Steinbeck uses character relationships to create an impression of the characters so that the reader can begin to imagine what they are like. Curley’s wife is seen to be a lowly, devious woman by the majority in the farm that will do anything and hurt anyone to make herself feel better. As she is a woman, at the time she is seen as an inferior to the male workers. She is married to the bosses’ son, Curley, and their relationship is a poor one. We can see that Curley clearly treats her as a trophy wife as her name ‘Curley’s wife’ shows that she is practically his property and he owns her.
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. Aside from wearisome wives, Of Mice and Men offers limited, rather misogynistic, descriptions of women who are either dead maternal figures or prostitutes. Despite Steinbeck’s rendering, Curley’s wife emerges as a relatively complex and interesting character. Although her purpose is rather simple in the book’s opening pages—she is the “tramp,” “tart,” and “bitch” that threatens to destroy male happiness and longevity—her appearances later in the novella become more complex. When she confronts Lennie, Candy, and Crooks in the stable, she admits to feeling a kind of shameless dissatisfaction with her life.
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.
Women in the 1930’s were seen by men as scheming and devious. John Steinbeck perceived Curley’s wife as this woman that causes trouble on the farm, which is the cause for the Lennie’s ultimate end. However, we can see at the end of the novel that Curley’s wife is not just this “troublemaker” which the men perceive her as. She opens herself up to Lennie and shares her dreams in life. It shows that she too, like the men on the farm, has dreams too.
The title "Of Mice and Men". Firstly Steinbeck portrays Curley's wife as a lonely character. Newly married and in a strange place, she is forbidden by Curley to talk to anyone but him. To counter this, she constantly approaches the ranch hands on the excuse of looking for Curley. The only result is that the men regard her as a "slut", and Curley becomes even more intensely jealous.
Steinbeck presents her as a negative married woman. She has been presented first through the dialogue of ranch-hand Candy when he describes her to George. His opinion is very sexist towards Curley’s wife as he says “Curley married...a tart”. This shows Steinbeck presents her in a very crude manner. The word “tart” shows the immediate impression and effect Curley’s wife has on the other men on the ranch.
How does Brady over exaggerate her views? To start with, Brady takes this subject at hand in a very sensitive manner. During the 1960’s females were viewed as inferior to men, so raising touchy subjects such as a woman getting rights or developing into something other than a “house-wife” needed to be approached strategically. Brady approaches this subject by saying she “wants a wife” (179). Good wives were considered to cook, clean, take care of the children, and treat their husbands well.
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.
Oskar Dudkiewicz English Essay ; I'm going to compare the 2 protagonists named Lady Macbeth from Shakespeare and Curleys wife from Of mice and men . The social and historical context is important to establish because it affects both characters . They share some similarities ; but they also have some big differences such as , Lady Macbeth loves her husband where as Curleys wife hates her husband because he treats her like a comodity . Of mice and men is set in 1930s America after the Wall Street Crash which lead to the great depression . This caused mass unemployment and lots of people lost their jobs , they travelled to the countryside to find work on ranches .
What is also similar is that when the other ranch hands have a problem with either of the two they complain to their ‘owners’. When Carlson feels Candy’s dog is of no use he questions “why’n’t you just shoot him Candy?” And when controversy sparks over Curley and his wife Carlson again questions “why’n’t you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs?” This cruel comparison again shows how women were thought of In the 1930s America, the effect it has on the reader is also a cruel and sharp one. It makes the reader belittle Curley’s wife and not think much of her but however on the other hand it may make some readers sympathise with her and actually feel sorry for