Steinbeck presents her as a negative married woman. She has been presented first through the dialogue of ranch-hand Candy when he describes her to George. His opinion is very sexist towards Curley’s wife as he says “Curley married...a tart”. This shows Steinbeck presents her in a very crude manner. The word “tart” shows the immediate impression and effect Curley’s wife has on the other men on the ranch.
She is first presented by the swamper, Candy. Candy describes Curley’s Wife in a rude and prejudiced way. Lennie and George just arrived at the ranch so they don’t know what to expect from Curley’s Wife. If Candy describes Curley’s Wife in a bad way, George and Lennie will have a negative opinion about Curley’s Wife once they meet her. When Candy was describing Curley’s Wife, he said, “Well, you look her over, mister.
Curley’s wife is also a strong adumbration of the death of the American Dream. The reader holds their opinion of Curley’s wife with a certain bitterness most of the way through the novel, and often disregards everything she says as we sympathise with George and agree with his opinion that Curley’s wife is nothing but “Jail-bait” and “no good”. Curley’s wife tells a story to Lennie in the barn about how she could have been somebody. She says; “He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural.
The term ‘tart’ has connotations of someone who is unfaithful, and this would cause the reader to distrust Curley’s wife as a character. Steinbeck gives the reader the impression that she is portrayed as a villain as the workers did not have nice things to say about her. We are encouraged to dislike her without actually her being present or doing anything in the story. Steinbeck also uses light and darkness to portray attitudes towards Curley’s wife. An example of this is when Curley’s wife first appears in the bunkhouse; both Lennie and George notice that the rectangle of sunshine is cut off.
For example George states she is a ‘tramp’. Her relations with Curley are troubled and extremely scarce as they are never once seen with one another. Steinbeck portrays many acts of Curley’s wife that significantly affect the reader’s relationship with her. Two prime examples would be when she enters Crook’s barn and shows a shear amount of prejudice to Crooks, Lennie and Candy. Secondly, towards the end of the novella, the readers see her as an innocent woman due to the way she ‘consoles’ Lennie.
Examine how Steinbeck presents the character of Curley's wife in, "Of Mice and Men" refer closely to the text in your answer to support your views. Submitted:Jun 22, 2013 Reads: 30,584 Comments: 2 Likes: 0 Curley's wife is a complex, main character in John Steinbeck's novella, "Of Mice and Men" She is introduced at the beginning and ultimately causes the end of the novella, her naivity and flirtatiousness leading to her inevitable death at the hand of Lennie, confused and scared by her forwardness and eventual unrest. She is first introduced by Candy, the swamper, who describes her from his perpsective to George and Lennie. The fact that Curley's wife is introduced through rumours means that the reader already has a biased opinion of Curley's wife before she even enters the section. Candy mentions that she, "got the eye" explaining that she is flirtatious and immoral in that wea re hit with the fact that she flirts with other men immediately after it is stated thatshe is married to Curley.
Even though we see a sense of power with Curley, we are then brought to the idea that she is ‘giving men the eye’ which makes us dislike her for we assume then that she is being unfaithful and portraying her as a floozy. I think that Steinbeck uses this technique as it allows the reader to build up a character portfolio of the men on the ranch relationship to Curley’s wife and shows that there is a fear when it comes to her and
Women in the 1930’s were seen by men as scheming and devious. John Steinbeck perceived Curley’s wife as this woman that causes trouble on the farm, which is the cause for the Lennie’s ultimate end. However, we can see at the end of the novel that Curley’s wife is not just this “troublemaker” which the men perceive her as. She opens herself up to Lennie and shares her dreams in life. It shows that she too, like the men on the farm, has dreams too.
The title "Of Mice and Men". Firstly Steinbeck portrays Curley's wife as a lonely character. Newly married and in a strange place, she is forbidden by Curley to talk to anyone but him. To counter this, she constantly approaches the ranch hands on the excuse of looking for Curley. The only result is that the men regard her as a "slut", and Curley becomes even more intensely jealous.
Curley’s Wife Curley’s wife is an interesting character in Of Mice and Men. Near the start of the story, she has a fairly minor role in the story, but Steinbeck slowly increases her importance till she is the cause of Lennie’s death. The reader is manipulated to like, and dislike her at the same time. We are made to dislike Curley’s wife at first, because she’s married to Curley, and the subtext is implying that there’s a small relation with her, and a “tart”, as Candy said in chapter 2; “I think Curley’s married… a tart.” There are links between Curley’s wife and prostitution, for example; “She wore a cotton house dress and red mules” linking the red mules with things such as the red-light district. Another link is how she was “heavily made up”, and she had “full, rouged lips”.