Curley's Wife Misunderstood Character Analysis

Curley’s wife has no female friends on the farm; this forces her to tell Lennie “Why can't I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody.” in the hope that he will understand her loneliness (86). Curley's wife is trying to tell Lennie that she terribly needs to talk to someone as she barely does ever speak to no-one since they do not listen to her. The people of the ranch do not care for her, leading to her loneliness. She believes that she would make it to the movies one day. She says to Lennie “I coulda made somethin of myself... maybe I will yet “ (124). She is so lonesome, she wants to believe in herself as having a future ahead of her, but of course, she doesn't. Her innocence caused her to believe that she would one day leave this place. When Curley’s wife is Killed by Lennie, Steinbeck describes Curley's wife as a prettier figure “the meanness and . . . ache for attention were all gone from her face” (128). Now that Curley's wife is dead, she now looks happy and has escaped from her loneliness. She finally escaped her prison of

The next time Steinbeck presents Curleys wife is in her conversation with Lennie, Candy and Crooks. In this extract we see how Curleys wife clearly enjoys having power over others and because she is the only girl on the ranch she is prone to discrimination by being made to feel like one of Curleys possessions. We first get

In the 1930s women were not treated with the same respect that they are today. This is shown by the way Curley's wife is portrayed in the novel "Of Mice and Men". In this book Curley's wife is shown to be troublesome at first. In the first pages after she is introduced her purpose is made obvious, she is the “tramp” that threatens peace and happiness on the ranch. Later on during the novel we are shown that there is more to Curley’s wife than a “tart” or “jailbait” she is really just lonely and unhappy with her life.

All the evidence shows that Curley, along with his character development, are as a matter of fact, sexist. Curley having no sorrow upon his wife’s death, having her around for his pleasure, and treating her as his possession is just some of the proof that makes it evident to readers that the sexist theory is plausible. Sexism has long been a deep rooted issue in human behavior. In many situations, even today, some of the actions readers see in this literary piece, could take place leaving one to believe chauvinism still exists. Since the 1920s and 30s, women have become much more outspoken about their abuse and unfair treatment from men and have insisted on becoming part of what at one time was considered a “man’s world.”

In Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife is shown as a very unpleasant character. For example, while Lennie, Candy and Crookes were in Crooks’ room discussing their ranch, she walks in and says “Listen, Nigger...” “...You keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” (Pg 88 and 89). This shows she is taking advantage of the fact she’s the boss’s son’s wife, and uses her position of power

Many women worked as prostitutes and such, to earn a living or two and that is where Steinbeck’s idea of Curley’s wife, derives from. In the text, she is continuosly referred to as a “rattrap”, “bitch” and “jail-bait”. Even her introduction to the book somewhat describes her as dangerous and dark, as Steinbeck says, she “cut off” the sunshine when she entered the bunkhouse and the description of her lips as “rouged” and her nail polish as “red” associate Curley’s wife with danger. Considering the fact that she is looked upon as a “whore”, none of the men at ranch approach her, thus abandoning her presence and illustrating her as a leper. Steinbeck’s vivid imagery and prejudice of Curley’s wife based on the circumstances of the Great Depression, result her loneliness.

In Of Mice and Men, the workers on the farm continuously judge Curley's wife. Knowing her beauty, Curley’s wife tried to flirt with the other workers to receive more attention from her husband. Due to her ways, most of the workers ignore her and label her as a “tart” and a “whore”, all of the other workers shut her out as if she were a speck of dust. After finding Lennie all alone, Curley’s wife finally lets all her emotions speak,” Her face grew angry. ‘Wha’s the matter with me?’

She’s described as Curley’s most valuable possession. When we first meet Curley’s wife, she appears to be wearing a lot of makeup and fancy clothes along with red fingernails. She dresses like a “whore” and George and Candy often refer to her as “Jailbait” or “tart.” “…but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her.” (Pg. 32) Woman back then didn’t have the same respect that men did and were often seen as an object. This is the case for Curley’s wife. Curley is just using her to show that he has more power than the other men and that he is better than them. Curley’s wife knows that her beauty is power and she uses it to manipulate other men into talking to her to make Curley jealous, but no one can ever talk to her without fearing a beating from Curley. She really doesn’t like Curley and hates being alone on the ranch. “I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella” (Pg. 89) Curley’s wife had a chance at fame and she was totally capable of doing it, but in the end, her dream didn’t come true. Her beauty is such that maybe her dream might have come true. Those dreams alone make her more human and vulnerable. Steinback shows this by demonstrating her innocence in death. “Curley's wife lay with a half-covering of yellow hay. And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly. The curls, tiny little sausages, were spread on the hay behind her head, and her lips were parted.” (Pg. 93) Steinback uses Curley’s wife as a way of showing that even the worst of us have our

