In the novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Curley’s Wife has a multitude of characteristics. She is quite evidently portrayed as a powerful and dangerous woman, this can be seen in her movements and in the way she speaks to the men. Steinbeck also discreetly places the idea of Curley’s Wife being lonely and vulnerable into the minds of the readers.
Steinbeck shows the danger that Curley’s Wife poses to the men, at the point in which she is first discussed by Candy and George. Candy is seen gossiping to George, warning him about Curley’s Wife, explaining how ‘she got the eye’ and that she is ‘a tart’, prejudicing the reader before we are really introduced to her. This leads the reader to believe that there are no other levels to this
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At the point in which the reader, along with George and Lennie, first meets Curley’s Wife, she is stood in the doorway of the bunkhouse. Her presence is sensed by the lack of light in the room, ‘Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of light was cut off.’ The power of light is very strong metaphorically, as it has the ability to cast away the darkness and allow men and women to see happiness and prosperity. In George and Lennie’s case, the light shows them their dream ranch and a place where Lennie will not be mocked for his mental disfigurement, at the very instant in which she comes into their lives, the light is gone. The power she possesses is much greater than light itself, within a matter of seconds her force takes over the light and with it comes the dark. This section of the novella is the main point in which we see how powerful Curley’s Wife truly is and what she is capable of when she uses her …show more content…
Her ‘cotton house dress’ symbolically represents the housewife that she must be, as this was the item of clothing that all housewives wore in this era. Her ‘heavily made up face’, ‘rolled’ hair and ‘red mules, on the insteps of which were little ostrich feathers’ symbolise the life of glamour and fame she yearns for. The way Curley’s Wife attempts to emulate the women of her time that have made successes of themselves is viewed as pathetic by the reader and creates an image similar to that of a child playing dress-up, therefore losing respect of the men and readers alike. This shows the vulnerability of Curley’s Wife, as she yearns for something greater but is restrained and suppressed by 1930s society and her husband,
The way Curley’s wife was treated changed the responsibility she had, the views of her, and being alone all the time. In life, women and those who are different aren’t seen as equal. They all have harder lives than the typical man does. Unfortunately, one of the characters who were different was outnumbered and was seen on a lower
She flirts with the other characters on the ranch but they pay her no attention either. This essay will go on to look at the character of Curley's wife and how characters perceive her. When first introduced to Curley's wife in the novel she comes into the bunkhouse, when both Lennie and George are in there. She is apparently looking for Curly but she already knows that new men have arrived.
...r say anything. So she is stuck at a ranch where all the members there avoid her because she is trouble and can’t even run away because of her being a female in the early 1900’s made it almost impossible to survive on her own. She dresses a certain way to live out the American Dream the only way she can. She doesn’t dress that way to show off her body, she wants to feel like she is living her dream. She realizes that she is good looking and she uses that to her advantage to talk to some of the people at the ranch like Lennie. The only way she got to talk to Lennie was by letting him touch her hair. Steinbeck let Curley’s Wife die in such a peaceful way; I didn’t even realize she was dead until I read over the section multiple times. He left her there in the barn describing her beauty, showing the reader through Curley’s Wife that even the worst of us have humanity.
Curley’s Curley’s wife represents her broken dreams of becoming an actress. Lennie and George represent a dream in progress, it is uncertain if their plans will work out as intended or plummet before takeoff, even Crooks and Candy see the appeal in Lennie and George’s fantasy and join them. The dream in progress gives hope to Lennie and George and continued to even after losing previous jobs. Curley’s wife is constantly restricted, she married Curley so that she would no longer be alone but now is in the same state as before, just on a ranch of men.
Curley's wife is seen as a cheap possession, a toy that belongs to Curley. A possession that he gets to control. His lack of love, respect and attention results to her death in the end. By all the men she’s seen as a tramp, they think that she’s out cause trouble. But the truth is she’s desperately lonely. She just wants someone to talk to. She’s missed out on a wonderful life that could have been hers, and that hurts her.
In the Steinbeck novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, he introduces us to the character of Curley’s wife. She could be interpreted as a mis-fitting character in the novel, as no one relaters to her. This essay will go on to examine the character of Curley’s wife and how characters perceive her and how this influences the readers interpretation of her.
In every person's life, they may come to meet someone who feels like they can fulfill their life by themselves and do not need anyone else. Completely independent, and able to do everything on their own. In Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, that is the case for Curley's Wife. The novel is filled with challenges and struggles for Curley's Wife to be independent, without a man. Curley’s Wife is forced to live around the farm, and only allowed to talk to Candy but is hoping for a new life by herself.
