She also acts flirtatiously in front of the other ranch workers. Through her physical appearance and her own actions, Candy’s description of her seems very accurate. Our negative feelings towards her begin to change when she enters Crooks’ residence. Curley’s wife enters asking for Curley and receives cold hearted responses from the men; she then goes on to talk about her loneliness and isolation, and then begins to start verbally attacking the men and aims the reason for doing so, towards Curley. After Crooks asks her to leave, she threatens him, she says “listen nigger, you know what I can do to you if you open your trap?” she discriminates him and puts him down, so she feels in power.
She got the eye goin’ all the time on everybody.’ Whilst superficially this would encourage the reader to condemn Curley’s Wife as a tart, one has to consider the bias of the man speaking it and realise that men like Candy have worked on ranches all their lives and therefore their view of women is likely to be inaccurate or exaggerated and prejudiced. A perhaps more dramatic example of when we are expected to condemn Curley’s
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 word “tart” which shows the impression and effect Curley’s wife has on other workers on the ranch. The word “tart” is very blunt and straight forward which is the effect Steinbeck wanted to use because he wants to show the reader the immediate impression workers have about Curley’s wife. This further supports my point that Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife in a negative manner. The effect of this is that the reader has made an unfair judgement about Curley’s wife without her even speaking. This means that the reader sees her as a danger to Lennie but also makes the reader think that she is unfaithful and has married Curley for the wrong reasons such as money and power which is what all ambitious women
His blatant disregard of his own life when it comes to lady watching further demonstrates that he will do whatever it takes to look or enjoy the sight of other women. Hence according to the short story, the author conveys that women are being objectified as something a man can risk his own life just to get a look at her. “She’s not so pretty,” Frances said. “Anyway, not pretty enough to take a chance of breaking your neck.” This quote seems that Frances is trying to justify for her husband why he should not waste his time or risk his life for that woman. There is a hint of jealousy in her tone.
‘Men were deceivers ever.’ To what extent can it be argued that Shakespeare’s presentation of men’s attitudes to women in ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ allows for comedy? In Much Ado about Nothing, it can be equally argued that men’s attitudes towards women are actually used for comedy purposes, and it can be argued that their attitudes aren’t. For this argument, the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick at the start of the play can be seen as comical to the audience, as they both claim to dislike each other and take pleasure in making rude remarks to one another. On the other hand, the relationship between Hero and Claudio could be seen as quite dark to the audience, as there are accusations and trust issues between the two. The quote ‘men were deceivers ever’ comes from Act 2 Scene 3 of the play, from the song that Balthasar sings.
Steinbeck presents the character of Curley’s Wife as manipulative, however I feel he only does this to make us feel sympathy to Curley’s Wife and women in the 1930s. The fact that Curley’s wife has to be manipulative to get attention which she is so starved for does not kill any sympathy that the reader could have for her but drives it so that the reader is more sympathetic. I also feel that Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife as a reflection on men in the 1930s as they are manipulative yet despise Curley’s wife because she is manipulative; they do not realise that it is them that made her so in the first place Quote: Curly's wife is flirtatious throughout the book. Basically whenever she shows up she is flirtatious because this is all she has. Curly's wife is powerless in a masculine world, Steinbeck doesn't even give her a name; she is simply Curley's property.
Steinbeck leads the reader to believe that Curley does not really care about his wife; if he did, he would not be flaunting their private life and he would consider her dignity. This instantly degrades Curley’s wife’s reputation. Candy goes on further to describe her character by telling George that ‘she got the eye…I seen her give Slim the eye’. ‘The eye’ is suggesting that she is looking at other men whilst being married which creates a negative impression of her character on the reader. Steinbeck raises
They all believe that she purposely dresses seductively and her actions are to seduce the men so they lose their job. His initial portrayal of Curley's wife also shows her to be a mean and seductive temptress. Curley's wife's evil-spirited side is shown when she threatens to have Crooks lynched. She is paralleled to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Curley's wife shattered Lennie and George's dream of a farm the same way Eve tempted Adam to eat from the forbidden tree, ending their paradise.
Curley’s wife lived not only through the sexiest society which rejected her but her husband did not love her at all making her become “… a tart… with the eye,”(Steinbeck14). That is the image that the men have of Curley’s wife because they are ignorant and do not understand that all she is searching for is to have someone to talk to. Curley’s wife’s loneliness led her to have a bad image with the men on the ranch but also made her seek for attention in anybody she did not matter who. For example she would talk to Candy, and old lifeless man, Crooks who is a Negro that is physically disabled, and Lennie who is a huge man that is mentally retarded. She became mean too since she was lonely and the men rejected her.