Steinbeck's Curley's Wife: Dislike and Sympathy

‘Of Mice and Men’ is a short novel by John Steinbeck. which is set in 1930s America. At this clip in American History they were enduring from a difficult striking economic depression. This book is set on a spread in Soledad. California. Throughout this novelette. Steinbeck addresses cardinal subject. for illustration favoritism. solitariness and the American Dream. Curley’s married woman is a complex character. She is the lone adult female on the spread. Curley’s married woman is used as a secret plan device by Steinbeck to research subjects like favoritism and attitudes toward adult females in the 1930s.

Although. she is thought of as a ‘tart’ at the beginning. throughout the novel we develop our sentiment of Curley’s married woman. Steinbeck introduces us to Curley’s married woman through the sentiment of Candy. His positions and sentiments are misogynous. when he calls her a ‘tart’ .

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doing the reader prejudiced towards Curley’s married woman before we even meet her.

Candy references that she ‘got the eye’ explicating that she is being coquettish and immoral as we are told that she is flirt with other work forces directly after we are told that she married to Curley.

Candy makes us expect her entryway ‘Wait boulder clay you see Curley’s wife’ . Steinbeck uses this technique to do the reader want to read on and happen out more. When Curley’s married woman is foremost introduced we gain a colored feeling from her description ‘She wore a cotton house frock and ruddy mules’ reenforcing our original sentiment of a ‘tart’ . The vesture she wears is besides incongruous on a on the job spread and expensive during the economic depression demoing that she wants to affect. She is high care as ‘She had full roughed lips and wide-spaced eyes. to a great extent made up’ screening to the reader that she has to look perfect before go forthing the house and needs to look reasonably to the work forces. Steinbeck to the full describes the actions of Curley’s married woman. This shows physical awareness the work forces have towards her. ‘She put her custodies behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her organic structure was thrown forward’ Steinbeck’s description of Curley’s married woman actions is non merely to depict the men’s physical consciousness of the character but to demo the despair of Curley’s married woman and other adult females in the 1930s.

Throughout the address between George and Curley’s married woman. she doesn’t sustain oculus contact. ‘She looked at her fingernails’ this implies that she is seeking to chat up with her eyes. This usage of organic structure linguistic communication is in a coquettish and provocative manner. When Curley’s married woman enters ‘The rectangle of sunlight in the door manner is cut off’ Steinbeck uses this barricading visible radiation to propose that Curley’s married woman is an obstruction. to Lennie’s and George’s ‘light’ which is mentioning to their dream. This means we do non like Curley’s married woman as she poses a menace. The fact that George calls Curley’s married woman ‘tramp’ makes us instantly dislike her as we trust George’s sentiments. As her visual aspect is described foremost this suggests that others judge her on the manner she looks and her visual aspect is regarded as her most of import characteristic. This thought is developed through Curley’s wife’s gender which is apparent in her obvious flirtation when she moves so that ‘her organic structure was thrown forward’ and speaks ‘playfully’ . Through Curley’s married woman actions. Steinbeck suggests that her gender is the lone signifier of power she has and is the lone manner she knows to derive attending. The first entryway for Curley’s married woman lives up to and corroborate the feelings created by Candy.

Although ab initio we believe what Candy said. as the novelette progresses more of her character is revealed. When Slim finds Curley’s married woman. at the terminal of her first entryway ‘She was all of a sudden apprehensive’ which could propose that Curley’s married woman is scared of Curley and suggests that he is aggressive towards her associating to the subject of force. The reader is discerning of Curley’s married woman and the harm she may do. The work forces of the spread think she is ‘jailbait’ . and they are scared that they may lose their occupation. The reader agrees with what the work forces on the spread think as she may take to the ruin of George and Lennie. At this point in the novel. Curley’s married woman is seen with disdain and there is small sympathy for her. The repeat of the coloring material ‘red’ suggests danger and passion. supported by similarities between her and the miss in Weed. Not merely is Curley’s married woman described as a streetwalker. but besides as endangering. When she enters the barn where Crook and Candy are. they are both afraid and ‘were scowling down off from her eyes’ this bar of oculus contact could be seen that she is exercising power over the work forces. She exercises her power by endangering to hang Crooks. ‘I could acquire you stung up on a tree so easy’ . this links to the subject of force as she acts nastily and cruelly which reflects the societal hierarchy of the clip. She goes from being bullied by the work forces to strong-arming the ‘weak ones’ .

Curley’s married woman gets frustrated by their unresponsive behavior towards her. She is used to foreground the racialist society and to demo the position of black people at that clip in America. The reader possibly discerning toward Curley’s Wife. yet it is obvious that she may be lonely. Curley’s married woman has excessively much clip on her custodies ‘Her face was to a great extent made up’ this is shown by how much do up she is ever have oning. None of the work forces on the spread will speak to her as they are scared that they may be tempted ‘Maybe you better travel along to your ain house now’ The ground they don’t talk to her is that they are scared that they could acquire into problem with Curley. Steinbeck does this to demo how stray adult females were in the 1930s. Even though Curley’s married woman has merely been married two hebdomad we get told that Curley is at the ‘Cat house’ and isn’t with his new married woman with would propose that he has no clip for her and a deficiency of love. When she is in the barn with Crooks. Candy and Lennie ‘talkin’ to a clump of bindle stiffs –a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a icky ol’ sheep- an ‘liken’ it because they ain’t cipher else’ this show she will travel to great lengths to speak to person and will even speak to the ‘weak ones’ when cipher is about. When she is entirely in the barn with Lennie. she expresses her solitariness ‘I get atrocious lonely’ she does this to derive understanding from the reader. although she is stating the one individual who won’t understand what she is stating.

