and as a flirtatious person, she responded to this by stating “you can’t blame no one for looking”. Curley’s wife does not care what attention she gets and ends up seeking attention from Lennie which results to her mournful death.
On the other hand there are lots of differences in the novel and novella, such as the role reversal. Jane starts off with a miserable life being tormented by the Reed family “I felt him grasp my hair and my shoulder: he had closed with a desperate thing”, and at the end of the novel ends up eventually marrying her beloved Rochester “The third day from this must be our wedding-day Jane”. Whilst Curley’s wife doesn’t start off that well by dreaming of starting an acting career in Hollywood and being turned down at
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such an early point in her life “I lived right in Salinas, she said. "Come there when I was a kid. Well, a show come through, an' I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show. But my ol' lady wouldn' let me. She says because I was on'y fifteen. But the guy says I coulda. If I'd went, I wouldn't be livin' like this, you bet." , but her dreams and plans deteriorate by becoming a bride to a farmer and her role in the novella project the title of the novel, the best laid plans come to nothing, with her death. “He looks helplessly back at Curley’s wife, and gradually his sorrow and anger grew into words” This shows that Jane and Curley’s wife react to feminism in different ways; whilst Curley’s wife feels sorry for herself and causes trouble out of boredom, Jane fights feminism head on and takes control of her life. Although Jane and Curley’s wife have many similarities within the marriage theme, there are some differences regarding Curley’s wife and Jane’s marriage such as Jane was given a choice by both Rochester and St John “I do not care about marriage”, whilst Curley’s wife only married Curley to get away from her mother “So I married Curley.
Met him out to the Riverside Dance Palace that same night”. Jane has much more freedom and independence with her marriage status, the most obvious is that Curley’s wife’s name is only linked to Curley and all her life before her marriage is more or less forgotten. Curley does not refer to his wife not as a person but as a sexual object. The reader sees this as immense sexual imagery such as the glove full of Vaseline to keep his hand soft for his wife. The marriage between Curley’s wife and her husband bumps Curley up in society as he boasts to the other men on the branch that he is married and the other men are not. Whilst Jane Eyre is teasing Rochester at the end of the novel when she tells Rochester that another man proposed to her, this presents that Brontë is promoting feminism. The environments that Jane Eyre and Curley’s wife lived in were vastly different, Jane Eyre was brought up in the world of education and grew up to be an independent, powerful, young woman, whilst Curley’s wife grew up not doing much with her life, she is not educated particularly well and is seen to be a sexual object by the other men on the
ranch. The overall depiction of women in “Of Mice and Men” in the 1930s and “Jane Eyre” in the Victorian era is extremely desolate and unwelcoming for the reader. Some people may feel pathos for Curly’s wife as she knows it is fate she is never going to make anything of her future, this is evident when she is conversing with Lennie . But on the other hand, she deserves no pathos because she brings down other people as a result of her fate, as when she dies, she ruins all the other characters hopes and dreams. Whilst Jane changes and overcomes her fate and makes something of herself; she started off as a small innocent child, being tormented by her family and ends up with a fairy tale ending living happily ever after with her beloved Rochester. Both characters tried to overcome feminism; one bringing other people down, and another forgetting the past, moving on and making something of herself.
She flirts with the other characters on the ranch but they pay her no attention either. This essay will go on to look at the character of Curley's wife and how characters perceive her. When first introduced to Curley's wife in the novel she comes into the bunkhouse, when both Lennie and George are in there. She is apparently looking for Curly but she already knows that new men have arrived.
Jane Eyre, written in 1847 by Charlotte Bronte, relates a tale of tragedy, mystery, and gothic romance. Covering the multiple issues of England in that time, Bronte writes of orphan treatment, social class, and Britain’s controversial law of prohibiting divorce in all circumstances. Orphaned at a young age and unwanted by her guardian Mrs. Reed, Jane searches for higher prospects in education at Lowood, eventually earning a position as a governess at Thornfield. Complications disrupt her life, when she becomes engaged to her employer, Mr. Rochester, and soon after discovers that he is already married to a lunatic. Leaving Thornfield, Jane finds a home with St. John and his two sisters. Eventually, she returns to her former employer, discovering Thornfield in ashes, Mrs. Rochester dead, and Mr. Rochester blind and free from wedlock. Flooded with motifs, Jane’s continual struggles between her passions and responsibility prevail as the main theme of Bronte’s entrancing narrative.
