Curley's Wife Analysis Essay

Of Mice and Men “I tell you I ain't used to livin’ like this. I coulda made somethin’ of myself,” she said darkly, “Maybe I will yet.” These were the last words of Curley’s wife until she met her unfortunate end. Although she appeared in a limited number of scenes and does not have a real name, Curley’s wife makes a large impact in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Like all the characters in the story, she is subject to power. The men have power over here merely because of her gender and role in society. Curley’s wife exercises her own power by purposely flirting with the ranch hands, using her sharp tongue, and charming the men with her good looks. Curley’s wife is lonely on the ranch and her husband is not much company. She is constantly barging the bunkhouse with fictional excuses just to have conversation with someone. Also, she tries to entice them with her flirtatiousness just to receive attention she is clearly not getting from Curley. Her hunger for communication and mischievous reputation give her strength over the ranch hands. Curley's wife knows she is feared by them and uses this as a sign of dominance. This is how she exercises her own power
over the men, including Curley. She wants Curley to feel worse about himself and knows the ranch hands will suffer his rage if he found out she was flirting with them. Curley’s wife may not be portrayed as the smartest woman, but she knows exactly what she is doing. Curley’s wife is described as a bored housewife who just wants to have fun, but she can easily hold her own. When Crooks confronts her in the barn of this, she demonstrates her fascinating power by saying “I could get you strung upon a tree so easy it ain't even funny”. Crooks instantly reduced himself to almost nothing after this statement because he knew it was true. Crooks is aware that Curley's wife is in a position of power because of her race and how he was seen as “inferior”. Furthermore, Curley's wife knows Crooks, Candy, and Lennie are far weaker than her and she can easily take control of the entire room. She uses the position as the only woman on the ranch to her advantage and displays her level of authority as the wife of Curley. Curley’s wife is beautiful and seems to know it too.
She is described as “heavily made up” with “little sausage curls” and is always flouncing around in little dresses. Her coy attitude and alluring looks have the capability to control anyone she looks at and that is how she seeks control. Unfortunately, women in this time period were displayed as mere objects to men; they were only good for looking good or being a homemaker and Curley’s wife is only capable of one of those. She is depicted as a cheap harlot and not a person of any substance. Correspondingly, this shows that John Steinbeck was clearly not a feminist in the portrayal of this character. We only catch a glimpse of her true self when she is talking about her failed dream with Lennie and truly realize that she too has hopes and
dreams. Throughout this story, we have witnessed the struggle of Curley's wife to prove her dominance and show superiority. She has used her charming good looks, way with words, and flirtatiousness to prove herself. Curley's wife wanted to be more than just somebody's wife, hence her not having a real name. She wanted to pursue her own dreams until they were crushed. Her playful behavior is due to her boredom with her conventional lifestyle and longing for attention, her intentions were not cruel. They were masked by the previous assumptions placed on her. In conclusion, Curley's wife did not mean any harm she just wanted a friend.