How Are Women Presented In Of Mice And Men
Coursework:
How are women presented in ‘Of Mice and Men’?
In society, women have always been treated differently to men. Up until recently women have been treated as second class citizens. In the Jacobean period women were thought of as servants to the men and were only there to cook and clean for their husbands, we see this in plays from that era such as ‘Macbeth’. In the play, Macbeth actually says that his wife Lady Macbeth, who is a strong confident woman, possess too many masculine features. The three witches are also discriminated against, we see this when the other characters refer to them, usually when somebody is called a witch their reaction would not be pleasant. This sort of treatment was also present in ‘Of Mice and Men’; Curley …show more content…
has a wife who is only referred to as ‘Curley’s Wife’. Of Mice and Men was written in the 1930’s which was during the Great Depression. In this essay I will be looking at how women were treated in the two stories, I will look at how both authors presented them, why and what society was really like during this time.
In ‘Of Mice and Men’, Curley’s Wife was presented by Steinbeck as a negative character and brings a negative vibe to the story.
Steinbeck did this by using writing effects such as pathetic fallacy in the novel. Pathetic fallacy is used by Steinbeck when we first meet Curley’s Wife near the start when George and Lennie are in the Bunkhouse and she emerges almost out of nowhere. Steinbeck says “The rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off”. This is an example of pathetic fallacy; here Steinbeck uses the weather to create an atmosphere. This part of the novel could be seen to foreshadow what happens when Curley’s Wife dies, her body is in the barn and again the weather is used, “The sun streaks were high on the wall by now,” this creates a sort of good atmosphere within the text as the light shining into the barn could be perceived as a stairway to heaven and now after all she’s been through she’s at peace. Also, when we see Curley’s Wife for the first time the sunlight is described as being “cut off” and blocked by the presence of her on the ranch, now that she’s dead the sunlight returns and the people are also at peace again. George may have lost Lennie but he has also lost all of the responsibilities that he had when he was alive like looking after him and dealing with all the troubles he caused, for the first time he has a chance at making his dream come true and owning his own piece of
land.
Curley’s Wife is presented as the average woman in 1930’s America; she dresses promiscuously and flirts with all the men on the ranch. The presentation of Curley’s Wife in the novel could give us an idea of how Steinbeck himself was treated by women and how he felt about them.
How are women presented in ‘Of Mice and Men’?
In society, women have always been treated differently to men. Up until recently women have been treated as second class citizens. In the Jacobean period women were thought of as servants to the men and were only there to cook and clean for their husbands, we see this in plays from that era such as ‘Macbeth’. In the play, Macbeth actually says that his wife Lady Macbeth, who is a strong confident woman, possess too many masculine features. The three witches are also discriminated against, we see this when the other characters refer to them, usually when somebody is called a witch their reaction would not be pleasant. This sort of treatment was also present in ‘Of Mice and Men’; Curley …show more content…
has a wife who is only referred to as ‘Curley’s Wife’. Of Mice and Men was written in the 1930’s which was during the Great Depression. In this essay I will be looking at how women were treated in the two stories, I will look at how both authors presented them, why and what society was really like during this time.
In ‘Of Mice and Men’, Curley’s Wife was presented by Steinbeck as a negative character and brings a negative vibe to the story.
Steinbeck did this by using writing effects such as pathetic fallacy in the novel. Pathetic fallacy is used by Steinbeck when we first meet Curley’s Wife near the start when George and Lennie are in the Bunkhouse and she emerges almost out of nowhere. Steinbeck says “The rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off”. This is an example of pathetic fallacy; here Steinbeck uses the weather to create an atmosphere. This part of the novel could be seen to foreshadow what happens when Curley’s Wife dies, her body is in the barn and again the weather is used, “The sun streaks were high on the wall by now,” this creates a sort of good atmosphere within the text as the light shining into the barn could be perceived as a stairway to heaven and now after all she’s been through she’s at peace. Also, when we see Curley’s Wife for the first time the sunlight is described as being “cut off” and blocked by the presence of her on the ranch, now that she’s dead the sunlight returns and the people are also at peace again. George may have lost Lennie but he has also lost all of the responsibilities that he had when he was alive like looking after him and dealing with all the troubles he caused, for the first time he has a chance at making his dream come true and owning his own piece of
land.
Curley’s Wife is presented as the average woman in 1930’s America; she dresses promiscuously and flirts with all the men on the ranch. The presentation of Curley’s Wife in the novel could give us an idea of how Steinbeck himself was treated by women and how he felt about them.