This perception is further emphasized by Curley’s Wife’s first appearance in the novel. Steinbeck shows that she can be trouble and perhaps danger when the “rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off”. Showing that something dark has entered the room. Her physical appearance of “full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made-up” as well as painted fingernails and elaborate hair, further builds up on our first thoughts of her. She also acts flirtatiously in front of the other ranch workers.
He insinuates that she gives all the guys ‘the eye’ and is a loose woman. It is not until later in the chapter when we actually meet Curley’s wife for the first time when she drops by at the bunkhouse, supposedly looking for her husband. George had just been telling Lennie where to hide if he gets into trouble when Curley’s wife suddenly appears at the doorway, her figure blocking out the sunlight. Steinbeck is warning the audience that this woman will cast a shadow over their future dreams. Next we are given a full physical description of Curley’s wife.
But, we also come to an understanding of the tragedy of life. Regardless of the sufferings of those who live it, life goes on. One of the most significant characters in John Steinbeck's novel "Of mice and men," is Curley’s wife, as she is known to the audience. The only women on the ranch she is the wife of the boss's son. She does not have a name because she does not have her own identity.
Tori Findlen English 3° 4-23-13 Curley’s Wife Analysis What causes a girl to leave everything she knows to marry a man she has just met? Curley’s wife in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men knows exactly what the catalyst may be. In the novel, the two main characters are Lennie Small and George Milton. Lennie is a disabled man, so George is in charge of taking care of him. The novel starts when Lennie and George are on their way to a new ranch looking for jobs.
Curley’s wife is a character in ‘Of Mice and Men’ who is initially perceived as flirtatious and promiscuous however as the novel unfolds so does her personality and we begin to understand why she acts the way she does. Much of her behaviour can be traced back to the effects sexism had on women in America in the 1930s. She is lonely, with no other women on the ranch to relate to; her dreams have been lost and buried due to conformity and her final attempt at friendship with Lennie who she sees as someone with boundaries like herself ends in fatality. The phrase ‘lonely in a crowd’ is one that springs to mind when discussing Curley’s wife, she is surrounded by people but just can’t seem to find the attention she desires. When we are primarily introduced to her we can sense she may cause trouble among the men.
Ot having a name also shows that although she was a somewhat significant character in Steinbeck's novel in real life and in that period women in general are not especially this one. All these people were forced into isolation; everyone of them had his or her version of a dream in the hope it would bring upon them a better life at the time mostly referred as ‘The American Dream’. Curley’s Wife is the center of Stienbeck's novel and her importance in the novel is of how she is the downfall of the Dream- it is because of her (or, rather, because Lennie kills her) that the dream dies. Curley's wife, dressed in red, foreshadows the danger her character gives. In her first appearance she stands in the doorway and blocks out the sun- this physical darkening is metaphorical of her darkening of the dream.
“Well you ain’t tryin’ very hard. I seen him goin’ in your house.” He replied. This shows us that that Curley’s Wife wasn’t really looking for Curley and was just using that for an excuse to go into the barn. Curley’s Wife is shown to be trampy by many of her actions and her appearances in the novel. To the men on the farm she is considered as a "tart", a woman trying to escape her husband.
Her charisma and confidence is made clear when the mother states, “She would always look anyone in the eye. Hesitation was no part of her nature” (Walker 313). The mother also tells of Dee’s younger sister, Maggie, who has been scarred by a house fire. In the story, Walker writes that upon seeing her older sister, Maggie was “eyeing her with a mixture of awe and envy.” However, in addition to conjuring these descriptions of confidence and elegance, the mother also describes the darker aspects of Dee’s personality. Elements of criticism, judgment, and pettiness are all made apparent.
This is used in the last line of the poem ‘Bide you with death and sin’; this symbolised her outrage at her sister and her hope that she will pay by going to hell after death. The word ‘Bide’ implies that she will have to live with what she has done, even after death. In contrast, Farmers Bride uses sibilance to emphasise that there are few good point about their relationship; ‘sweet as the wild violets, she, /To her wild self’ this symbolises his love and admiration for her, which is short lived as je cannot get near her. The word ‘wild’ has connotations of unspoilt freedom and rejection of people suggesting that she would rather be with nature than with another person, particularly a male. In sister Maude juxtaposition is used to show the emotion change from one stanza to the next.
The character, Curley's wife, of the novel "of mice and men" is an example how the readers perception of a character changed without the character actually changing. This is demonstrated by the way that George and Lennie are warned about Curley's wife and how she is portrayed as a seductive, troublemaker. As the story continues, stienbeck slowly reveals her secrets, the real Curley's Wife is found. Stienbeck influences our opinion of curleys through other characters opions. She is first mentioned in the narrative when Candy describes her togeorge.