Dear+Miss+Luce

** Dear Miss Luce, ** ** Annie Laurie says you are worried about your playing of the part of Curley’s wife, although from the reviews, it appears that you are playing it marvelously. I am deeply grateful to you and to the others in the cast for your feeling about the play. You have surely made it much more than it was by such a feeling. ** ** About the girl, Curley's wife, I don’t know, of course, what you think about her, but perhaps if I should tell you a little about her as I know her, it might clear your feeling about her. ** ** She grew up in an atmosphere of fighting and suspicion. Quite early she learned that she must never trust anyone, but she was never able to carry out what she learned. A natural trustfulness broke through constantly and every time it did, she got hurt. Her moral training was most rigid. She was told over and over that she must remain a virgin because that was the only way she would get a husband. This was harped on so often it became a fixation. It would have been impossible to seduce her. She only had one thing to sell and she knew it. ** ** Now, she was trained by threat not only at home but by other kids. And any show of fear or weakness brought an instant persecution. She learned she had to be hard to cover her fright. And automatically she became hardest when she was most frightened. She is a nice, kind girl and not a floozy. No man has ever considered her as anything except a girl to try to get. She has never talked to a man except in the sexual fencing conversation. She was not highly talked up particularly high, but knows instinctively that if she is to be noticed at all, it will be because some one finds her desirable. ** ** As to her actual adult life – she has had no inappropriate relationships, except with Curley, and there has probably been no consummation there since Curley would not consider her gratification. Consequently she was a little starved - pysically and emotionally. She knew utterly nothing about adult relationships except the mass of misinformation girls tell one another. If anyone – a man or woman – ever gave her a break, treated her like a person – she would be a slave to that person. Her craving for contact was immense but she, with her background, was incapable of conceiving any contact without some sexual contact. With all of this – if you knew her, if you could ever break down the thousand little defenses she has built up, you would find a nice person, an honest person, and you would end up loving her. But such a thing could never happen. ** ** I hope you won’t think I am preaching. I’ve known this girl and am trying to tell you what she is like. She is afraid of everyone in the world. You’ve known girls like that, haven’t you? You can see them in Central Park on a hot night. They travel in groups for protection. They pretend to be wise and hard and voluptuous. ** ** I have a feeling that you know all this and that you are doing all this. Please forgive me if I seem to intrude on your job. I don’t intend to and I am only writing this because Annie Laurie said you wondered about the girl. It’s a devil of a hard part. I am very happy that you have it. **

Sincerely,