Curley’s married woman is the lone adult females on the spread and this could associate to her solitariness. This links to one of Steinbeck subject. solitariness and how Curley’s married woman being female agencies that she is invariably segregated and isolated because of her gender. As the reader reads on we start to gain that Curley’s married woman isn’t what we expected. We start to see that she is more of a victim. Her name Curley’s married woman suggest that she is a ownership of Curley’s ‘Curley’s is even cockier’n of all time since he got married’ this suggest that she is something that Curley can demo off to the other work forces on the spread. Besides Slims Canis familiaris and Aunt Clara all have name but Curley’s married woman doesn’t which even more suggests that she is object in society. She is besides married to Curley who isn’t spends his Saturday eventide in the ‘Cat house’ which does propose that Curley has no love for his new married woman. Curley’s married woman has an unconditioned apprehension of society. She understands her places and knows what she can and can’t do. ‘nobody’d listen to you’ they are all incapacitated as society is rough and what Curley’s married woman says applies to all of them in the barn. Curley’s married woman is merely coquettish and average to work forces because it is the lone manner she knows who to speak to work forces.

Although she is portrayed as a victim and as lonely. we still see as manipulative when she speaking to Lennie nears the terminal of the novel. As Curley’s married woman describes to utilize the ground why she is married to Curley it come apparent that she married Curley to acquire off from her Mother and so she wants to utilize Lennie to acquire off from Curley. Steinbeck has used this to do the reader feel that Curley’s married woman is naif and has hapless opinion. The reader can state that Curley’s married woman has thought through what she wants Lennie to make and she thinks that she can utilize him to her advantage. In this subdivision she is being manipulative ‘you can interrupt his other han’’ She can see that Lennie can stand up to Curley even if it is merely to a basic degree. Although you could reason that Curleys’s married woman was described as a ‘girl’ which suggests artlessness and naivete. She is in some ways like Lennie in that she doesn’t think before the action. The apparels she wear can be seen as to be dressing up to look like graven images and is concealing under her make-up. If this is all true so Curley’s married woman suffered a horrid decease which she doesn’t merit the decease she was given. Throughout the novelette. Steinbeck looks at the thought of the ‘American Dream’ . like George and Lennie. Curley’s married woman has a dream and that was to be in the ‘pitchers’ .

Her dream is to be actress but is it truly the thought of being an actress or the ground was that she wanted the money so she would be able to purchase the apparels but non to make the work. She met a adult male who said she could be in the films but ne’er got missive. she blames her female parent for ne’er acquiring missive but it is possible that the work forces ne’er really was from the films and if he was at the films so why was he a unknown riverbank dance. Besides the fact that we are told about the rhinal voice ‘Her voice had a nasal. brittle quality’ show to the reader that she is deluded and that she will ne’er do her dream but has them to maintain traveling in what is a suffering life. Work force are prejudice towards Curley’s married woman on the manner in which she looks. Steinbeck’s initial portraiture of Curley’s married woman shows her to be a average and seductive enchantress. and alive she is the connexion to Eve. she brings evil in to men’s lives. She is besides blamed for many of the action of Curley’s and she is thought of merely by how she looks non by how she is. The concluding scene for Curley’s married woman is her decease. When she is acquiring murdered. the understanding lies with Lennie. Steinbeck did this to make more sympathy from the reader for Curley’s married woman.

This is what Steinbeck has been taking up throughout the book and to the ruin of the relationship between George and Lennie. HEr beauty is shown though when she is dead ‘she was really reasonably and simple’ . this creates more sympathy from the reader by demoing how simple and pretty she was. Besides the to associate with the description the word ‘girl’ is used. to make artlessness. The reader perceptual experience of her has changed ‘Ache for attending all gone’ Steinbeck wrote this to do the readers realise the abnormalcy of what has been done and how we can merely see her artlessness. simpleness and beauty. The concluding description of Curley’s married woman shows us the miss beneath what the universe she lived in made her.

Although we see this different side to Curley’s married woman. Candy still has his misogynous sentiment of Curley’s married woman. ‘Ever’body knowed you’d muss things up’ this show that Candy blames Curley’s married woman for what has happened even though Lennie was the 1 who murdered Curley’s married woman. Candy’s deficiency of sympathy towards her creates more sympathy from the reader. Steinbeck does this to demo that Women got blamed for what the work forces did even if they had nil to make with it. In decision. Curley’s married woman was in fact the victim of her society and although some of her action were in some ways indecent for a freshly married adult females it. in some manner this shows how much she was really a victim. Besides she was occupation copying the action and dressing like the histrions which she idolised. I personal believe that Curley’s married woman was non all to fault for her actions and hence she did non merit the decease that she got as it was harsh a brutal.