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.
Curley’s wife is presented as a dream destroyer and a flirt in this novel, however Steinbeck suggests that there is a more complex character. She is a product of an evil, social, and economics environment of the 1930s; It was a society which degraded women. Curley’s wife puts herself out there as a desperate flirt, but while she’s flirting with guys she’s only looking for someone she can talk to. When Curley’s wife is talking to Lennie she tells him how she doesn’t get to express her feelings while living on the farm. She realizes that Lennie has mental disabilities therefore decides to talk to him because she knows he will stay.
She has no friends therefore has a lonely existence. Our first impression of Curley’s wife is by the men on the ranch and what they think about her. Some of the words the men use to describe her include ‘‘tart’’ ‘‘jail-bait’’ and ‘‘she got the eye.’’ These all describe her to be dangerous before we first see her. When we’re first introduced to Curley’s wife she is heavily made up with red lipstick and red ostrich feathers both of which symbolise sexuality as well as danger. She has a very flirtatious nature which makes her husband jealous.
Curley’s wife would always try to show more of herself, and of course the reaction of the men was to call her a “tramp” and a “rat trap”. This is also subtly changing the readers view. We can see that all the men on the Ranch feel the same way about her. Steinbeck almost puts you in the position of Lennie and George, so whenever she insults them, so also insults you, further exaggerating what you feel about Curley’s wife. For example, when she says “They left all the weak ones here” all the men ignore her to let her know that she isn’t wanted, and Crooks tells her to get out.
Steinbeck makes us feel dislike by manipulating us into think she’s seeking attention inappropriately. George is talking to Lennie in chapter 2 when Curley’s wife enters: “a girl stood glancing in”. The word girl has connotations of innocence and naivety yet this is juxtaposed with the contrast description of her posture which is sexually provocative: “she threw her body forward”. George is talking to Lennie and telling him not to talk to anyone, then Curley’s wife enters: “both men glanced up as the rectangle of sunshine was cut off”. When she “cuts off “the “rectangle of sunshine”.
Curley’s wife, who walks the ranch as a temptress, seems to be a prime example of this destructive tendency—Curley’s already bad temper has only worsened since their wedding. Aside from wearisome wives, Of Mice and Men offers limited, rather misogynistic, descriptions of women who are either dead maternal figures or prostitutes. Despite Steinbeck’s rendering, Curley’s wife emerges as a relatively complex and interesting character. Although her purpose is rather simple in the book’s opening pages—she is the “tramp,” “tart,” and “bitch” that threatens to destroy male happiness and longevity—her appearances later in the novella become more complex. When she confronts Lennie, Candy, and Crooks in the stable, she admits to feeling a kind of shameless dissatisfaction with her life.
How does Steinbeck present Curley’s wife in Chapter two? Throughout the book, the reader never discovers Curley’s wife’s name. This in itself is a significant message, suggesting that she is merely his property and therefore has no need of a name, and she isn’t considered equal to the men. Before we even meet her, Steinbeck gives a strong impression that she is; in Candy’s words ‘a tart’. The author makes it clear that the men think she is not worthy of respect, and believe she is simply ‘jail bait’.
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.
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.
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.