The men make her seem like she was a bad person, but in reality she was just lonely. Curley’s wife is the loneliest character in the novel. At the end of the novel you finally understand what Curley’s wife is really like and what she has bottled up inside of her. Curley’s wife is a complex character and it requires some thought to truly understand what kind of a person she is. By the end, it comes to realization that Curley’s wife is dependent, unenthusiastic, and naïve.
In essence she is a dictator and takes advantage of the other workers, and the patients. Nurse Ratched humiliates the poor patients, which makes them lose faith in humanity, and lose their dignity. They no longer feel like they are men because during the therapy meetings she always makes them talk about topics that are reasons for why their life is horrible. During the therapy
She is introduced as a temptress or “looker” but later reveals a deeper character in the novel. Curley’s wife is powerless due to her gender. In the book, women are portrayed as troublemakers and Curley’s wife is defiantly included in this portrayal. She is described as a “tart”, “bitch”, and a “tramp”. The workers speak of her, basically, as Curley’s problem that needs to stay at home away from the other workers.
Miss Strangeworth tries to wear an innocent mask, but actually she is cruel. Jackson uses symbolism to support the theme of “The Possibility of Evil” by naming the main character Miss Strangeworth. The name Strangeworth demonstrates that the character is unordinary. Miss Strangeworth is different from everyone else because she writes cruel letters that are based on gossip, not facts. For example she writes, “HAVE TOU FOUND OUT YET WHAT THEY WERE ALL LAUGHING ABOUT AFTER YOU LEFT THE BRIDGE CLUB ON THURSDAY?
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.
People of color had no rights in America; they were considered sometimes 'unfit' for the world. Women too had very little rights. The workers ended to be losers and loners and Curley's wife whose name we don't hear throughout this novel, was no different to them in terms of loneliness that's probably why she would chat up men. Curley's wife. 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.
Women have always been thought of as the less domineering sex. All through history females have fought the stereotypes of being simple housewives with no greater use then producing babies and maintaining a household. This repression, combined with the social systems of years past has lead woman to feel inferior and naturally acquire an internal dependency toward the males in their lives who are viewed as superior. Many notable characters in literature have carried out the role of this inferior spouse and are no doubt created from the hostility of oppression women have felt for hundreds of years. We see two of these characters in Delia from Zora Neale Hurston’s story “Sweat” and John’s wife in Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s story “The Yellow Wallpaper”.
Women, it seems, are the ones most often at the mercy of the lottery. The women in the story seem to have the least amount of work ethic. The lottery’s choice of Tessie Hutchinson was easily predicted. Her lack of work ethic was displayed as she was the only member of the town to arrive to the lottery late (Spark Notes, 2008). The same theme of subordination of women, especially in marriage, holds true in The Yellow Wallpaper.
Steinbeck’s use of one female character called Curley’s wife is a very recognisable character, but with Steinbeck never giving her a name, indicates that she has no identity between many of the male ranch workers. Also, the use of Curley’s wife symbolizing all the women in the 1930’s tells us that women had no position within the working world. On the other hand, women were seen to be well appreciated, especially if they were married. Whereas Curley’s wife wonders around the bunk houses full of men trying to act flirtatious as we have established in the previous paragraphs. In the second interaction we have with Curley’s wife.
Heroines are supposed to be “good” women. While a lot of ideas and values change from century to century, some things don’t change for heroines. Until recently, all heroines had to have one thing in common: she had to be true to her man, and put him and their children before herself. Because of this, there don’t seem to be many legends about women in the past. Legends have to change through the years or no one could relate to them.