Curley's Wife Essay

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Steinbeck uses possessive apostrophe to present the character of Curley’s wife as an object. Every time she is mentioned, she is referred to as ‘Curley’s wife’ rather than a name. This makes the reader think that she has no identity because a name is what contributes to your identity. Also, she is considered as having no voice because the other men say that she is a ‘looloo’ and gossip about her. This makes the reader feel sympathy towards Curley’s wife because she has no view of her own and cannot be recognised as a person. In the 1930’s, women were considered as housewives and were to stay within the house and obey their husband and Steinbeck has chosen to follow the stereotype of the 1930’s because women weren’t accepted in society which was male dominated.
Steinbeck uses a predisposition view to mislead the reader about the character of Curley’s wife. Steinbeck uses the noun phrase ‘got the eye’ to describe the way she flirts with other men. By doing this, it suggests and shows that she is flirtatious and isn’t loyal to Curley and this wasn’t the stereotype in the 1930’s. The noun ‘eye’ suggests that she is misleading men and taking advantage of them. This makes the reader feel hatred towards …show more content…

Curley’s wife is described as having ‘rouged lips’ and ‘red mules’. By using the repetition of ‘red’, it can carry connotations of anger as well as love. This may suggest that Curley’s wife arouses anger within the men and the reader, but is actually loving at heart because she has a parental quality with Lennie. This supports the reader’s idea of Curley’s wife being flirtatious and disloyal to Curley. This makes the reader feel more anger and hatred because they feel that she has no consideration as to the way she is leading others. In the 1930’s, on posters and other means of media, women looked like the way Curley’s wife is described and this is more use of the stereotype in the

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