In Of Mice and Men, we see various different sides of Curley's wife. We are first introduced to her near the beginning of the book and she plays a big role towards the conclusion of the book. Her flirtatious character leads to her being killed by Lennie, in a confused state.
Candy, the old swamper, introduces us to Curley's wife during his first discussion with George and Lennie. Candy tells them that Curley's wife is a “tart”. The fact that Curley's wife is introduced to us with having “the eye” tells us that she is very flirtatious with other men in the ranch despite having a husband (Curley). The fact that we, the readers, are introduced to Curley's wife through malicious rumours means that already the reader has a negatively biased opinion on Curley's wife and women in general at those times.
Curley's wife is first physically introduced to us in the doorway of the bunkhouse where George and Lennie are at, asking for the whereabouts of her husband. She is described as wearing “a cotton house dress and red mules” which had “bouquets of red ostrich feathers” on the insteps. In the description of Curley's wife's clothes the colour red is repeated and emphasized many times. Red is often referred to as the colour of love and passion, which further emphasizes her sexual and flirtatious personality. Also the “bouquets of red ostrich feathers” on her insteps would have probably been very expensive at the time of the Great Depression and the fact that she wears them in the middle of a dusty and dirty environment where they could easily be ruined tells us that she is desperate to catch the attention of the workers and to also impress them despite having a husband, further emphasizing her character as a “tart”.
Curley's wife is hated by the ranch workers . When she enters the room of Crooks, Candy and Crooks are “scowling down away from her eyes”. This tells us that