English HW February 24th 2010

Curley’s Wife
I chose Curley’s Wife as a character because she is one of the most mysterious and
interresting character in the story Of Mice And Men. There are two movie versions of
Of Mice and Men.
In both the movies and the book, she is a seen as a danger to Lennie’s and George’s
dreams.
BOOK MOVIE 1939 MOVIE 1992
Flirt, tart. She is not liked. Flirt and a tart. She’s not She a flirt and a tart. She’s
No name. liked. Named her Mae. not liked by anyone. No
name.
Rouged lips, red nails, Not too sure about the Rouged lips, no red nails.
sausage hair. color of the lips since it Good hair, not exactly
was in black and white. sausage hair, but better.
The hair is not in
sausages.
They meet her in the bunk They meet her in the bunk They meet her out in the
house. house. fields.

Crook’s Room

BOOK :
« You ain’t wanted here. We told you you ain’t » (Said by Crooks, PG.87)
« I had enough. » He said coldly. « You got no rights to be in a colored man’s
room. » (Said by Crooks, PG.88)
These quotes prove that Curley’s wife is not wanted in the farm. Nobody likes her,
and she’s all alone.
« Listen Nigger (…) You know what I can do to you if you open your trap. » (Said by
Curley’s wife, PG.88)
Even though, she’s a woman who isn’t wanted here, she still has more power over an
older and wiser man because he’s black and she’s the wife of the Boss’ son.
« Lennie watched her, fascinated; but Candy and Crooks were scowling down away
from her eyes. » PG.85
The interaction before she arrives was laughter and joy, but as soon as she comes
in, the two older men look away as if they were scared of her. Lennie gets fascinated
with her. She’s like the Storm that hides the sun in the sky. She’s putting pressure
into the room.
Then she starts asking about where Curley is but no one ever tells her.

MOVIE 1 : (1939)
In this movie, she enters. The three of the men are both present, and Lennie is still
fascinated by her. George is there too. Candy stands up to her a bit, but Crooks
doesn’t want any interference with her. She asks what happened to Curley’s hand,
but no one tells her. She understands that Lennie did it, and George, scared that she
will only bring problems to them, tries to slap her, but stops when he sees the Boss
standing there.
MOVIE 2 : ( 1992)
They cut her part out. I believe they did this because they wanted to impose more on
how important Lennie’s dream was to him and the Relationship between George and
Lennie. The dependence that Lennie has on George.

Her Death

BOOK :
« I'll go in the night a' thumb a ride to Hollywood... Gonna get in the movies and have
nice clothes. »
She had been expecting a letter to become a famous Hollywood actress. It never
came. So she married Curley because she wanted to run away from her mother. She
is very honest with Lennie, and finally opens to someone. This gives us a whole new
perspective of her.
« Let go ! » She cried. « You let go ! » She struggle violently under his hands. »
(PG.99)
« And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck. » (PG.99)
When she dies, they describe her features and how she looks like. And you feel pity
for the woman.
« Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good. » (Said by Candy,
PG. 104)
She’s dead. She died without being able to achieve her dreams, but we know her
death is going to bring problems to Lennie and George.

MOVIE 1 :
In this movie, she is actually running away from the ranch. She had a fight with
Curley. They both talk about their dreams and problem, but don’t seem to be actually
listening to each other. When he kills her, they don’t show her face, because back
then it wasn’t allowed to show a dead person’s face.

MOVIE 2 :
She died a lot like in the book. Her words were exactly from the books, and the
actress demonstrated very well her loneliness and sadness. They both talk about
their dreams, and it seems that for once Curley’s wife is actually having a friend to
talk to. However when she proposes him to stroke her hair, he ends up killing her.

Curley’s Wife Analyses

Curley’s wife is first seen as a flirt, a tart. She gives ‘the eye’ to every man she
encounters, and Candy says that she’s no good for the ranch and will only bring
problems to them. George warns Lennie to stay away from her.
However in the later parts of the novel, the 5th Chapter, we learn a whole new aspect
of her is presented to us. How she dreamed about going to Hollywood. How her
dreams were shattered when she never received a letter and married Curley ; How
she ran away from her mother who never loved her.
Curley’s wife is the loneliest character in the book. Crooks may be isolated from the
rest because he’s black, or Candy because of his old age and injury, and Lennie
because of his stupidness. But she’s a complete outcast. Never wanted, never loved.
Curley treats her as if she were an object, and Steinbeck puts more ‘loneliness’ to
her by not giving her a name because she’s merely a property belonging to Curley.
I believe Steinbeck took her personnality a bit from the Garden of Eden. It’s a
religious symbol. She is like Eve who is the temptation and who tempted Adam. In
the book, she tempted Lennie, and in result she shattered Lennie and George’s
dreams.
Curley’s wife is a character that is very important to the story.
I believe that between the three possiblities, she was best portrayed in the book. But
the movie that took the best interpretation of her was the 1992 one. She looked
physically better and acted Curley’s wife well. However the older version of was also
good. She acted very well, but physically it wasn’t too good.