Curley’s wife shows her sympathetic side when she comforts Lennie after he kills the dog. She tells Lennie, “Don’t you worry none” (87). This quote demonstrates trying to connect with someone on the ranch; in this case it is Lennie. She tells him he is not a bad person and tries to keep his dream of tending the rabbits alive. She also says, “You can get another one easy” (87). This quote shows that she is a compassionate human being despite the constant judgment of her personality. Because Curley’s wife is comforting Lennie, he calms down and starts listening to her. Moreover, despite ...
The first impression the reader get´s of Curley´s wife is definitely not a good one. She walks into the scene as if she owned the place, like a person who is confident of herself and well aware of their sexual appeal. The reader can identify that she is not afraid to use her sexual appeal as a weapon to her advantage. “Nobody can blame a person for looking.” She tells to Lennie as soon as she feels his look posed on her body. This is the first words she utters in her first encounter with Lennie. With judgment the reader can infer that she is a person fool of herself and self-centered. These thoughts later get confirmed when the workers call her a “tart”. The reader can now see how the workers behave around her and how they react to the thought of her. It´s not hard to quickly judge her and, like the workers, classify her as a tart and associated her with trouble.
Firstly both characters are melancholy. The immensely low status of both the female characters links back to the fact that men are always in charge of women; this is shown because both characters are ruled by other figures throughout the novel. Curley’s wife by Curley, and Jane first by Mrs. Reed, then Mr. Brocklehurst, and finally Rochester. As they are both women, they suffer being pressurized by men because of the patriarchal society. Another similarity within “Jane Eyre” and “Of Mice and Men” is the marriage theme. Marriage is a dilemma and complex in both the novel and novella. Marriage is brought to the attention of the reader numerous times in” Jane Eyre”; first of all where Rochester claims he is marrying Lady Ingram to make Jane jealous of their relationship, and Rochester’s plan works in winning Jane over and Rochester proposes to Jane, and she reply’s with grateful yes. Whilst in “Of Mice and Men” Curley’s wife has a disastrous relationship with her partner; first of all she has no forename and is only known as somebody’s wife. Curley’s wife gets no affection or love from her husband in their relationship and ends up resorting to the other men on the ranch for any attention she can get; good or bad. In “Of Mice and Men” and “Jane Eyre”, both Brontë and Steinbeck make it very clear from their writing that male chacters always look at the women’s physical appearance and not their personality. When Rochester was engaged to Jane the first time, Rochester insisted that Jane had the most expensive jewels and veils, but all Jane wanted was a simple cotton veil and no jewels. In “Of Mice and Men” the male character looked at Curley’s wife as a sexual
Curley's wife is reprehensible for Lennie's death. For example, if Curley's wife had not bothered Lennie after being told several times that Lennie was not supposed to talk to her and also, if she had not gone ballistic about her hair, she would not have died and neither would have Lennie. For example, when Lennie is alone in the barn with the pups, Curley's wife comes in and Lennie clearly states that he is not allowed to talk to her for the reason that George told him not to and Curley's wife says, “‘Why can't I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.’ Lennie said, ‘Well I ain't supposed to talk to you or nothing’” (86). This shows how Curley’s wife knew that George was going to get mad, but she talked to Lennie anyway, not caring what would
Curley’s Wife was probably one of the loneliest characters of all. She never talked to anyone and she never really liked Curley all too much. “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” (p.86) Curley’s Wife seems to get a lot of the other guys in trouble. Curley always suspects that she’s fooling around with the other men, “Any you guys seen my wife?” (p.53) Curley’s Wife always gives an excuse to confront the guys saying, “Any you guys seen Curley?” Then she tries to hang around and make conversation. The guy’s see her as a tramp and a troublemaker but all she wants is someone to talk too.
