Curley's Wife Character Analysis

In the novella, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there is a character named Curley’s Wife. Curley’s Wife is first shown in the novella as a character who is provocative and represented as darkness. Throughout the story she is dehumanized, objectified, and sexualized. Therefore, Steinbeck crafts the character, Curley’s Wife, in order to convey how the american dream is unattainable through him showing sexism and discrimination towards women.
Throughout the novella Curley’s Wife is objectified and treated like she is a possession. On page 77 Steinbeck writes, “looking in was Curley’s Wife. Her face was heavily made up. Her lips slightly parted.” She is always referred in the novella as ‘Curley’s Wife’ never as anything else. Steinbeck is showing her as a possession and all she is known for is being Curley’s wife. She does not even get an actual name to be called by just a possession of Curley 's. Next, on page 53 it shows Curley looking for his wife, “Curley burst into the room excitedly. ‘Any you guys seen my wife?’ He demanded ‘she ain’t been here,’ said Whit. Curley looked threateningly about the room. ‘Where the hell’s Slim?’” To put it differently, Curley is going around the bunkhouse trying to find his wife. When he realizes that Slim is missing too, he freaks out assuming his wife and Slim are fooling around. This shows that Curley does not want his wife to talk to other men around the house and stay around him just like one of his possessions.
Curley’s wife is