Curley’s wife is presented as weak and occasionally vulnerable. Ultimately, this leads to her downfall. The reader develops an initial deception of her in chapter 2. For instance, she is described as ‘heavily made up’ and ‘her body was thrown forward’. Steinbeck has focused on her flirtatious, inviting body language which suggests the significance of her need to be admired by men.
Steinbeck describes her ‘throwing her body forward’ as it highlights to the reader her need for physical attention. ‘Thrown’ is a powerful verb that depicts her intent to show off her body and attract men. The adverb ‘heavily’ describing her make-up indicates that she has spent a lot of time on her appearance and that she has nothing else to do. Perhaps by plastering make-up onto her face like a mask, she is hiding all her insecurities.
Steinbeck also describes her ‘red fingernails’ and ‘her hair hung in little rolled clusters’. This insinuates to the reader that she is trying to get attention or that she is indeed a tart. The colour red is associated with passion, love and desire. On the contrary, it can also have negative connotations such as danger and caution. Her hairstyle was a fashionable style at the time, much favoured by movie stars. This suggests her attraction to the movies and foreshadows the reader’s discovering of her dream.
Despite the paragraph’s description of her attempts to enhance her appearance, the reader is unsettled by the fact that ‘her voice had a nasal, brittle quality’. Curley’s wife is criticised by Steinbeck for things she cannot change; her voice sounds unpleasant and the adjective ‘brittle’ indicates that her character is difficult to deal with and she has a spirit which could easily be broken.
Throughout the novella, there are indications that she is a victim rather than ‘a tramp’ or a ‘tart’. This is illustrated in the citation, ‘I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.’ This infers that she is lonely and never receives any of the love and affection she desperately craves. She clearly is in despair seeing that now she has lost hope in her dream of becoming an actress.
Curley’s wife realises that her husband has no respect for her when he goes to a brothel with some of the other men who work on the ranch. Just his absence alone gives the reader the impression that their marriage lacks love and intimacy. This makes the reader commiserate with her more, as she is young, beautiful and full of life yet her husband still prefers other women over her which surely must make her feel unworthy and insecure.
Furthermore, Steinbeck mentions that she is a ‘girl’; this suggests her innocence and vulnerability. This is perhaps surprising to the reader as it contrasts with her seemingly flirtatious, promiscuous character.
When Curley’s wife dies, Steinbeck expresses that ‘the meanness and the planning and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face’. The word ‘ache’ depicts that she was suffering intense physical pain and it also suggests that after all the stress and things life had placed on her; she has finally relaxed and is at ease.
In brief, Steinbeck has portrayed Curley’s wife in such a way to manipulate and shift the reader’s emotions. At first, she is presented as a character to be disliked, due to her actions and her description. However as the story develops, more of Curley’s wife’s is revealed and the reader learns that her character has very human emotions and aspirations which make the reader relate and sympathise with her.
