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Curley’s Wife
Explore the role of Curley’s Wife in the novel
Curley’s wife is a representative character for women in 1930s America. She receives
constant abuse throughout the novel, both before and after her death, highlighting
the mistreatment of women and emphasising her loneliness.
From the outset Curley’s wife is victimised by society as her gender causes her to suffer
as a result of prejudice women faced in 1930s America. Women had little to no rights
and lacked all sense of authority and power, so by Steinbeck symbolising Curley’s wife
as powerless to her husband Curley, he can illustrate men as dominant and women
as frail evoking a sense of criticism from the reader. Throughout the novel the majority
of men, except Slim, refer to Curley’s wife as ‘jailbait’ and a ‘rat trap’. These
diminutive and humiliating adjectives show how Curley’s wife is victimised and
portrayed as a femme fatale (a seductive woman) with the men on the ranch. This
conveys a lack of respect as she is only viewed as a sexual object. By the end of the
novel Steinbeck encourages the reader to feel a sense of pathos towards her as we
realise she is a misunderstood seventeen (at most) year old girl connoting a tragic
figure. This lack of respect would have been seen as normal in 1930s America,
especially through the Darwinian depression era where men would have been seen
as useful and women would’ve been cast off as unimportant since they have nothing
to offer, except trouble. Steinbeck further constructs this idea that the men have no
respect for her as her title is ‘Curley’s wife’. The absence of a proper name insinuates
her unimportance and has connotations that she is just and object, a possession to
Curley. This reiterates the mindset of the people living in 1930s America that they
thought their wives were there possessions, their objects, and were expected to
conform to being controlled. Using this attitude Steinbeck depicts Curley’s wife as
being a victim to the cruel patriarchal society.
Curley is a solitary figure on the ranch, she’s the only woman and lacks any
companionship – even with her husband who she seems to be running away from
throughout the course of the novel as they aren’t seen together alive at one point in
the novel. Her isolation is due to the limited opportunities that are given to her by the
male dominated society so she is forced to use her body and beauty as a femme
fatale to get what she wants. Curley’s wife is portrayed as having ‘the eye goin’
illustrating her understanding that she must use her body to gain any interest from the
other ranch workers yet this also makes her the femme fatale as it renders her a
threatening figure among the men. Steinbeck's use of synecdoche (figure of speech)
when referring to Curley's wife giving an ‘eye’ as well as her flirtatious nature portrays
her in a derogatory way. Although Steinbeck connotes the idea that Curley’s wife is
unfaithful and disloyal as she chooses to have a wandering ‘eye,’ this depicts her
loneliness as even though it’s only been two weeks since her wedding she’s already
bored. When she tells Lennie ‘I don't like Curley,’ we realise that she is still ultimately a
victim and lonely as during the 1930s Depression era society gave women like her very
few opportunities other than marrying for convenience and financial security. This
secures the idea that Curley’s wife is trapped in a loveless marriage and even though
she has a husband, she’s ultimately the most isolated character, as denoted by her
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