Of Mice and Men - Curley's Wife

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Curley’s wife’s role within the novel Of Mice and Men is one of great significance for various reasons.  Her seductive behaviour and her provocative physical appearance is something which causes a lot of complications on the ranch for herself and also for others as well. The reader’s perception of Curley’s wife begins to alter as we get deeper and deeper within the novel and as more is revealed about a woman who, at first, seemed like a very minute character.

One of the very first things we realise about Curley’s wife is her lack of identity. Steinbeck never mentions the actual name of this character but rather refers to her as ‘Curley’s wife’ throughout the novel. This implies that she is not considered as a single individual but rather a possession and a ‘trophy wife’. Steinbeck not naming this particular character could be referring to how during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, women were greatly oppressed and were not treated as to that of equal to men and so her lack of name demotes Curley’s wife to having very little status.  Curley’s wife herself even seems to understand that her role on the ranch is a very unimportant one as in chapter four she says to Crooks, Lennie and Candy “They left all the weak ones here”. This very much shows that she herself is not delusional to the fact that she is being treated as though she is a second class citizen.

Before Curley’s wife makes her first appearance, her identity and her personality is emphasised by Candy, who gives the reader a prejudice description of her.  Candy mentions how Curley’s wife has ‘got the eye’ and also how he thinks that she’s a ‘tart’. Due to the fact that Curley’s wife has not actually been introduced to the reader at this point, we cannot help but to believe the description that Candy gives of her to George and Lennie.  So before the reader is actually even met with this character, Steinbeck has already prepared us for her appearance and we already know what to expect of her.                                                                                                                                                  When Curley’s wife does in fact first physically appear within the novel, her entrance is a very dramatic one. Steinbeck gives the reader a full head to toe description of Curley’s wife and we realise that what Candy mentioned earlier about this woman and about her being a ‘tart’ is very much true. Everything from Curley’s wife’s posture to the way that she’s dressed indicates towards her provocative and malignant persona. The way that Steinbeck gives a description of Curley’s wife’s posture when she first enters the novel indicates that she is a woman who uses her sexuality as an attention seeking weapon.  We understand this from when Steinbeck describes how ‘she put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward’ this indicates that she herself understands that the only way In which she will be noticed by the men is if she use her provocativeness to her advantage. Once again this shows that Candy’s prejudice remarks regarding Curley’s wife before she first enters the novel was very true. From her first entrance we also apprehend that Curley’s wife is wearing a lot of red, we know this from a description that is given which states that she has “full, rouged lips…her finger nails were red…and she wore red mules on the insteps which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers”. Relatedly we know that Lennie’s favourite colour is also red. This again relates back to the incident in Weed when Lennie and George had to flee after Lennie ‘touches’ a woman in a red dress. Because of this connection, Steinbeck enables us to understand that something bad will happen further along in the novel regarding Curley’s wife and Lennie.

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Curley’s wife’s main attitude and inclination towards the majority of the workers on the ranch consists of her being undoubtedly flirtatious, arrogant and contemptuous in many different ways, all of which are displayed throughout the novel.  There are many reasons as to why Steinbeck gave her such characteristics; one of the reasons being that Curley’s wife’s character is a catalyst within the novel. Her role within the novel is to bring much more drama and also blows the main story line out of proportion which speeds the storyline of the novel and also tantalizes the reader.  We mainly see Curley’s ...

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