In John Steinbeck’s novella “Of nice and men”, John introduced us to a character called Curley’s wife, she plays a complex and misfit character in this novella as no one else in this novella relates to her. In this essay I will discuss her The first mention of Curley’s wife was when Candy describes her to George in the bunk house. Candy gives us a strong impression that Curley’s wife is flirtatious and even promiscuous female before we even meet her. As he says that “she’s get the eye” which means instead of being faithful to her husband. She tends to look for other male ranchers.
Curley made life really unpleasent for his wife on the ranch. He never had a proper conversation with her throughout the book and never cared how she felt. Curley kept “his hand soft for his wife” and went around showing off to other men about it. Curley is always resentful and angry towards everyone on the ranch, he has a problem with big men even though he is described as small in the book. Everyone on the ranch called Curleys Wife a ''tart'' because she flirts and the ranch men said ''Shes got the eyes''.
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.
Another character is Curley's wife who is very lonely. Steinbeck shows lonliness by showing her only women on the ranch. She is lonely because at that time author is writing ,women were used to stay at home and not allowed to go out. She always flirts with the male workers of the ranch to seek attention.She always try to talk to somebody but no one is ready to talk to her. For evidence she said to Lennie,"I never get to talk to nobody.
Further, she does little to hide these flirtations from her husband, though they’re likely to infuriate him and make him feel even smaller. As the only woman on the ranch, Curley’s wife is lonely and sad; something her marriage to Curley only makes worse. She reveals throughout the course of the story that she is unhappy in her marriage because her husband seems to care little for her, and is really more interested in talking about himself than anything else. She is constantly searching for her husband, “I’m looking for Curley.” Although, this may be just an excuse to mingle with the men and have some company. Curley’s wife barges in on Lennie, Crooks, and Candy in Chapter Four.
Like the ranch-hands, she is desperately lonely and has broken dreams of a better life. Curley’s wife: Of Mice and Menis not kind in its portrayal of women. In fact, women are treated with contempt throughout the course of the book. Steinbeck generally depicts women as troublemakers who bring ruin on men and drive them mad. 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.
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.
Feminist Criticism of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the nameless protagonist is a woman who is completely isolated and has no say in anything that regards her own life. Her husband John does what he believes to be what’s best for her, but in fact, is the complete opposite. It is this sequestration, brought on to her by her own husband, which led to her insanity. John loves his wife, and she knows it. However, he is quite stubborn and the lack of communication in their relationship is very unhealthy.
In the 1930s America, women were seen as inferior to women. They were deprived of many rights and their default position was thought to be at home. Married women were by law forbidden to work and those unmarried were reduced to the worst jobs of society. In Of Mice and Men which is essentially a poignant tale about the friendship between two men, Steinbeck presents to us an unvaried sample of women. One of which actually speaks and appears for herself in person and another who although appears to have some moral values is “dead” and only appears through Lennie as a figment of his imagination.
Because of her apparent sexuality, the men on the ranch ignore and never want anything to do with her. But because she is Curley's wife and Curley is an easily wound up former boxer, they see her as trouble. All of the men are sure that she would try to seduce them and then they would get in trouble and be fired by the boss. So, she's only ever allowed to talk to Curley and always feels lonely because of it. She doesn't like Curley in the least and doesn't enjoy being around him.