Two characters from the novel, George and Lennie’s, had an earlier job in Weed they had to leave because Lennie was stroking a girl’s dress but the girl became frightened George and Lennie ran away this could be one of the reason why George is so cautious about Curley’s wife, as he is afraid she will bring Lennie the same problems as the woman in Weed. Curley’s wife is pre-judged by George because of previous experiences but also because of the way she is viewed by others men on the ranch.
In this passage, Steinbeck’s carefully chosen description of Curley’s wife evokes the sexualisation of women and proves that women in most cases were not able to talk to other men without being seen as a tart or jailbait in the early 20th century. Steinbeck’s portrayal of Curley’s wife in such a sexualized way in Of Mice and Men is important to the readers as it highlights in history, women were often used as sex and house objects for men, and if a woman was nice and/ or smiled at another man that was not her husband, she was leading him on and was instantly classified as a whore or a tramp.
middle of paper ... ... Nevertheless, it appears fate always laid out her path to oppression, when we learn that she “never got that letter” which illustrates her crushed dreams therefore destining her to the stereotypical woman. Consequently, we feel sympathy, not only for Curley’s Wife but for all women and even men in the 1930s who had dreams and aspirations that were never to be fulfilled (for example George and Lennie’s dream). In conclusion, I believe that Curley’s Wife is a very significant character in the novella because she represents the stereotypical woman and the way she acted, and was treated leads me to feel great sympathy for her despite her flirtatious demeanour.
Steinbeck displays, Curley’s wife as more of an object to the men at the ranch. He conveys this idea through the description of her appearance. When Steinbeck introduces the reader and George and Lennie to Curley’s wife he takes a long time to describe her. “She had full rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her finger nails were red “. This quotation suggests that Curley’s wife is an object to men in society and that she is as worth as much as she is wearing. Not only does Steinbeck describe her appearance he also describes her actions when on the ranch and talking to the men. He does this to show the awareness that the men have towards her. “She puts her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward”. A lot of the men on the ranch try to ignore and do not want to start a conversation with her but through Steinbeck’s description of her actions the reader can see that she craves attention from the men on the
Comment on how the character of Curley’s wife is portrayed in Sinise’s. 1992 television film version of "The Thriller" How is this characterization different? to that of the original novel by Steinbeck? Introduction The “Of mice and men” by Steinbeck was written in the 1930’s during the period. great depression Era which came about as a result of the Wall Street crash.
...ars for the fidelity of his wife as he believes there is a chance that Slim could be with her, despite his good nature. This makes the audience believe that Curley knows his wife is capable of anything, and that he would rather have her under his control. However, the poignant side to Curley’s Wife’s victimisation is when she is victimised due to the stereotypical image of women, either mother or prostitute. This adds a dark shadow over her complicated character, because the way she dresses, and the shoes she wears, especially at the ranch of all places, is unnatural. Also, her manipulative ways ironically cost her life, as she was probably toying with Lennie being mentally handicapped. Overall, I believe that the way that Curley’s Wife has cast her impression upon everyone, has eventually made her a victim of society, the ranch workers, and most importantly, herself.
After her death, the setting sun is low and growing soft. The sun is a metaphor for her dreams being ended, or the sun setting on her life. When the girl is first described, she is described with bright colors and strong images. After Lennie accidentally kills her, those sparks of life are extinguished. The metaphorical sun has set on her life. As the description continues, it is noted that “the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face” (Steinbeck 92). Death seems to have reduced her to society 's idealized version of a female. Right after the death of Curley 's wife, there is imagery of her purity and serenity in death. She is shown in a positive light for the first time in the novella, and provides contrast to what has just happened. Her appearance in the story seemed irrelevant until her death made her an important element to the narrative. She finally received recognition, but not the type she had longed
”’I’m lookin’ for Curley,’ she said,” (Steinbeck 31), “’You seen a girl around here?’ he demanded angrily,” (37). Here it shows the reader that Curley and wife are never together in the same room at the same time. “’Any you boys seen Curley?’” (76), once again Curley’s wife is looking for Curley. “’Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk nobody. I get awful.’” (86), here Curley’s wife says herself that she is lonely. Although Curley’s wife lives on a ranch filled with workers, none of them want to talk to her when she comes by. This and her never being with Curly causes her to visit the workers who are all men, giving her the image of an inappropriate woman doing adultery with other men besides her