CW key quotes

• Introduction 


  Curley’s Wife is the only major female in Steinbeck’s novel, and as such, she represents all women in this short novella set in 1930s America where women did not have the societal power to be dangerous, except against more vulnerable such as African Americans. I don’t believe she is dangerous enough to be solely responsible for the end of George and Lennie’s dream-like Candy believes and instead feel she is perhaps one of the more complex characters – neither ‘all bad’ like Curley, nor ‘all good’ like Slim.  
• 'Well, I think Curley's married...a tart.  

  • While Steinbeck’s use of ellipsis could show a hesitancy to gossip that is more due to the danger Curley poses and how the derogatory term ‘Tart’ referring to CW emasculates him. We can see that the men don’t feel threatened enough by CW to not speak insultingly of her. This precedent is carried on as George refers to her as the colloquial term ‘Jailbait’ or the expletive ‘Bitch’  
  • The fact that the men can openly speak so disparagingly of CW and the fact she cannot stop it shows her lack of danger. 
• Girl


  Characterises CW as a more innocent character than she is described by the judgemental ranch workers
• CW


  • Has full, rouged lips
  • Has wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up
  • Has fingernails that were red
  • Has hair that hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages
  • Has a voice with a nasal, brittle quality
• Steinbeck's use of the noun 'girl'


  Instantly characterises CW as a more innocent character than she is described by the judgemental ranch workers
• Steinbeck's use of the adjectives 'nasal' and 'brittle'


  Heightens the judgemental nature of the ranch workers' view of CW
• Steinbeck's use of a simile comparing her hair to sausages


  Along with the adverb 'heavily' highlights CW's feminine nature
• Steinbeck's characterization of CW


  As a dangerous 'femme fatale' trope contrasts strongly with the men on the ranch who will isolate her
• The repeating nature of the colour red through 'rouged' and 'red'

  Has connotations to danger and lust, showing how CW's plays into the men's view of her as a flirt who can cause nothing but trouble for them
• CW's lust


  Is only driven by a chronic sense of loneliness
• Curley's wife: '"I get lonely. You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How'd you like not to talk to anybody?"'
• Curley's wife compares her desolate experience


  To the men in the ranch
• Steinbeck's use of language


  • Direct address
  • Short sentences
  • Rhetorical questions
• The lack of freedom in Curley's wife's life is driven home by Steinbeck's language
• Curley's wife is not even given a name, Steinbeck chooses to characterize her in a way that demeans and objectifies her
• Steinbeck's characterization of Curley's wife mirrors the real-life bleak, desolate experience women like her faced as they were treated as possessions rather than people
• The eye’


  being a euphemism for a promiscuous look that we are not seen in the whole novella showing a potential unreliability from Candy and the other men when discussing the lengths of CW alleged flirtations. It’s important to remember that CW is never seen partaking in infidelity while Steinbeck makes it clear to the reader that Curley often goes to the colloquially described “cathouse”. 
• “You’re all scared of each other, that’s what. Ever’ one of you’s scared the rest is goin’ to get something on you.


  Steinbeck uses the repetition of ‘scared’ to hammer home that CW is not the problem, and that she is not something to fear. Instead, the men fear each other due to their transient, lonely lives and worry about how the other men could endanger them; influencing their interactions with CW. 
• “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” 


  In this quote Steinbeck makes explicit reference to the theme of loneliness. The short, simple sentences and absolutism of the adverb ‘never’ to create pathos for CW as she laments on her dismal existence. This shows the multifaceted nature of her character as we quite clearly see her previous actions and behaviour did stem from a place malice but instead the hardships of a woman who lacks friends and must deal with an inconsiderate, controlling husband.  
• “I tell you I ain’t used to livin’ like this. I coulda made somethin’ of myself.” She said darkly, “Maybe I will yet.” 

  • In this Steinbeck juxtaposes long and short sentences and tenses, as she laments in past tense on what could’ve been before expressing a glimmer of hope that the future will bring happiness for her. 
  • All characters are simultaneously sustained and set back by the dreams as it provide solace in their unhappy lives while lack of success leads the characters to fall into an endless cycle of distress.
• “Because this guy says I was a natural.”


  by CW the most and supported in the quote “Because this guy says I was a natural.” Steinbeck uses diction to demonstrate how CW is uneducated mirroring the lack of opportunities women had at the time. Readers could also interpret this man as trying to take advantage of CW and that her belief in his praises shows her naivety and desperation to succeed and achieve the American dream.  
• “I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” “N*gger” “Crooks stared hopelessly at her”. 

  In this quote Steinbeck alludes to lynching along with the use of racial slurs and the adverb hopelessly along with a later metaphor and comparative in “Crooks seemed to grow smaller” to highlight how CWs aware of her societal position as a white woman and the power she has to end Crooks life as a black man. The tone is vicious and shows she can be just as brutal as her husband when she wants to be. 
• Curley's wife: 'And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face…. her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly.'
• Curley's wife is no longer his property; she is no longer a temptress, but a simple girl released from her pain at last
• Steinbeck creates a tragic picture by using the omniscient narrator to portray Curley's wife as happier and more at peace in death than she ever was alive
• The red imagery and choice of adjectives recall her first appearance, and the list of negative traits recalls the negative perception of her while alive heightened by the alliteration that emphasises her desire to be loved