Curleys Wife Essay

389 Words2 Pages
We first hear about Curley’s Wife when Candy describes her to George and Lenny. Candy uses expressions such as “she got the eye” and proceeds to describe her as looking at other men before eventually calling a “tart”. Through Candy’s words we develop the initial perception of Curley’s Wife as flirtatious and even promiscuous. The perception is emphasized when Curley’s Wife first makes an appearance. Steinbeck uses light symbolically when he writes, ‘The rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off’ by using this metaphor, Steinbeck is still giving the impression that she is an unpleasant character. Women in the 1930’s weren’t treated equally to that of men. This is shown in the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ One example of this is Curley’s Wife is ignored by the men and even her own husband ‘You ain’t wanted here’ Curleys Wife is never given a name in the novel. She is merely a procession of Candy, 'Curly's wife', just a name yet a symbol of how women were then regarded by their husbands, as a possession, a belonging owned only by men. When Curley's wife married him she became 'his', everything she owned became his, Steinbeck could be emphasising this authority and power by having Curly even take her name, so she no longer has her own name but now everyone associates Curley with her, she is no longer her own person. The use of a possessive apostrophe emphasises the point even further that she belongs to him and he controls her, although she can try to push the boundaries of society's rules and expectations, he will always be there to stop her as she is dominated by him. Much like many women in 1930's America who had a lack of importance as they were male dominated. Women held little respect during this era, they had no choice, no voice and no right to vote, they were categorised along with the insane and children. In the novel she says 'They left the
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