To the men on the farm she is considered as a "tart", a woman trying to escape her husband. The men try to avoid her sexual powers for fear of losing their jobs; but the selfish woman cannot see that. This
How is Curley'sWife presented in 'Of Mice and Men'? Do you find her portrayal a sympathetic one? In of mice and men, Curleys Wife is presented in many various ways. At first impression, she comes across as the seductive, troublemaker the ranchers see her as. However, as the story progresses, we learn that this is only one of many sides to a very lonely woman.
This further suggests her need to overcompensate in her image as an attempt to impress the ranch workers and her husband. The reader may infer that Curley’s wife succeeds in her attempt for their attention when slim addresses her as “good-lookin” in a friendly manner, however we notice George stays constantly wary of her and treats her with a similarly brusque air “well he aint now.” Steinbeck uses this short and abrupt sentence to perhaps highlight George’s intolerance of her, and her dangerously flirty personality. Steinbeck prefigures the death of Curley’s wife, later in the novel, also through his physical description of her. This is shown through use of the colour red in her; “rouged lips”; “little bouquets of red ostrich feathers” and “red mules” perhaps meaning her association with the colour red holds connotations of danger and death. Her death is also prefigured in the very first introduction of her entering the bunkhouse “the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off” Steinbeck presents the sunshine as being part of Curley’s wife’s’ ‘dream’ and perhaps being used as a metaphor for the freedom and happiness she longs for, however when the light is “cut
With a character like Lennie the reader couldn’t help but be drawn in by his loveable personality. The characters in the John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men signified the people of the 1930’s during the Great Depression. In the story the characters represented real people in society in the ways that Curley’s wife was ignored by the men, Crooks was discriminated against because of his race, and Lennie was misunderstood because of his intellectual disability. Throughout the novel, Curley’s wife was overlooked and disregarded by the men on the ranch due to her gender, just as women were in American society during the 1930’s. Curley’s wife desperately wanted to be acknowledged by the men when her husband failed to give her the attention she craved.
Curley’s wife is portrayed as being a whore – but this is only due to the way she dresses, her provocative ways and the way she acts around men, as if she is aware of her femininity. This could suggest that she is only like this because she is bored, like it is something to do – something interesting for a change. She is constantly trying to get people to notice her. But, because of Lennie’s purity and innocence, he doesn’t see her in the way other men do – a sexual object. When Steinbeck quotes “And because she had confided in him, she moved closer to Lennie and sat beside him”, it is clear to the audience that Curley’s Wife is using her sexuality as an object to create some sort of excitement for herself.
The men on the ranch fear Curly's wife. She is a temptress of sorts and she is a possession of Curly’s (hence her name). She projects undertones of sexuality in almost everything she says. The men are lonely which only highlights her danger. They do not want the bosses son, Curly, to get angry.
She did not find that a marriage service generated love; she did not enable her husband to recapture his youth through hers; nor could she compensate for that by running his home in the manner of an experienced housekeeper.” This quote illustrates that Elias Strorm was very cruel to her that she died after her second child was born. She was a beautiful, young woman who Elias turned into a very dull person. She always wanted him to be happy and be a good person, but that did not happen, he was just unfair and unpleasant to everyone. To conclude Elias Strorm’s wife is a good supporter of her husband as well as Emily Strorm. The role of women does demonstrate bystanders and supporters of their husbands and family member.
I believe that when they first got married there was some kind of love in their relationship, but when they realized they could not conceive a child Don Elias blamed his wife. Even though it was most likely he was the infertile one, he treated her as if all she was good for was to take care of him like a maid. This is what made her a hard, bitter old woman. Dona Matilida believes it was her fault, and feels guilty about not being able to provide him with a child he so greatly desired. This caused her to turn a blind eye to what he was doing around town with other women.
Steinbeck’s use of one female character called Curley’s wife is a very recognisable character, but with Steinbeck never giving her a name, indicates that she has no identity between many of the male ranch workers. Also, the use of Curley’s wife symbolizing all the women in the 1930’s tells us that women had no position within the working world. On the other hand, women were seen to be well appreciated, especially if they were married. Whereas Curley’s wife wonders around the bunk houses full of men trying to act flirtatious as we have established in the previous paragraphs. In the second interaction we have with Curley’s wife.
Her mom lives in a very closed in and elegant home where she was also self-contained. Although, the main character discusses her mother and daughter differences, she still isn't aware that her mother has similar issues, ones that are more eye-opening. There is an irony that is