Whereas she seems to belong more in glitzy and glamorous world, in an easy and out going life. The ranch hands, as seen from the fact that she is given no identity of her own as she is dubbed “Curley’s wife”, objectify her. She is the only woman in the ranch, which isolates her even further since she has no one of similar views and interest to talk to. She is vain, flirtatious and very gullible, which is easily picked up on since she believed out of her own delusions that her mother hid the letter, which told her if she was going to become an actress. This causes her to enter a loveless marriage with Curley, which she believed in self-delusion, was going to provide her a glamorous lifestyle.
Explore the ways that Steinbeck influences the reader’s feelings about Curley’s Wife. To what extent do we sympathise with her? How do our feelings change? Focus on Chapters 2, 4 and 5. Curley’s Wife is a complex character that is mentioned in the novella ‘Of Mice and Men’.
In the John Steinbeck’s novel “of Mice and Men” he introduces us to the character of Curley’s wife. She could be interpreted as a mis-fitting character in the novel as no one relates to her. Steinbeck relates her to how women were powerless during 1930’s and makes her seem desperately lonely and isolated from the others on the ranch. She has sexual power which she uses to get to the men on the ranch and she just needs someone to talk to. She dislikes her husband and had a desire to become a movie star.
She tends to look for other male ranchers. But Curley, her husband does not recognize her as a person but more like a sexual object, Candy said that “he’s keepin’ that hand soft for his wife” this shows us Curley uses he wife as a trophy and she was never given a name in the novella, she is only treated as a possession of Curley and how no one else on the ranch wanted to get to know her but avoid her instead. We first set eyes on Curley’s wife in the bunk house, when she pretends to be looking for Curley the impression of Curley’s wife being flirtatious is emphasized as she dresses inappropriately for a women married to the boss’s son “she had full, rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, her fingernails are red and her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages” which in my opinion red shows sign of danger besides from this, she both talk and acts playfully and flirtatiously in front of other ranchers “she said playfully”. Candy’s description of Curley’s wife seems accurate after her first appearance in the novel. In this situation George notices this and tries to avoid having conversation with her, using short answers like “Well he ain’t now.” This is because he thinks Curley’s wife is“Jail bait” before getting to know Curley’s wife and the reason why she is this way.
Examine Steinbeck’s portrayal of Curley’s Wife. How do our feelings towards her change throughout the novel? In this essay I will, examine and explore Steinbeck’s portrayal of Curley’s Wife in Of Mice and Men. I will also examine how our feelings towards her change throughout the novel. Steinbeck presents the character of Curley’s wife to be attractive, flirtatious and vulnerable and she is a very complex character.
She had bigger dreams than just being a housewife and I think being the only woman on the farm stifles her. She looks to the men on the farm for friendship and companionship, but obviously they take it as flirting and in order to stay out of trouble with Curley, they stay away from her. This increases Curley’s wife’s loneliness. Curley’s wife represents women in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. Women in the 1930’s were seen by men as scheming and devious.
This can partly be blamed on the fact that many of the itinerant workers only knew women from the ‘cat-house’. This of course distorts their opinion of women. George for example thinks she is no better than a prostitute, saying ‘she’d clear out for twenty bucks’, implying she has very low morals. This opinion of her is empathised when Candy says ‘Well – she got the eye’ meaning she is overly flirtatious with the ranch workers. Of course, the reader, having not met her yet, cannot be sure about whether or not Candy is misinterpreting her over friendliness as flirtatious behaviour.
Alternatively, it could suggest she is insignificant and not as important of a character as George, Lennie or any of the other men on the ranch. It could also be referring to how during the great depression women were oppressed and treated less equally. Steinbeck may have portrayed women in this light to allow the reader to recognize the inferior role of women at that time. The lack of name demotes Curley's wife to insignificant status. Curley’s Wife is first presented to us through the dialogue of ranch-hand Candy, when he describes her to George.
Explore the way Steinbeck portrays Curley’s wife as someone we both sympathise with and dislike at times. Steinbeck portrays Curley’s wife as one we both sympathise and dislike at times by showing both sides of her story to the reader, he illustrates Curley’s wife’s, point of view by revealing her past and why she is married to Curley. He then depicts the other side of her personality by exposing how she is around the ranch workers, and what they think of her. The author also illustrates the life of a typical women in 1930’s America and the little respect they were given. Steinbeck does not make the reader feel one strong emotion for her but various different emotions throughout the novel.
In Act 2 of ‘An Inspector Calls’ , Sheila says to her mother, Mrs Birling, “But we must stop these silly pretences”. How does Priestley show, in his presentation of Mrs Birling, that she often pretends to be something she is not? | In ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J.B Priestly, Mrs Birling is presented as a character of contrasts. Throughout the play, she attempts to present herself as something that she is not, meaning that she tries to give a false impression of herself. Firstly, J.B Priestly uses other characters to reveal and highlight her the contrasting sides of her personality.