Curley's Wife - Flirtatious
English Lit: Edexcel IGCSE Of Mice & Men, topic 3.1.6
How Others View Curley's Wife
The men on the ranch seem to have a negative view of Curley's Wife. Lennie seems to be attracted to her.
How others view Curley's wife
- Most of the men on the ranch have a generally negative view of Curley’s wife.
- They make derogatory comments about her: "Well, I think Curley's married... a tart." (Candy, Section 2).
Curley's wife's appearance
- Curley's wife is glamorous and “heavily made up” (Section 2).
- She embodies traditional ideas of feminine beauty.
Steinbeck's use of colour
- Steinbeck associates the colour red with Curley’s wife because it has connotations of passion and seduction: “Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers.” (Section 2).
Lennie's attraction to Curley's wife
- Lennie, who is the most naive of all the men on the ranch, is immediately drawn to her beauty: "She's purty." (Lennie, Section 2).
Test yourself on Curley's Wife - Flirtatious
What colour does Steinbeck associate with Curley's wife?