Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Analysis

Our first impression of Curley’s wife is that she is a very sexual character. This is suggested through Steinbeck’s description “her fingernails were red”. Red is associated with danger but also with love and passion. Red lipstick was used by prostitutes at the time to represent sexual arousal. Steinbeck also uses similes to give an image of Curley’s wife. For example “her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages”. However, the primary message is that she is dangerous and not to be trusted. As a woman she couldn’t fit in with the men and so to be recognised she flaunts her physical appearance. Steinbeck states that her make-up was laid on “heavily” showing that she is desperate for attention. This could be interpreted as her hiding
her personality under a mask of make-up because we later see that she is not that shallow and has dreams and aspirations just like everybody else in the book. One of the reasons she may be such a sexual character is to hurt Curley. Despite being married to her, Curley still goes to the brothel with the other men and he doesn’t seem to show much interest in her. Her motives for flirting with respectable people like George and Slim could be to make Curley jealous.
Steinbeck tries to indicate that Curley’s Wife is a possession of Curley.
The use of the apostrophe illustrates that she is his possession, the same way that his gun or hat is. She is a symbol of male oppression in 1930s America; Women at the time were seen as the possession of their husband. Any possessions they had would become their husbands upon marriage and they could only achieve things through men because men held all the powerful positions in society. Another view is that domestic violence links to the idea of her as a possession. People can do what they like with their possessions and Curley’s violence is alluded to throughout the book. An example of where this could be hinted at is when it says she is “heavily” made up. This could be to cover her bruises from a beating. This would relate to 1930s American society where domestic violence was much more common and generally seen as
acceptable.
Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife as a symbol of the problems with the American dream. Being a woman in a sexist society means that even if she worked hard such as in the American dream, she still required men to give her opportunities. Curley’s wife says “because this guy says I was a natural” when she is talking to Lennie about her dreams to show that even her own dreams of being an actress were only possible because men noticed her. The word “guy” highlights that it was men who held all the power and could give women opportunities. For example, he thought she was a natural and because he was a man she felt there was a possibility of it becoming true.
Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife to have predatory instincts.
Although not in a strong position herself because she is a women, she exploits greater weaknesses in others and uses her marriage as a way of gaining power. An example of this is when she threatens Crooks “I could get you strung up on a tree so easy”. The use of “easy” indicates to Crooks that she is above him in the social hierarchy and it doesn’t require effort or even affect her mentally to get him lynched. His race makes the threat believable because many black men were lynched at the time. Steinbeck states that “her eyes travelled from one face to another” this is her way of intimidating men. She does not have the physical power of Lennie or the respectable reputation of Slim but she uses her eyes to exert her power. The response from the men was contrasting “Lennie watched her, fascinated; but Candy and Crooks were scowling down away from her eyes”. This could be portraying Curley’s wife as an enchanting character who used to tempt characters away from their dreams. Lennie’s fate turns out to be death because he looks into her eyes and is lure into her grasp. As well as this Candy and Crooks survive the story, because they look down and resist the temptation. Steinbeck has made cultural references by presenting Curley’s wife in this way. Her use of her eyes is similar to ancient mythical beings such as Medusa, who could turn people to stone with her eyes. Her portrayal as a temptress is also symbolic of the
serpent in the Garden of Eden who entices Adam and Eve to eat the apple. The story of Adam and Eve is related to Of Mice and Men in that they are both books about the flaws and needs of humans.