Curley's wife: Of mice and men Flashcards
(13 cards)
Introduction
Curley’s wife represents unfulfilled dreams and the limited role of women in 1930s America. She is lonely, misunderstood and trapped in a marriage with Curley, which leads her to seek attention from the other men on the ranch
Point 1:
Curley’s wife is lonely and craves attention
quote with the first point
-‘I never get to talk to nobody’
-‘what’s the matter with me?’
-‘I get awful lonely’
context for the first point
-This reflects the isolation and lack of freedom women experience at the time. Due to the great depression, lack of jobs, women were the first to be removed from the work place and go back to their solitary roles in the homes.
-Her loneliness shows her emotional neglect was a reality for many women in patriarchal marriages
Point 2:
She had big dreams that were never fufilled
quotes with the second point
-‘He says he was gonna put me in the movies’
-‘I coulda made something out of myself’
-‘So i married Curley’
context for the second point
-Her lack of success shows the emptieness that dreams can pose in the time of the 1930s due to the lack of opportunities that the Dust Bowl caused.
-The 1930s Dust Bowl and economic collapse meant that for people like her, big dreams were attainable. This also shows how women were often forced to seek security through marriage, not ambition.
point 3:
she is objectified and unnamed throughout the novela
quotes with the third point
-‘Curley’s wife’
-‘have you seen Curley’s tart’
-‘she got the eye’
context for the third point
-this reinforces her lack of identity and the misogyny present in the era. As well the derogatory in terms show the isolation that people who search for companionship will receive.
-Her defining trait being sexual highlights the objectification of women in the 1930s
Point 4:
Her death is a turning point in the novela
quote with the forth point:
-‘Her body flopped like a fish’
context for the forth point
-her death is a volta in the text which symbolises the end of Lennie and George’s dream and the harshness of the world they live in
