter uses a chimpanzee-raising experiment to challenge the Dean's belief in heredity, while his relationships with Valerie and Jane change.

Plot Progression

1. The Heredity Challenge — The Dean opposes Peter's marriage to Valerie because of Peter's family background. Peter responds to the heredity dispute by proposing to raise a chimpanzee in a law-abiding household.
2. A Household Experiment — Peter obtains Bonzo from Neumann and hires Jane as a nanny. Together, Peter and Jane create a simulated family and teach Bonzo good habits.
3. A Fractured Engagement — Bonzo's escape and Jane's predicament lead Valerie to misread what she sees and return Peter's ring. The Dean then warns that Bonzo is to be sold for medical research, while Jane overhears that the ex...
4. The Necklace Test — After Jane lets Bonzo escape, Peter follows him to a jewelry store and is arrested while trying to return a necklace. Jane's instruction leads Bonzo to return it, and the experiment is judged successf...