To What Extent Curleys Wife a Victim in Of Mice and Men Essay

In Of Mice & Men, the character Curleys Wife is depicted as flirtatious, promiscuous, and insensitive. However, her husband Curley sees her as only a possession. some of the workers at the scatter see her as a tart, whereas Slim, the peaceful and god-like figure out of all the men, see her as lonely. This answer will tell us to which extent, is Curleys wife a victim, whether towards her flirtatious behaviour, or to everyones representation of her. The character of Curleys Wife is very hard to unravel, as throughout the book, Steinbecks representation of women through characters such as George and Candy, is very harsh. This is because the sociological opinion at that time was that they were either, niggles, sisters, or prostitutes, as the audience soon see, George and other ranch workers refer to her as bitch loo loo and tramp. There were also a growing number of prostitutes during the Great Depression period, as they would unlade their services to those whom were able to pay and have some decent income during the Depression. Other aspects that may make Curleys Wife seem like a tart, is Curleys Glove Fulla Vaseline. Curley literally keeps a glove full of Vaseline, in order to keep his hand soft, possibly for a sexual act. Curley boasts to Candy that the hand is for his wife, which tells us that she gives him consent to do these acts to her, and also, Curleys nerve to inform fellow workers about his glove shows that he believes that his own wife is a tart, which is very controversial today, yet back then, women were seen as nothing more than possessions, yours to do what you will. George informs Lennie to avoid Curleys Wife at all costs, and not to talk to her, because of her promiscuous behaviour, he believes t... ...ars for the fidelity of his wife as he believes there is a chance that Slim could be with her, despite his good nature. This makes the audience believe that Curley knows his wife is capable of anything, and that he would rather have her under his control. However, the poignant side to Curleys Wifes victimisation is when she is victimised due to the stereotypical image of women, either mother or prostitute. This adds a dark shadow over her complicated character, because the way she dresses, and the shoes she wears, especially at the ranch of all places, is unnatural. Also, her manipulative ways ironically cost her life, as she was probably toying with Lennie being mentally handicapped. Overall, I believe that the way that Curleys Wife has cast her impression upon everyone, has eventually do her a victim of society, the ranch workers, and most importantly, herself.