The Lost and Lonely People of John Ernst Steinbeck (of Mice and Men)

The colour red is also used a lot to describe Curley's wife. Steinbeck describes her as having "rouged lips", "red mules" and "red ostrich feathers". Suggesting red is a colour that is associated with Curley's wife, and that she signifies danger. Adding to this, during Curley's wife's conversation with George and Lennie, "Lennie's eyes moved up and down her body". This immediately alerts the reader that Curley's wife is dangerous. As previously George and Lennie had to run from their last job in Weed, due to Lennie's attraction to petting soft things. After this conversation, George calls her "jailbait" and a "rattrap", he knows that she is dangerous, and warns Lennie to keep out of her way. It is evident from these points that Curley's wife is a dangerous and provocative character, and one that should be avoided.

Curleys wife -Curley 's wife 's loneliness has altered her demeanor towards others tremendously, making her overtly insecure and excessively flirtatious. Curley 's wife has become virtually another person because of loneliness. The men on the ranch avoid her because of flirtatious personality to keep out of trouble. No one understands her situation and how loneliness affects her. Her insecurity is evident by the way she dresses and utilizes her make-up. She uses her appearance to receive attention like when "[Curley 's Wife] was standing there looking in. She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters,

Curley’s wife is a lonely and Naïve, and that makes her an easy prey. She is the only woman on the ranch she is a lonely woman. Her husband, Curley, is a mean and over powering man, uses her to pick fights with other guys. He is a terrible husband who not only is mean to his wife but also leads us to believe that he beats her up. Curley’s wife usually would listen to her records but Curley even breaks those. Her flirtatious nature is what gets her into trouble, and that also leads her to her death. Lennie is a gentle giant who doesn’t mean to hurt anybody but accidentally does. In the case of Lennie, Curley’s wife does not know what she is getting in for. Curley’s wife flirtatious nature is a harsh reality but as an innocent person get her in to trouble.

Curley’s wife is probably one of the most misunderstood characters in the novel, often being looked down upon, or talked badly about. She is the only woman on the ranch, and who appears consistently throughout the novel. At one point, some of the workers are

Curleys wife is provocative with her body language as she is described to have “put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward” and “she looked at her fingernails”, she is very conscious of the affect she has on men and uses this to her advantage however her inappropriate clothes and her behavior I think are designed to provoke interest and attention rather than to invite intimacy, we later learn this is because of her loneliness in her marriage to Curley. Her loneliness is clear by her constant asking of the whereabouts of Curley proving she is just looking for an excuse to continue her conversation with the ranch workers.

Curley’s wife is a complicated character. She is unfaithful and bitter. But that’s only because she is extremely lonely and feels unwanted by her husband. She takes the feeling of dissatisfaction and projects it at all of the men on the ranch. She regrets the direction her life has taken but still has hope that she can achieve her dream. All the characters in the novel feel like outsiders and Curley’s wife is no

talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad at me." (91) Curley's wife tries to combat her loneliness by flirting with the other workers, but when they plainly turn her down in order to stay out of trouble, it just further adds to her loneliness.

Curley’s wife is a victim because Curley her husband, abuses and mistreats her. Curley is always curious and spectacle of where his wife is as if he does not trust her with other men. Commonly asked by Curley "y'all seen my wife around?". Perfectly explaining as of how low the trust is in their relationship. Curley is also presented a being one of the cockiest, if not the cockiest, on the ranch, despite his size. Everyone on the ranch can see it too, the Swamper says” He’s cockier then ever since he got married.” The way Curley act’s comes off as he has a good-looking wife just to present her looks off to other men on the ranch, as a way to show his power. Or is treated because Curley truly does not care about her, he is really not in love

During the 1930s, discrimination was present in many forms, from racial to sexual. Through Curley 's wife, John Steinbeck demonstrates the feelings of a typical woman during the Great Depression. Initially, Steinbeck provides a biased perception about Curley 's wife. She is described as a "‘jail bait '" (Steinbeck 32) and a "‘tart '" (28) by George in that she is very flirtatious and can get the men in trouble. She always appears in a red amorous dress and uses her excuse of looking for her husband to converse with the men. However, they do not sympathize with her at all. As stated in George 's quote, "‘ranch ain 't no place for a girl '" (51), she is forced to live in a male dominated society where her freedom and dreams are limited.

Curley’s Wife may be misinterpreted by most of the other workers at the same time, as there are times when she seems to snap out of the flirtatious character, and into the vulnerable human being persona. This character is introduced when she is confiding in Lennie about her ambition to be a Movie Star, but these attempts are being blocked by Curley. "Coulda been in the movies, and had nice clothes". This shows she want’s recognition She shows a very vulnerable and human character to us all when she goes as far as to tell Lennie her true feelings about Curley , “a nasty man”. This drives us away from the impression of Curley’s wife that she’s a vixen who sports fancy red shoes. This aspect of Curley’s Wife’s character tells us that she is a victim not of her actions, but of the stereotypical image of women. Also she's unnamed in the novel, possibly to add to her sense of loneliness or to show the insignificant role women played in that time/era in the eyes of males

Despite being the only female on a ranch full of foul-mouthed men, Curley’s wife exploits both her sexuality and her status to demonstrate power throughout the novel. For example, “Curley’s wife laughed at him “Baloney,” she said. “I seen too many you guys if you had two bits in the worl’, why you’d be in getting’ two shots of corn with it and suckin’ the bottom of the glass. I know you guys.” Candy’s face had gotten redder and redder, but before she was done speaking, he had control of himself” (79). More specifically, Curley’s wife is put off as a flirtatious no good tramp that doesn’t bring any good to the other guys: “Old Candy watched him go. He looked helplessly back at Curley’s wife, and gradually his sorrow and his anger grew into words.

Curley’s wife, on the other hand, is not insecure, but suffers from ostracism and isolation because she is a married woman. Michael Meyer points out, “…the hardship for a woman to live on the ranch as presented in the novel should not be ignored”. Curley’s wife only wants someone to talk with her, but the men on the ranch mistake her trying to start conversations as sexual advances: “I never seen nobody like her. She got the eye goin’ all the time on everybody… I don’t know what the hell she wants” (Steinbeck 51). They also ridicule her, calling her a

Curley's wife is cast out because she is a woman. Curley watches over her carefully since she is his wife and the only woman on the farm. Curley does not allow his wife to converse with the other workers because he is afraid she will be unfaithful. She complains that individually, the men are generally nice, but in groups, they shun her and are sometimes cruel. Since Curley's wife is oppressed, she lashes out at a target that is weaker than she is, which is usually Crooks. He does the same.

Another example of Curley’s wife being discriminated is the fact that the author calls her “Curley’s wife” to emphasise that she is not a woman in her own right. Curley also gets very possessive over her and gets

Curley’s wife is a young woman labeled as a “tart”. She is the only female on the ranch and that makes it hard for her to fit in. Curley’s wife acts out just to feel important and accepted. Her calm personality would never make someone think that she could easily express her loneliness by showing her affection to other men on the ranch just so she can feel the attention. Although she is never given a real name people also labeled her as “Curley’s wife” and that most likely makes her feel less important.