Is Curleys wife a tragic figure?

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Is Curley’s wife a tragic figure?

Throughout the book ‘Of Mice and Men’, Steinbeck portrays the character of Curley’s wife as unfortunate and a bit of an outcast. ‘Well you keep away from her, cause she’s a rattrap if ever I seen one’. But to what extent can she be regarded as a tragic character?

        The first time we hear about Curley’s wife, she is described as a ‘tart’ by another farm worker. This is because she is lonely so she hangs around the other farm workers wearing ‘red mules’ with ‘red ostrich feathers’ and ‘red finger nails’. Steinbeck uses the colour red to show she is dressing like a ‘tart’ because the colour red at the time was associated with prostitutes. ‘I ain’t never seen nobody like her’. The ranch hands, however, want nothing to do with her, so they ignore her, and so she becomes an outcast. ‘Curley’s wife can sure move quiet. I guess she’s had a lot of practice, though’. The reason they do not want to be seen with her is because she is married to Curley, a ‘pugnacious’ little man, who is very possessive. ‘“Have you seen a girl around here?” he demanded angrily’. The fact that Steinbeck never gave Curley’s wife a name other than ‘Curley’s wife’ is to show that she belongs to Curley. It shows her as his possession rather than a separate person. To get attention, she dresses up and hangs around the workers when Curley is not there. However, none of the farm workers want to fight with Curley, because he is the boss’ son and could get them fired. ‘She looked from one face to another, and they were all closed against her’.

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        Curley’s wife seems unhappy in her marriage. ‘I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella’. He treats her badly, and even though he is married, he still goes to a ‘cathouse’, and she knows this ‘Think I don’t know where they al went? Even Curley!’ She also admits she is happy that Curley got ‘bust up’, because she resents Curley for the loneliness and for being ‘stick in that house alla time’. Curley’s wife has no children to keep her occupied or keep her company, and she has nothing to do with her time. Steinbeck uses language to show ...

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The Quality of Written Communication (QWC) is very good. There is good evidence to suggest that the candidate takes care in their written expression and uses the English language accurately to convey their analysis well. A few minor typing errors hinder the QWC mark slightly, as does a limited use of less complex punctuation that would otherwise give a far more confident air to this answer.

The Level of Analysis shown is good but as stated earlier, some parts of the analysis are more convincing than others. There is a good level of understanding about what Steinbeck was trying to achieve with regard to Curley's wife; that she married Curley because she thought it would bring her happiness; that she believed that she would ever be a star; that she know needs to dress up like a prostitute and flirt with the ranch hands to simply be noticed; and the fact that her meddlings end up getting her killed, triggering off yet more tragedy of George and Lennie - the analysis is extensive, although a better level of analysis could be seen with regard to the consequences of her actions, rather then the potentiality of bad consequences (like her flirting getting the ranch hands fired), e.g. - how her death triggers the death of Lennie, etc. Other than that, the analysis is sound.

This answer is a response to a question asking candidates to consider the extent to which Curley's wife in John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men' can be considered a tragic character. A novel with many tragic characters, Curley's wife is perhaps one of the most poignant reflections of a doomed starlet in literature because she is damned to serve as nothing more as a possession to her controlling husband Curley. The candidate recognises this throughout their answer, addressing a number of reasons why Curley's wife is considered tragic in terms of how she is treated (by both the characters and the novelist) and also her pitiful existence of isolation and loneliness. The answer shows a good focus for the most-part but there are moments where the analysis could have gone deeper.