Curley’s Wife
- No name – depicts lack of identity of women in microcosm (ranch).
- ‘Curley’s’: apostrophe of possession male oppression in 30s USA.
- Appearance (p34): plump lips, wide eyes, made up, rolled hair, cotton dress (red colour
highlighted – death/sensuality?)
- “red”: colour connotations of danger, sensuality.
- “heavily made-up”: trying 2 hide real self? Trying to hide signs of domestic abuse?
- “Ostrich feathered shoes”: symbolism of failed dream; shoes 4 actresses. Also, ostriches can’t
fly, parallel w/ her being stuck + not achieving her dream.
- Nasal voice, broken nose physical abuse
- Beautiful: appearance p34, “purty” (Lennie, p35)
- Flirtatious – posture: “leaned against door frame… body was thrown forward” “bridled a little”
“twitched body” p35
- Flirtatious: “tramp” (Candy), “tart” (George), “got the eye” p31
- Afraid of Curley: “suddenly apprehensive” p35
- Red DANGER (highlighted in appearance, p34), foreshadowing future events
- Contemptuous; Exerting power over the weak: “left all the weak ones here” p87, “a n*****, a
dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep” p89
- Aware of everything: “I know where they all went” p87, “you’re all scared of each other, that’s
what”, “I like machines” p90, “I’m glad you bust up Curley a little bit” p92
- Reveals opinions on husband p88
- Racist, contemptuous and domineering to Crooks p91 – exertion of power: “I could get you
strung up on a tree”, “Tell an’ be damned”
- Backstory – wanted to be actress, “in pictures”: superficiality highlighted, fame > art.
- Only able to achieve dream is sexually available to men in power b/c HISTORICAL CONTEXT.
- Reader feels sympathy despite racism b/c she’s only bitter b/c of own failed dreams like
everyone else.
- Isolated: “think I like to stick in that house alla time?”
- Men don’t want her around: scared her flirting = fired; also scared they’ll give in to her flirting if
left 4 too long.
- Sex object 2 all, even herself: evident w/ slurs used against her; her op determined by her
appearance – sad.
- Steinbeck – “She’s not a person. She’s a symbol”: for loneliness, marginalization of women,
futility of AD for the marginalized (women, black, disabled, old); only works is white, young
male.
- Flat (only there for plot development, no name given) or rounded character? Rounded; name
really only not given symbolically.
- “jail bait”: looking 4 trouble through sexuality b/c only way for her to get attention (awareness
of being sex object”
