How Is Curleys Wife Portrayed in 'of Mice and Men'
Curley’s wife is also presented as a victim through the conversation between Candy, Lenny and George as Lenny and George completely assume Curley’s wife is ‘a tart’ before they have even met her! Steinbeck has presented her in this way through the words of candy, this shows that she was looked down upon by the men of the ranch and was victimised. I feel that Steinbeck has presented Curley’s wife in this way to represent how woman in the 1930’s were victimised and treated.
Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife as Cruel and Disrespectful. “They left all the weak ones here”. This is showing Curley’s wife as being disrespectful because she speaks to Crooks, Candy and Lennie as if she is superior to them. Curley’s wife thinks it is acceptable to speak to people like this, who she believes are lower in status. This also shows she believes she has status. This is a link to context because of the segregated and racist society that was occurring at the time. Throughout the novella there is a continous theme of misogyny, where Curley’s wife is treated unfairly and has significantly lower status than the men. Curley’s wife is presented as cruel when she refers to lynching when threatening Crooks. “Well, you keep your place nigger, I could get you strung up on a tree so easily it aint even funny”. The way in which Steinbeck mentions lynching shows how severe and common it was for black Americans to be lynched. “Crooks had reduced himself to nothing.” Steinbeck uses this metaphor to show how much of an affect Curley’s wife had on Crooks.
Steinbeck introduces Curley’s wife to be self-obsessed through describing her to be very made up. When it states ‘she looked at her fingernails’ this may suggest that she admires herself and she knows that she looks good. Although, this could also be seen as a sign of insecurity as she may feel that she is not good enough, so she hides herself away behind a mask that she feels safe and accepted in. Steinbeck described her to have “full rouged
Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife as Cruel and Disrespectful. “They left all the weak ones here”. This is showing Curley’s wife as being disrespectful because she speaks to Crooks, Candy and Lennie as if she is superior to them. Curley’s wife thinks it is acceptable to speak to people like this, who she believes are lower in status. This also shows she believes she has status. This is a link to context because of the segregated and racist society that was occurring at the time. Throughout the novella there is a continous theme of misogyny, where Curley’s wife is treated unfairly and has significantly lower status than the men. Curley’s wife is presented as cruel when she refers to lynching when threatening Crooks. “Well, you keep your place nigger, I could get you strung up on a tree so easily it aint even funny”. The way in which Steinbeck mentions lynching shows how severe and common it was for black Americans to be lynched. “Crooks had reduced himself to nothing.” Steinbeck uses this metaphor to show how much of an affect Curley’s wife had on Crooks.
Steinbeck introduces Curley’s wife to be self-obsessed through describing her to be very made up. When it states ‘she looked at her fingernails’ this may suggest that she admires herself and she knows that she looks good. Although, this could also be seen as a sign of insecurity as she may feel that she is not good enough, so she hides herself away behind a mask that she feels safe and accepted in. Steinbeck described her to have “full rouged