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.
She then compares herself to those who live by society the "right" way, those are perfect people and she is not perfect so she does as she pleases (Lines 105-120). The highlight of that section explain this is where she states "Virinitee is a greet perfection". The Wife of Bath is not perfect but nobody is, her ways of living and doing things come from her sexual desire because in stories it's even said that she would go on these trips and "wonder". Harwood points out that before the Pardoner interrupts there are three points which are consistent, first one being the “wo in marriage” , the second one she insists she may be lawfully marry for sexual fruition and the third “tribulation” debt, and
It first influences Osan by her telling Jihei “you’re acting outrageously, Jihei. You shouldn’t have signed that oath if you felt so reluctant to leave her”. We notice Jihei just signed the oath because he felt forced now in this quote we see how Osan is putting up with Jihei somewhat having feelings for another women this shows us how society view of a married women influences Osan so much to a point where she accepts what her husband is doing and in doing so she save her marriage. Osan also says to Jihei “I felt so unhappy that I wrote a letter, begging her as a woman to another to break with you, though I knew how painful it would be”. It is clear that Osan knew about everything and in doing so, she writes a letter to Koharu and keeps it a secret.
He came upon a lady and her maiden, who embody the traditional motif of healing women. Through their care, he fall in love with the gentle lady, and suffer because he could not be with her. Equitan’s symptoms of lovesickness were brought upon his desire to seek out the wife of his vassal. He knew the wrong of coveting his seneschal’s wife, but he felt no wrong when his logic brought him to believe that he could share the woman. Equitan suffered from lovesickness when he fell in love at first sight of the lady, and “through the lady Love caught him unawares.” 2.
This enforces the idea that unlike Lennie, she is a complex character in the novel. Steinbeck mentioned that Curley’s wife’s voice had a “nasal, brittle quality” which is a clear sign of her flirtatious behaviour. Although her intentions were flirty, the fact that it was described as ‘nasal’ by the author made it obvious that it was unpleasant to the ears. The reaction from George made it clear to the reader that she was an attractive woman, however he was being apprehensive as he “looked away from her and then back”. This contrasts with Lennies reaction as his “eyes moved down over her body” blatantly checking her out.
'Curley's wife is a very complex character because she is presented in different personalities at different chapters and in this chapter we see that she desires freedom and fame. Steinbeck presents her in such way that or opinion of her changes through out the novel, first we see her as a flirt then we see her presented in a horrible racist personality and now Steinbeck presents her as Innocent. Steinbeck did this because at this chapter where she dies it's like he wants us to feel sympathy for her because not that she is dead her problems are gone and there is not need for attentions because now she looks relaxed laying down on the hay. The language used in this chapter is very descriptive especially the part when Curley's wife dies, this might be because at the time
Larkin describes one of the girls to be ‘a bosomy English rose’ and the other ‘in specs’, who we feel is less attractive. Larkin objectifies one of the women and pictures her as a sexual object due to her looks, the other women he ‘could talk to’ suggesting this time Larkin is manipulating her personality. In the second stanza Larkin mentions ‘a ten guinea ring’, one could argue this could be a sign of marriage but not actually conforming to her, however this is ambiguous, as we do no know what girl hold this ring. What I find most significant about the ring is the fact Larkin goes against his views on consumerism to try and seduce a women. Nevertheless Larkin ‘got it back in the end’ which illustrates Larkin not fully conforming to her results in rejection.
In addition to the previous paragraph, we also know that Curley’s wife is a married woman, a possession of Curley’s. Perhaps Steinbeck does not give the wife a name throughout the book because during the 1930s, women were regarded as a sign of possession, an object or a personal belonging. This affects the reader by thinking Curley’s wife was nothing more than a sexual tool for Curley. Her character is symbolic to women in the 1930’s which contrasts to the women today and how much respect there is for women now. During the time of sorrow, many people had an imaginable dream to accomplish.
She’s paranoid in terms of believing that her lover has been having an affair with two women who she thinks are more beautiful than her, however in stanza 3, she says “Better sit thus and observe thy strange things than go where men wait me and dance at the King’s”; this gives an idea that she’s also a beautiful woman who is likewise given attention from other men however she decides to overlook that fact and cultivate a rather vindictive temperament by refusing to let the pain and embarrassment brought upon her by her current/former lover surpass her. As stated in the previous paragraph, she feels paranoid, embarrassed and pained and these strong feelings of the speaker are shown in most stanzas. In stanza 2, her feelings of paranoia and anxiety are expressed and emphasised when she says “They believe my tears flow while they laugh, laugh at me, at me fled to the drear empty church to pray God in for them! – I am here.” This is quite an interesting line as it is filled with all the sentiments mentioned earlier. The phrase “laugh, laugh at me, at me” contains repetitive language which suggests that she feels terribly humiliated and angry but we the readers do not know if ‘they’ are actually laughing at her or maybe it’s a notion
When Lancelot is going to see the Lady of Shallot, she knows she is stepping into dangerous waters, but still goes along with it. Her image of herself turns so bad, that the basically kills herself and unhappy and lonely woman. After she is dead, Lancelot sees her and only says that “She has a lovely face,” demonstrating that he only cared about her looks and not really her inner beauty. The Lady of Shallot is a round character because she changes throughout the short story. At the beginning, she believes in herself and who she is as a person, but she is lonely.