Almost everyone on the ranch is lonely and she symbolizes this. The audience would come to believe she is a weak isolated character however, the men are fearful of her. She is the wife of their boss. She has power and this power creates fear among the ranch workers. She is both in charge and screaming for attention.
She is portrayed as a 'tart' (28) and as a flirtatious lady who is going to cause the men trouble (32). Her alienation stems from not having anyone to converse with other than her husband Curley. Also her efforts at conversing with the other males of the ranch went poorly as she was many a time rejected. For example when she tried to talk to George he shrugs her off as much as he can (32). Since she does
Even Curley. I know where they all went.” This shows us that Curley’s wife is aware of what men in the society are like but she still decides to stay with him because she had no choice – highlights the inferior of women. Another way that Curley tries to prove himself to the ranchmen is by constantly finding opportunities to vigorously pick a fight – especially with Lennie to demonstrate his power against everyone else. “No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me.” Shows us that he does this to resent himself from being a smallish man, this can reflect on him knowing that his size is his weakness in comparison to Lennie’s bear-like physical features. All this gives the reader an idea that men in the 1930s were careless and they would do anything to prove their authority – no matter what.
Explore the way in which Steinbeck creates sympathy for and dislike of the character of Curley’s Wife in Of Mice And Men. John Steinbeck creates both sympathy and dislike for the character of Curley’s wife in Of Mice and Men through her physical description along through the use of a number of literary techniques such as metaphor, juxtaposition and imagery – ‘’heavily made up’’ and ‘’the ache for attention were all gone from her face’’ – revealing a redemption of the pejorative description giving to her at the start as well as a moulded identity. Paragraph 1 - Steinbeck reveals Curley’s Wife as an outsider forming an initial indifferent perception of her. The fact that she stands in the ‘’doorway’’ of the bunkhouse is suggestive that she has obscured the light and darkens the room with her presence. She is classified as an outsider, portraying that she is inadequate in having the ability to interact with others.
How far do you agree? A C B Two characters that are important in Of Mice and Men are Curley’s Wife and Crooks. Steinbeck uses these characters to communicate how American society in the 1930s was sexist and racist. From His presentation of Curley’s Wife and Crooks, through what they say and do and what other characters say about them, Steinbeck shows that he did not share society’s prejudices and we see how hard life was for women and black people. Of Mice and Men is a novel that celebrates friendship and the power of dreams; it is also a novel that ends with the tragic deaths of Curley’s Wife and Lennie.
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.
John Reed, Jane’s cruel cousin, mocks her poverty, which was consequently led by the death of her parents. He exclaims: she has “no money”, since “your father left you none”; in the 19th century the males would be the ultimate provider of the house, in addition, to an extremely class based society, a father who did not earn a good enough salary to leave after his death, would also direct children to defamation in the eyes of the public. Many children left parentless, who had no other connection to relatives, would alternatively conclude to begging on the streets. John Reed strongly despises Jane’s presence in his household due to her misfortunate social and financial status, regardless of her parents death driven away from her control, it is clear in his eyes she “ought to beg” to now survive. John Reed potentially has the ability to be labelled as cruel, for his vicious attack and un-required mockery of Jane’s financial state, but John Reed grew in such a society where it was known no different.
Women were viewed as men’s property so they had to do whatever the husband wanted them to do. Also they did the entire domestic work and look after the children. These views affected their lives as they couldn’t do many things like sue their husband for adultery, for beating them and if they tried to run away they’d be captured by the police and bought back to the husband. The women had to look after children and the domestic work which people then thought that this was all they were good for so they didn’t give them a good education or a well paying job. Finally the men didn’t think much of women for doing things that they could.
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.
The marriage between her and Torvald was not a true marriage; they never understood each other and never talked about serious matters. Nora knew that they have to transform themselves; otherwise they would not live a joyful life. Therefore Nora left to transform herself; she abandoned her husband and children for everyone’s good. The innate desire to be like a man, to have responsibilities, and to earn money