Key Quotations/ideas - Curley's Wife Flashcards
How is Curley’s wife described?
She has “rouged lips”, she is “heavily made up” and has red fingernails, mules and ostrich feathers. She often wears red which symbolises her outgoing character and sexuality.
She is first described as a “girl” rather than a woman
What are the 5 insults that are used to describe Curley’s wife?
1) “rat trap”
2) “jail bait”
3) “bitch”
4) “tart”
5) “tramp”
What does Curley’s wife say about herself, Lennie, crooks and candy?
That “they are all the weak ones” on the ranch:
1) Candy- old and disabled
2) Herself- a woman
3) Crooks- a black man (isolated)
4) Lennie- not very clever
How do we know that they lived in a sexist society from how she talked about her dream?
A man that was supposedly a director said that she “was a natural” and that he could put her “in pitchers” but she never got a letter back from him which she claimed her mother hid from her. However the reader can assume that the man only said this to have sexual relations with her.
How do we know that Curley’s wife is a flirtatious character from how she carries her body?
1) “she put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward”
2) “she dropped her fingers and put her hands on her hips”
She always trying to show off her figure because she is lonely.
How do we know that Curley’s wife is just with curley for the money?
When she is talking to crooks and candy she complains about him “sayin’ what he’s gonna do to guys he don’t like”.
Why would you say that Curley’s wife is living in bad faith?
She says “sure I gotta husban’” when she is “fool in’ aroun’ with other guys, causin’ trouble.”
Can’t see herself clearly but can see all the mistakes of everyone else.
Why is it significant that Curley’s wife is described as a “rat trap”?
Curley is described as a “dirty little rat” and she is described as a “rat trap”. This is significant because it shows that the two are a couple that are just as bad as each other, but also because she is a trap this Implies that she is using him for a better life.
Why is her hair described as “rolled clusters, like sausages”?
It is described fully but not poetically as sausages are something that a man on the ranch would have seen before and could relate to.
Cross reference: when she is dead her curls are described as “tiny little sausages”
What two things does Curley’s wife say that have double meanings?
“I better look some place else” - could mean look in different places for Curley or that when her husband is not there she can look for/at other men
“Nobody can’t blame a person for looking” - could mean they can’t blame her for looking for her husband but could also mean she can’t blame them for looking at her.
Why do we not blame Lennie for Curley’s wife’s death?
1) when she was with him she looked closely to see if she was “impressing him” - always trying to impress other men
2) she said for him to “see how soft” her hair is and started screaming when he didn’t let go. This is her fault because she knew that he was like a child and liked to “pet nice things”.
How was she portrayed as innocent at death by how she was described?
Her face returned to being “sweet and young” and the “discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face.”
What is simile is used when Curley’s wife dies that is also used earlier on in the novel for Curley ?
“flopped like a fish”
What can be inferred by the fact that Curley’s wife has no name ?
She is a possession of Curley, who regards her as a sexual object. This is made apparent when it is said that Curley wears a glove full of vaseline to “[keep the] hand soft for his wife”
What does Curley’s wife represent ?
The role of women and their fates in a sexist society at the time - 1937
She also represents the theme of loneliness along with crooks - she is the only female on the ranch & is isolated - so she has nothing better to do than to use her beauty to flirt and attract other ranch workers
