How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #1
From the bedroom beside the sleeping-porch, his wife's detestably cheerful "Time to get up, Georgie boy," and the itchy sound, the brisk and scratchy sound, of combing hairs out of a stiff brush. (1.3.2).
There are times when Babbitt has a hard time tolerating his wife Myra, especially those times when she's waking him up for work in the morning. You can tell by the words like "itchy," "scratchy," and "stiff" that Babbitt is annoyed by almost everything Myra does. Which is a shame, really, because none of it's her fault.
Quote #2
She had become so dully habituated to married life that in her full matronliness she was as sexless as an anemic nun. (1.4.1)
Okay, so now the narrator is getting really harsh. Comparing Myra to an anemic nun is a not-so-nice way of saying that she has grown old and gained weight, and that Babbitt no longer has a shred of sexual attraction to her. If he were interested in anything else about women, he might have an easier time growing old. But since he's pretty shallow in this regard, he thinks his only other option is to have an affair.
Quote #3
In twenty-three years of married life he had peered uneasily at every graceful ankle, every soft shoulder; in thought he had treasured them; but not once had he hazarded respectability by adventuring. (3.3.22)
Babbitt has always had a wandering eye when it comes to looking at attractive young women. But he has never, never made a move on any of them. After all, he's more interested in being respectable than pursuing his sexual urges, at least at the beginning of the book. As the novel unfolds, his priorities change and he does start to act on these urges, though.