Sexism Of Curley's Wife

Essay about Curley’s wife Curley’s wife is the only female character in the novel Of Mice of Men; Curley’s wife is never given a name and is only referred to in reference to her husband. Like the other people on the ranch, she is very lonely and has dreams of a better life which never come true. The author John Steinbeck introduces Curley’s wife in a symbolic ness way, this is shown when George is talking to Lennie about the dream and when Curley’s wife first meets both the men. “Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off.

' “ (Steinbeck 32). Curley 's Wife, innocent just like Crooks, is also judged and persecuted by others. She is not even given a name, which does not give her any dignity. Curly’s wife is always called out by the ranchers. Even after her own tragic death Curley 's Wife is still seen as the cause of trouble. Candy believes that Curley 's Wife is at fault. Candy lets his anger out on Curley 's Wife because he has more power than her, “ 'You God damn tramp, ' he said viciously. 'You done it di 'n 't you? I s 'pose you 're glad. Ever 'body knowed you 'd mess things up. You wasn 't no good. You ain 't no good now, you lousy tart. ' “ (Steinbeck 95). Candy calling out Curley 's Wife represents society treating her as a cast off. Curley 's Wife is lonely because she is the only woman on the ranch, however because of this, she is always being treated cruelly and without respect.

the doorway of the bunkhouse and talks to Lennie and George. She is 'heavily made

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

Curley’s wife from John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is an important character to the plot and themes of the novel. She is first introduced as the new wife of Curley who is very flirtatious. She grew up in Salinas and had dreams of being a Hollywood actress. However, her mother would not allow her to follow her dreams since she was only sixteen. So, she married Curley, who she met at a dance, and lives on the ranch with him and the other ranch workers. Throughout the novel, Curley's wife shows that she has a ignorant and flirtatious personality but is also very lonely.

She has no friends and no one takes the time to listen to her. As the only woman on the ranch she has nobody to turn to. Curley doesn’t appreciate her or take the time to talk to her. When she goes to Crook’s stable her emotions overtake her and she admits her loneliness, “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in awhile? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?” (77) She is always stuck in the house either alone or with Curley. Curley just ignores her and doesn't give her the attention that she wants. So she finds it from other men. As the only woman she has only the workers for company. She is isolated and all alone. She only gets attention when she flirts with the men, nobody appreciates her for anything else. They all know she’s unfaithful and flirty, so when alone with her they take advantage of her. The men on the ranch only give her attention if it is to flirt with her,“”If I catch any one man, and he’s alone, I get along fine with him. But just let two of the guys get together an’ you won’t talk...Ever’ one of you’s scared the rest is goin’ to get something on you.”” (77) The guys on the ranch only pay attention to her when they are alone with her. So they can mess around with her without the other workers knowing. They especially don’t want Curley to find out. It’s hard for Curley’s wife to feel at home on the ranch when no one wants to be her friend.

Curley’s wife perfectly represents the “average woman” in America in the 1930s. She would like to depend less on her husband, she has a fantasy of becoming a renowned actress and she feels secluded and miserable. She has to live in a

She seems untrustworthy a quote from George in the book is "Well I think Curley 's married a tart"

The character of Curley’s Wife is very hard to unravel, as throughout the book, Steinbeck’s representation of women through characters such as George and Candy, is very harsh. This is because the sociological opinion at that time was that they were either, mothers, sisters, or prostitutes,

Curley’s wife constantly complains how lonely she is as Curley is not around most of the time. This drives her to wander about the ranch talking to other men and questioning them about Curley's whereabouts. As most of the men are in town, Curley’s wife wanders to the barn where Candy, Crooks, and Lennie are currently located. The men question why she is there and see her as a nuisance. But, she stays and discusses her struggles with loneliness. “‘I get lonely,’ she said, ‘You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley, else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to nobody’” (Steinbeck 87). In other words, Curley’s wife is left alone by Curley so much that she feels the need to talk to anybody that she finds. This is why she wanders about the ranch all day and talks to any men she can find. This demonstrates how women were treated during this time; they were thought to be unimportant and were often left alone by their spouses. Curley’s wife did not have a name, which shows how unimportant she really is. Women were thought to be of no use, leaving them to not have the ability to achieve the American dream.

George Milton and Lennie Small are drifters, struggling to hold a job to achieve their American dream; owning their own ranch. The author, John Steinbeck uses examples that reinforce gender stereotypes throughout the short story Of Mice and Men. Curley’s wife is considered poor and is married to the ranch owner’s son. This can be found as the disrespect of Curley’s wife by all of the men on the ranch. This links to the gender stereotype that women are only an object or possession to men. The gender stereotype is that all of the men are all hard working every day with labour intensive jobs on the ranch, however Curley’s wife just flirts with all the men. The last stereotype is that all women are manipulative and lie. Steinbeck plays on these

Sexism and racism were two of the most important factors Curly’s wife brought to the novel, we see how women were treated with no respect and were just looked upon as just objects with no feelings and they were for men to push around; we also see that this truly affects curly’s wife by the fact that the only way for her to get noticed, is to act like flirtatious and mean to everyone. Racism is approached in the novel by the fact that crooks is not treated the same as everyone else, curly’s wife calls him a racist name and threatens to hang him if he back chat her again. This shows that even though women were treated badly, but black people were treated worse. Maybe some women expressed their anger with society and how they were treated on black people because in Steinbeck’s days, no one would care if you mistreat a black person. In the novel almost everyone has a dream and in the end, everyone’s dreams are crushed because of curly’s wife presence. Life was tough in George and Lennie’s times and the only way for people to stay hopeful was to create a dream that will motivate them to keep living; mostly everyone’s dream was to own a farm of

With no moral support from people around her she in unable to find a way to be who she wants to be. She says that she was told she had everything needed to be in the movies, to be a successful actress, and that instead of being in the ranch, she could've been out there. She often finds herself leaning towards Lennie, making attempts to actually win a friend for once, telling him her story and that she wishes she would've just went with the guy to become an actress. Loneliness and isolation are a big part of her not being able to achieve her goals. She ends up setting for someone who does not care for her, who pushes her aside as if she's nothing. Maybe she could have been someone if it wasn't for her need for a friend and support. Curley's wife could have been an actress known nationwide, if she didn't depend on others, if only she would have just went for it, believing in herself

One character in the story does not even have a name: Curley’s wife. Steinbeck illustrates her as someone who is a pawn of those around her. On the surface, she is reduced to a rude and selfish woman. But, if one looks deeper, Curley’s wife’s gender and class hinder her high aspirations and reduces her to ridicule. Her husband restricts her contact with others and does not show any affection towards her. She reveals this while

<br>Curley's wife is not the only one dreaming of a better life, all the characters struggling in this novel are dreaming of moving away and making something of themselves.