Overall, I feel both sympathize and not sympathize for Curley’s wife. I sympathize for her tragedy marriage to a guy who never cares about her feelings and doesn’t give her any freedom. She’s mostly owned by Curley, and not being able to do anything without his permission. We can tell this by Steinbeck didn’t even give her a proper name. We call her “Curley’s wife”, which clearly shows how she’s owned by Curley rather than being independent. I don’t feel sympathize for her, because the way she treats other people, such as Lennie, Crooks and Candy. She needs to learn how to respect, support or encourage others, rather than

Curley's wife is the loneliest because she is isolated due to her reputation. The firsts person Curley’s wife talked to was Lennie and how she approached him was nice but Lennie just kept rejecting to talk to her because George had said she was gonna cause nothing but trouble. Steinbeck illustrates how even though Lennie didn't know Curley's wife he wanted to get away from her because of what he was told. Steinbeck describes Curley's wife's isolation,”George says I ain't to have nothing to do with you-talk to you or nothing.” (86).Lennie scared in a way because George had said that she was nothing but trouble also Lennie didn't want to get in trouble for talking to her because then he wasn't going to be able to tend the rabbits. Not only

Curley's wife is described as a flirty, outgoing young lady. As the reader continues through each chapter they learn that Curley's wife only talks to men on the ranch, even though Curley told her not to. Since she seeks attention from men only she is looked at as a slut. “She wore her bright cotton dress and the mules with red ostrich feathers” (Pg86). Here she

As George gets to know more about Curley’s wife he begins to not like her. He tries to tell Lennie that she is trifling “Well, you keep away from her, ‘cause she’s a rat-trap if I ever seen one” “Don’t you even take a look at that bitch. I don’t care what she says and what she does” (Steinbeck 32). The next character that responds to Curley’s Wife negatively is Candy. Candy treats Curley’s wife brutal because towards the end of the novel he refuses to talk to her.

Curley's wife is the loneliest and an outcasted character on the ranch because of her gender. One of the times we see Curley’s wife as the loneliest when Curley's wife is in Crook’s barn looking for Curley. Curley’s wife said, “—Sat'day night. Ever'body out doin' som'pin'. Ever'body! An' what am I doin'? Standin' here talkin' to a bunch of bindle stiffs—a nigger an' a dum-dum and a lousy ol' sheep—an' likin' it because they ain't nobody else" (Steinbeck 78). Most people on a Saturday night are with friends having a good time and not alone. Also, because Curley’s wife is the only women on the ranch, she doesn’t really have any other women to talk to or hang out with. She is always by herself. Finally, Curley’s wife tries to be friends with the guys, but her way looks like she is flirting with them.

In the novel not only did Curley’s wife demonstrates what it truly means to be women but also how it also feels to be one in the 1930’s. When almost every man in the nation sincerely thought of females as extremely unimportant and even pointless in society. One way Steinbeck shows how unfair and unjust civilization became in the 1930’s by slightly exposing all of the male characters and their true color towards Curley’s wife when she interacts with them. But just like Curley wife she and many others also needed to bear the loneliness and isolation from men and everyone else. Unlike the injustice and unfairness, women faced most men actually faced the opposite it and enjoyed many open opportunities and chances life gave them. While women powerlessly

In Steinbeck’s novel “ Of Mice And Men”, Curley’s wife is often put down by the other characters due to her behaviour and appearance. As she is the only lady on the ranch, she can be seen as representing the majority of women in 1930’s America, in the male dominated world. Steinbeck's portrayal of women in this book is not kind, as they are often depicted as “jailbait” and “whores”, however, during The Great Depression, this treatment was normal. Yet perhaps, Curley’s wife is not a “tramp” at heart, and is only either acting like this because she is expected to, or just treated this way due to misogynistic society that she lives in.