She's the kind of girl who climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong.

Mae West’s line is a barbed epigram about ambition and moral compromise. By twisting the familiar cliché “the ladder of success,” she implies that the woman’s rise is not the result of talent or honest effort but of repeated ethical transgressions—each “wrong” functioning like a rung. The joke depends on West’s signature persona: worldly, sexually frank, and willing to puncture respectable pretenses. It also reflects a broader cultural suspicion—especially in early 20th‑century popular entertainment—toward women’s social mobility, often framed as achieved through scandal or sexual bargaining. The quip’s sting lies in its economy: it condemns while sounding like a clever compliment.