Curley’s Wife Flashcards
“I could get you hung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny”
This line highlights how Curley’s Wife sees even greater weaknesses in others such as Crooks, for instance, in order to feel the tiniest bit of power which relates to the patriarchal society in 1930s America and how women were dehumanised and were seen as objects that their husbands could use. Steinbeck highlights how power grows from weakness which is the society in which humans had created.
Curley’s Wife’s threat relates to lynchage which was a common practice in the 1930s as well as reminds us of the fact that the Ku Klux Klan still had a lot of power over African Americans as well.
“I tell you I ain’t used to living like this”
“I could’ve made somethin’ outta myself”
“maybe I will yet”
This line could heighten how perhaps before marrying Curley, she had more freedom and now she’s tired of a life being trapped by her controlling husband. The shift from “could’ve” to “will yet” depicts that there is still hope for her future and dreams of escaping her confinement; to become an actress.
“Think I don’t like to talk to somebody every once in a while?”
Curley’s Wife epitomises her loneliness on the ranch; despite the bold and flirtatious traits she has as a character, she’s simply lonely on the inside and craves human connection. The rhetorical question could signal her frustration as if the others think they’re the only lonely ones
“I never get to talk to nobody”
“I get awful lonely”
Curley’s Wife reveals how she really feels; lonely. The men at least have each other whereas she has nobody. The reveal of this makes Curley’s Wife utterly human instead of the two dimensional female character she is presented as considering other men on the ranch may relate to this such as Crooks and Candy which is also linking to discrimination due to her being a female, Crooks being African American and Candy being elderly.
‘She stood still in the doorway’
The reader notices how she never actually goes inside of the room which connotes how a man’s and woman’s world was seen as separate and was not welcomed by the men. This connotes women’s position and the gender inequality that existed in the 1930s in America.
‘her body was thrown forward’
Candy says “she’s got the eye”
Her first appearance in the novella seems to confirm Candy’s portrayal of her and how he says she’s “got the eye”. Her posture is seductive by displaying her curves. This is a patriarchal society in which a wife was expected to be entirely loyal to her husband which could explain why Curley remains so distant from her; as she seeks other men on the ranch and flirts with them instead. Curley’s wife’s flirtatious behaviour would also, alternatively, depict Curley as weak and incapable of controlling her wife by means of staying loyal to him and him only.
“I’m lookin’ for Curley”
The fact that the married couple are never together evokes the distance between them mentally and as a result, the isolation of Curley’s Wife. At the time, married women were encouraged to stay home and do chores for their husbands, if Curley’s Wife doesn’t have her husband, Curley, she has nobody.
“They left all the weak ones here”
Curley’s Wife knows her weak position in the ranch and also knows how she belongs to the outcasts
Two quotes after Curley’s Wife’s Death
‘The discontent and ache for attention were all gone from her face’
‘Her body flopped like a fish’
