The Role Of Women In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Curley’s wife had no friends. She lived on a ranch flooding with men, so she was always alone. All she wanted to do was talk to someone, but Curley forbid it. Curley’s wife says, “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 to not talk to anybody (page 87).” The men on the ranch misunderstood her and her feelings. They figured she would come around to start trouble.

In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck, there are very interesting characters, including Curley’ wife or, in other words, “his possession”. At the beginning of the novel, Curley’s wife is described as a” tart”. She was given that name by the ranch heads. Physically, she had a fascinating fashion style. She would always have her fingernails painted red, her makeup would always be worn heavily and she had a thing for feathers, which she would have worn on her shoes. The guys on the ranch thought she was attractive but they weren't looking forward to any trouble with her husband, so they kept their distance from her.

As a reader, we begin to relate with Curley 's wife when she enters Crook 's residence where Crooks is talking to George and Lennie. She enters the room, pretending to be looking for Curley. The men respond to her negatively and act coldly towards her. She begins to talk about her loneliness and how she does not want to be seen as an item, and live her own life. "...Think I don 't like to talk to somebody ever ' once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?"

Curley’s wife acts very provocative, playful, childish and flirtatious, this is because she is very lonely and has no power at all. Nobody knows the real person she is because no one ever dares to get in trouble with her. Curley’s wife is often presented negatively by Steinbeck such as when she is cruel to crooks after his hopes have been raised by the dream. This is easily shown when Curley’s wife snaps at Crooks. “keep your place then, Nigger.

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

' “ (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.

John Steinbeck uses different methods to present Curley’s Wife and women in the 1930s. Throughout the novella Steinbeck represents women to be lower in society than men. In the novella women only have three different roles. A wife, an aunt and prostitutes. Steinbeck uses these roles to show the roles of women in society. Curley’s wife, Aunt Clara and Susy and Clara from the cathouse represent he microcosm of the women in American society.

Curley’s Wife was a subject of Prejudice because she was a woman. During the 1930’s a woman’s place was to be at home raising a family, also women were seen as second class citizens and property of their husbands. Before we meet Curley’s Wife, the reader already has an opinion of her because of what the character Candy calls her- “jail bait”; George calls her a “tramp”. It’s implied that she is a tart and a promiscuous woman; she craves the attention her husband doesn’t give her.

Curley’s wife is treated with very little respect because of the small amount of power she has, which depicts Steinbeck’s lesson that people with less power are treated differently and then go on to treat others unequally, as well. Curley’s wife has a flirty reputation and often goes to talk to the men on the ranch even though she knows she shouldn't be. Shortly after Lennie and George are first introduced to Curley’s wife, George remarks, “Gosh, she was purty.” George is shocked and fiercely tells Lennie, “Don't you even take a look at that bitch. I don't care what she says and what she does. I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be”(Steinbeck 32). Lennie’s initial reaction of Curley’s wife is not uncommon for the lack of intelligence he has. George’s fierce attitude toward Curley’s wife when he calls her

Throughout the book, Curley’s wife is known as an evil temptation just because she’s a girl; however, when she is at her strongest it’s not because she is a girl it’s because she strips away Crooks power and tears him down to nothing. Curley’s wife walks into the stable where “all the weak ones [are]” (Steinbeck 77), and when they tell her to get out because shes no good, she threatens Crooks. She states, “‘Listen, nigger… You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?’... She closed in on him… ‘Well you keep your place then, nigger

By looking more closely at the story, one can see that Curley’s wife is also a metaphor which symbolizes the way which other people looked upon women in the society of the 1930’s. Curley’s wife represents a whole marginalized group in the American society at that time. In the novel, characters are never fully developed, but instead appear as outlines or symbols of real people. Candy, Crooks, and Curley's wife represent the discriminated groups of age, race, and sex. Curley’s wife has been given an overall picture in the eyes of George and Lennie before they even meet her, by Candy. The picture Candy paints about her hints at how she tends to give all the men on the ranch ‘the eye’. Nobody really knows Curley’s wife because nobody ever talks to her and listens to what she really has to say. Curley’s wife wants attention. She wants people to notice her. She is the only woman on the ranch out of all the men. She wears fancy clothes and nice make up to make her look beautiful and

He has used this by using the quote '' The ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young.'' Steinbeck has described her as an angel who washed out her sins and went pure. In contrast to this Curley only cares about his social status. You can see this when ''Curley...ain't you better stay here with your wife''. Normally when your wife dies you would want to share your last moments together but the fact that Curley has to be reminded about his wife's death is upsetting since his main focus is killing Lennie. And it emphasises that he just used her as a possession due to the fact that it was a loveless marriage therefore he didn't really care much about her. In this quote you can also tell that all the bunkmates felt sorry for her even thought she acted with suspense because she didn't deserve more misery in her

She is considered an outcast because she is a woman. All that she wants is freedom and the ability to leave the house and talk to who she wants, but this is very difficult for her. When she tries to talk to the men on the ranch, they characterize her as a tramp because of her flirtatious personality and disregard everything she says and tells her to go back to the house. These actions can make Curley’s wife feel belittled and degraded because she doesn’t want to be stuck in the house like the ideal “housewife.” In the book they don’t even give her a name, which should reveal that they significant separation between men and women. The only other character in the book without a name is candy's dog. Another way that the ranchmen belittled Curley’s wife is by completely avoiding and treating her poorly when she was around. They outcasted her by making her feel like she didn’t belong, but the only reason she hung around them was to socialize, which she rarely got to do. Curley’s wife was upset because all the men called her a tramp and slutty and said that she should be waiting for Curley in the house. She tells the men , “ you can talk to people but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad” (87). Curley's wife wants to feel like she belongs, but they keep knocking her down. They degrade her by making her feel like less than she is, she is human just like everyone else on the farm or in the world, however, is still treated without respect and rights because she is a

I don’t care what she says and what she does. I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her” (pg. 32). Curley’s wife tries to get attention from someone besides Curley by showing herself off, but the men on the ranch realize that if they respond to Curley’s wife, it will elicit a violent response from him and a possibility of getting kicked off the ranch. The result is that Curley’s wife gets a lot of negative attention without any actual friendship. She is also the only woman on the entire ranch from what Steinbeck describes. She cannot talk to the men and there are no women that Curley might allow her to talk to, leaving her without any meaningful relationships. Despite her efforts, she ends up even more separated from the other people on the ranch.

John Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife at the start of the story as an irrelevant character because she has no relation with George and Lennie. At the start, Curley is one of the most important characters (besides George and Lennie) because he has the power to crush George and Lennie’s dream of having a farm of your own. But as the story goes on, to end, we see the importance of her character and that everything that has happened on the ranch is caused by her presence; even though she is not in the story as much as others, she has a long lasting effect on the other characters. She is mentioned in the story a lot because of how she would acted around the men working in the ranch. In the end, we knew Lennie and George were not going to get a