Curley?s wife spent her whole life trying to grab attention. She was always labeled and ignored by everyone on the ranch, an example of this is when George tells Lennie that she was troubled and to stay away from her. Curley?s wife was ignored and used from early on, when she was given false intentions on being a movie star.
She is frequently held responsible for numerous problems the men have. Everyone gets annoyed by her, since she constantly wears provocative clothing and flirts with the guys. She is constantly “looking” for her husband, asking around in her nasal, brittle voice, which is irritating in itself. In reality, she just desires attention from the other ranch hands. The problem is that the other men do not want to get in trouble with Curley, who does not like his wife going around with other men. Whit warns George of this in the beginning of the story, saying that she only causes trouble. “ ‘Well--she got the eye.’ ‘Yeah? Married two weeks and got the eye? Maybe that’s why Curley’s pants is full of ants.’ . . . ‘Well, I think Curley’s married. . . a tart’ ”(28). Everyone knows that Curley’s wife is a tart, or a promiscuous woman. Her decision to marry Curley was made extremely quickly, as she wanted to get back at her mother, because she believed her mom stole a letter from her. Because the men do not wish to talk to Curley’s wife, she is often lonely. A reason for this detachment is that she does not know how to approach people, frequently insulting others. The only time she ever conformed was when she talked to Lennie in the barn; however, this conversation was not a true discussion, as Lennie did not comprehend what she was saying. Earlier in the book, she attempted to talk to Candy, Crooks, and Lennie, but all of them wanted her out of the room. “She looked from one face to another, and they were all closed against her. And she looked longest at Lennie, until he dropped his eyes in embarrassment”(78). Curley’s wife felt the most alienated at this point, because even the lowliest on the farm were rising up against her. Candy makes a stand, telling Curley’s wife that they have a place to go to, even if they are canned. Unbelieving, she laughs Candy off. After a while, Crooks even
Furthermore, Lennie is captivated by her alluring beauty and cannot take his eyes off her, constantly mentioning that "she's purty". George, recognising Lennie's intoxication, cautions him to keep his distance from this temptress. Moreover, Curley's wife understands that her magnetising beauty is the main reason control and her authority, and she fully deploys it to seduce the other ranch hands and make her husband jealous of her, which in turn gives her attention. However, she is completely isolated on the ranch and her husband has made it so that no one will talk to her without having a fistfight with the man.
Curley makes sure his wife doesn’t talk to anyone. She is a victim of herself because she married a man that she hardly even knew. She married him though, to have a companion. She killed herself and Lennie because of her need for companionship. She craves companionship because she is an attractive woman with a need for interaction.
Throughout the novel, Curley’s wife interacts with the characters in a flirtatious manner that is intended to grab attention, thus making the others distrustful of her. It’s fascinating to note that the way others treat her determines how she treats them back; for example, Lennie is the only man to regard her positively, calling her “purdy” (Steinbeck 32), so she behaves empathically towards him, whereas Candy refers to her as a “bitch” (Steinbeck 84) and she’s rather vile towards him. This point is further supported
Although Curley’s wife is a flirt, she is still a very lonely girl. She is also the
“Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody.” (Steinbeck, 86). In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife is an outcast compared to the men. Being female, she cannot do what the men can. This novel was based in the 1920’s, a time where women weren’t allowed to do certain, almost all, things. She was not allowed to talk to anyone because she was seen as a threat. Her treatment was caused by how men viewed her. This all affected her responsibility, the views of her as a woman, and her loneliness.
Women, in all classes, were still living in a world which was misogynistic and male-dominated. Their purpose in life was to produce male heirs and maintain the home by hiring and overseeing servants. It was also taboo for one to marry significantly below one’s social class. This is one reason that Jane is not a conventional heroine for the society of her time. Although, as a governess, she is not considered to be as low as a housemaid, she is still part of the hired help in the house. This is why it is unconventional for her and Mr Rochester to be in a relationship. Yet this is not as peculiar as how Jane Eyre ends their relationship due to her sense of betrayal. It would have been considered extremely foolish for a working-woman’s sense of betrayal to end and turn down a man of great wealth.