Analysis Of Curley's Wife

A name is part of a person’s identity and defines one’s personality. John Steinbeck does not give Curley’s wife a name in Of Mice and Men because of his unfavorable opinion about women. All the male characters are seen as hard, tough and strong, but most importantly (with the exception of Lennie) independent. The only well defined female character is Curley’s wife, who is seen as an unscrupulous and untrustworthy influence on those around her. Curley’s wife, the antagonist who destroys all hopes for George and Lennie, shows how women’s portrayal during the 1930’s was generally negative due to people’s sexist views. Female and male stereotypes of the era cause Steinbeck to deny Curley’s wife a name. The mere reference to someone by their name

Instead, the woman is known as “Curley’s wife”, showing her status as Curley’s possession. Due to her behavior, Curley’s Wife can be emblematic of the biblical Eve’s actions, making Eve the rightful name for her persona. The author of Of Mice and Men, refuses to give Curley’s wife a name because she is the embodiment of the temptress in all women, and represents the first biblical woman, called Eve.

The voice used in Of Mice and Men to describe Curley’s wife shows how Steinbeck wants the reader to portray her character. When Steinbeck describes Curley’s wife, he does so in a condescending manner, specifying her aptness to flirt with other men, while notoriously showing her unloyalty to her husband. Candy’s first description of her, other than stating that Curley married her, is “she got the

During the Great Depression, employed women were much higher in number compared to employed men. The reasoning behind this comes from “employers...willing to hire them at reduced wages” (“Working Women”). Women, along with men, had to work in order to provide enough money to support their families. Nevertheless, women were desperate enough to take on a job in which they received low salaries, that in many cases, men would not accept. Female workers slowly but surely began taking away men’s jobs, having no other choice than to accept the wages given by greedy employers. For this reason, many male laborers thus “lambasted laboring women for robbing men of much-needed jobs” (BOEHM). This commences the social criticism in which men mansplain how women should partake in household activities rather than jobs “specific” to the male gender. The horrific idea of women’s superiority to men became prominent during this time. Subsequently, colleges “formally charged women not to pursue careers after graduation so that their places could be filled by men” (BOEHM). Curley’s wife had been born into the generation where forcing women out of jobs was a common occurrence. The degradation of females during the time period in which the book was written motivated Steinbeck to incorporate a female character as the enemy in his