Curley's Wife Feminist Analysis

In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, published in 1937, many characters are depicted as having a turbulent and continuously changing relationship with power. In the case of Curley’s wife, her power, or lack thereof, derives from her status of being the only woman on the ranch during a time when females were viewed as being inferior and subordinate to men. In some instances, Curley’s wife uses her femininity to her advantage to flirt with the various men on the ranch and obtain information from them. She is aware of her beauty and the control over men this gives her and she realizes that a seductive attitude can be used to manipulate others. Although, ultimately, being a woman is her downfall. The men on the ranch ridicule her and dismiss

her solely because she is female and Steinbeck doesn’t even assign her a true, original name.

In the eyes of the other men, she is solely defined by her marriage with Curley and the status that it entails. This is distressing, because even though she has desires and wishes just like the entirety of the other characters on the ranch, nobody but Lennie ever learns of these because no-one on the ranch takes her seriously. Although Curley’s wife has connections to the boss of the ranch through her relationship with Curley and has an abundance of wealth, because she is a woman, she isn’t able to use this authority. Therefore, the factor of gender, rules out all of the preexisting power a character might have in the novel.

Curley’s wife’s femininity may be seen as her greatest weakness or flaw to most, but she rapidly discovers that it is also her only weapon on the ranch and learns to use it to her advantage. Therefore, she puts up an alluring and sultry front in an attempt to receive attention, because she is aware that none of the men on the farm respect her because of her position as a woman. The men's blatant lack of respect for her belittles the miniscule amount of power she has acquired

from her wealth and marital status and consequently, she uses her outward appearance and body language to try to win back some of her lost power. In doing so, Curley’s wife dresses in expensive attire and dons a flirtatious attitude to attract the attention of the people around her, because she sees no other way to obtain their attention. When Curley’s wife is first introduced in person to George and Lennie, she is described as having, “full, rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers” (Steinbeck 31). It is also illustrated that she, “put her hands behind her back and leaned against the doorframe so that her body was thrown forward” (Steinbeck 31). Both from her physical portrayal and seductive nature, one can discern that she is striving to gain attention. Curley’s wife pays close attention to her appearance and expensive clothing and accessories show that she is putting in much of an effort of emphasizing what she knows she can use as her weapon. However, a majority of the reaction she receives from her appearance and attitude is negative, but even so, Curley’s wife knows that people are still talking about her. And whether the attention is positive or negative, one’s ability to cause others to talk about oneself when one are not there is a form of power.
In spite of Curley’s wife’s s is first mentioned, it is obvious that most of the men on the farm still hold no respect for her. Even without her present, the men never seize to criticize her every move. Candy is the one who first presents Curley’s wife to George and Lennie and by the way he describes her, George obtains a biased view on her without even knowing her. This influences his opinion on her for the entirety of the book. When Candy describes Curley’s wife’s actions on the ranch he says, “I seen her give Slim the eye. Slim’s a jerkline skinner. Hell of a nice fella… I seen her give Slim the eye. Curley never seen it. An’ I seen her give Carlson the eye… I think Curley’s married a tart” (Steinbeck 28). Candy’s description of Curley’s wife gives the George the impression that she is flirtatious and her only purpose on the ranch is to be a distraction to the men. Candy is making a judgement about Curley’s wife solely based on one action that he has seen her perform and makes her seem as if she is just simply a temptation or an obstacle for the men on the ranch to overcome. Candy pushes her aside and dismisses her quickly, all because she is a woman and he has preconceived notions about how women should act, not like Curley’s wife. Candy also uses the word “tart”, which labels Curley’s wife as nothing more than flamboyant and seductive, which also adds to the immense level of disrespect that she receives on the farm.
It is again shown how little respect the men on the ranch have for Curley’s wife when Carlson and Curley begin to have a disagreement.

Curley’s wife has only been married to Curley for two weeks, but still the men on the ranch already have many negative opinions on her. These opinions and judgements take away from her authority and make her powerless on the ranch. While arguing with Curley about his wife Carlson says, “Whyn’t you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs. You let her hang around bunkhouses and pretty soon you’re gonna have som’pin on your hands and you won’t be able to do nothing about it” (Steinbeck 62). The way Carlson speaks of Curley’s wife makes her sound like she is a possession, not a human being. This ties back into her not even having a name, but simply being defined by her relationship with Curley. Instead of confronting Curley’s wife about her behaviour, they consult with Curley instead and tell him that he needs to reign his wife in because she is too distracting and unpredictable. They treat her with no respect and it takes away from all of the authority that she should have over them because of her wealth and connection to Curley.

In Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife is depicted as having a complex relationship with power. She is presented with power from her marriage to Curley and the wealth and connections is brings, except because she is a woman, all of this power is taken away from her. She is able to regain some of it back by using her

attitude and flirtatious nature as a weapon, but ultimately the fact that she is a woman takes precedence over all.