She has a tendency to resent herself too as she married Curley. She despises Curley and blames herself for marrying him and constraining herself to their house and the farm. Curley treats her like an object and she gets to a point where she is absolutely fed up with it but she still has no chance but to stay on the farm, her personal hell. She fails to form relationships with anyone and that eventually causes her death.
Curley’s wife wished she could go to Hollywood and chase her dream of acting, the narrator wanted to was write. Curley’s wife had always regretted marrying Curley and was never satisfied with her role as a wife. Curley’s wife expressed this to Lennie, “I coulda made somethin’ of myself… maybe I will yet.” (Steinbeck, page 87) Similar to how the narrator was confined to her room, trapped by social expectations, unable to write or even fulfil her domestic role.
She is the only girl on the ranch, and because of this, she faces difficulties from the boys. Curley’s Wife was just trying to find someone to confide in, and Lennie was there, but because she could cause trouble, Lennie wasn’t allowed to talk to her. She says to Lennie, “‘Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely’” (86).
This theme is subtly shown throughout the story, but becomes more apparent after the main event, the slaughter. After Date Bed is presumed missing, Mud, despite the fact that she is not of She-S blood, shows concern for her friend and adopted family member throughout the story – “It is just as well that Mud’s thoughts can’t be heard because what she is thinking is, “I’m the one who loves her. None of you loves her as I do,” and the uselessness of her love arouses her to such a pitch of anguish that she thinks of returning to the plain and searching for Date Bed on her own” (Gowdy, 105). The other She-S’s feel the same way as well – She-Snorts states, “I would not go to The Safe Place…knowing that Date Bed might still be alive and lost” (Gowdy, 249). If the She-S’s didn’t care for their family as much, they would have abandoned all thought of Date Bed and wouldn’t bother searching for her.
Mr Birling uses his daughter as a ticket to social status and he says to Eric he has earned his way. Mrs Birling comes around as controlling “you’re not support to say such thing”. What this suggests that Mrs Birling is remaining Mr Birling is most control over the marriage there is no love. Curly wife posed his mind, and he’s very jealous being the only woman on the ranch, curly is even more worried about her behaviour with the men who work there. You can tell that curly doesn’t have all the control over his wife because it says that “you see a girl around here” he demanded angrily.
In the book Of Mice and Men, the character of Curley's wife best captures the isolation felt by so many characters because she is the only woman on the ranch and her husband has forbidden everyone from talking to her, she really is the loneliest person on the ranch. First Steinbeck describes her as being pretty and flirtatious and emphasizes that she combats her loneliness by flirting with the ranch workers. “Her words tumbled out in a passion of communication, as though she hurried before her listener could be taken away” (88). In this line the word “tumbled” shows how quickly the words fall out of her mouth and how she doesn’t think twice before she talks. The phrase “passion of communication” shows the love she feels towards talking with
“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty”(Mother Teresa). This quote best illustrates the theme throughout the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. The characters in this novel are constantly being placed in and out of farms in the early 1930’s. The author embellishes how the characters are trying to find a way out of their stage of loneliness; this is proven when they are forced into finding friendships. There are three characters that illustrate the theme in the novel Of Mice and Men, these people are Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s Wife.
Curley's wife desires to be the center of attention. She does this because she bases her self worth on what others think, but others do not think highly of her. Despite having a husband, she flirts with every man on the farm. She hates Curly and this is her way of breaking the restraints Curly has implemented in her. Along with being egotistical, she is also an irritable woman who is bitter because her dreams of being a movie star were shattered by her repressive mother.
A large theme within Bradbury’s writing is, people are dispensable. Mildred Montag, the protagonist’s wife, is a morbidly depressed woman who is one of the many victims at the heart of this truth. With not much of a connection to her husband, she turns to technology to help numb her. She is constantly listening to her “seashells,” our equivalent of earbuds, blocking out who and what is happening around her or engaging with the television instead of spending time with real people. When her and her friends meet, they sit in her parlor, in front of the technology, and socialize that way, which highlights another important theme.
Each daughter thinks she is not even comparable to her mother, but they soon realize that that is not the case. The daughters also feel that they can never make their mothers proud of them because they are always criticizing everything they do. Waverly Jong told her a friend, “‘You don’t know my mother, she never thinks anybody is good enough for anything. ’”(Tan 167). Waverly Jong stopped playing piano because she was tired of her mom showing her off when she did well, but cutting her down when she was perfect enough.
Curley’s wife begins to regret living on the ranch with Curley. She starts to regret living there because of the way they treat her. And also because she could be doing better in her life instead of sitting around being bored and only being able to associate with Curley. Curley’s wife states “ I tell you I aint used to livin’ like this, I coulda made somethin’ of myself.” (Steinbeck 88).
¨Ain I got a right to talk to nobody…?¨ This is a line directly said from Curly’s wife in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck introduced Curly’s wife as a tart, eyeing men up and down, while married, and always finding herself in the men’s cabin area. He also introduces her as a lonely average wife during the 1900s, having nothing to look forward too. Steinbeck gives information about what women felt like during these tough times, especially how lonely they were, and how they couldn’t follow their own dreams.
During the Great Depression, times were very tough in the United States for everyone. In “Of Mice and Men”, John Steinbeck illustrates the struggles of discrimination and the struggle of finding a job, in everyday life during the Great Depression through Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife. In this novel Lennie, a not so bright but hard worker faces the challenges of trying to find a job during the Great Depression along with a mental disability. George says to Lennie at the beginning of the story, “If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won’t get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk, we’re set.”
Broken Dreams Sexism is shown throughout the book because of the way men talk about Curley’s wife. A fact that is important is that Steinbeck was raised in a society where men were considered more powerful than women, which explains why Steinbeck didn't give a name for Curley's wife. Steinbeck puts her in the book as if saying she’s Curley’s possession in a way. Curley’s wife says it herself that when she finds one of the men alone they treat her good but when the men are all together they gang up against her. Curley’s wife flirtatious actions are caused by her loneliness and not being able to communicate with others.
Someone once said, “A villain is just a victim whose story hasn’t been told.” The character known as Curley’s Wife in Of Mice and Men is portrayed in John Steinbeck’s writing as an antagonist. Multiple time throughout the book she is insulted by the men, who call her things such as a tramp, or a tart. As the story continues, there are many hidden indications that she could be seen as a much simpler, innocent presence, rather than an evil. When looked at more in depth, Curley’s Wife can be seen as a victimized character.