Curley’s
Wife
Misogyny
on the ranch
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Trapped
in the context of the Great Depression (1.5 million women abandoned by
their husbands in 1930’s America): fierce competition for employment and
instability meant that women were marginalized (as were any other
‘second class’ citizens) because they did not offer practical labour.
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Source
of gossip and ridicule on the ranch – ‘I think Curley’s married a tart’; ‘she’s
got the eye’. We are introduced to Curley’s wife through the sexist,
derogatory remarks made about her by the ranch workers, and then later
through her physical appearance.
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Unlike with Slim, whose character is shaped by
his personality and abilities, the reader’s opinions are shaped by the negative
opinions of the ranch workers without Curley’s wife being allowed to assert
herself until the very end – ‘she’s a rattrap if I ever seen one’
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Her
promiscuity poses a threat to the ranch workers - the disdain they show
towards her is a form of self-preservation. They need to hold onto their
jobs, so become very guarded against any form of temptation that may compromise
their positions: ‘Don’t you even take a look at that bitch’.
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The
ranch workers are afraid of the position they may find themselves in with
Curley’s wife – partly because of her promiscuity, but partly because of their
own desires as lonely itinerant workers. They do not allow themselves to
relax around Curley’s wife because they do not trust themselves (eg. migrant
workers spending their earnings at whorehouses). This sexual restraint
is expressed as vehemence towards Curley’s wife.
Physical
– objectification & sexualisation
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‘A
rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off’ – Curley’s wife is physically
introduced as a threat that ‘cuts off’ the light of the potential American
dream. Automatically, her character is associated with shattered dreams
– this creates a sense of foreboding and the reader becomes wary of her
character before she does anything.
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The
colour red
– ‘She had full, rouged lips’, ‘her fingernails were red’, ‘she wore…red
mules’, ‘red ostrich feathers’. Emphasis on body parts that may cause
destruction – lips represent temptation, nails represent violence and
struggle (Lennie), shoes are the same as Curley’s – the threat of their
protective relationship. This use of colour both sexualizes her character and
symbolizes her lewd self-obsession, which will result in the shattering
of George and Lennie’s dream later in the novel.
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‘Her
body was thrown forward’ – She uses her femininity to gain attention – she
likes to feel watched and desirable, despite the hatred it provokes from
the ranch workers. Indicative of a neglectful relationship with her husband
Curley.
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Name
– ‘Curley’s Wife’ – she is merely an object, a man’s possession
who must spend her days ‘searching’ for her husband without forging
relationships or an identity of her own. This explains her destructive actions
later in the novel (she is ‘lonely’).
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‘She’s
purty’ – George reacts aggressively towards Lennie’s attraction to CW – he has
not learnt to protect himself against temptation – ‘you keep away from her’.
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Her
sexuality is the only weapon she has and has been forced to conform to
feminine roles to be acknowledged (albeit negatively) at all on the ranch–
‘She was standin’ in the doorway showin’ her legs’.
Destructive
Nature
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Reader
has little sympathy for Curley’s wife until chapter 5 (the scene of her death)
because she is only described from the guarded perspectives of the ranch
workers.
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‘I’m
tryin’ to find Curley’ – her loneliness can be observed throughout the
novel as she spends her days ‘searching’ for her husband, but becomes
‘apprehensive’ at the thought of coming into contact with him.
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She
is constrained by her role as a ‘wife’ and her husband’s protective yet
neglectful approach to their relationship. This explains her
attention-seeking and belittlement of the ‘weak’ characters in the novel – she
feels small and unnoticed, so asserts her femininity and ‘power’ in
order to feel significant.
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‘They
left all the weak ones here’ – she preys on the weaker workers for attention,
satisfying only her own desires without taking into consideration the
implications of her actions.
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She
is unintelligent and a bad judge of situation – partly, her virulent nature
is a result of her near-sightedness. She is a victim of gender stereotypes,
honestly believing the man who claimed he could ‘put (her) in the pitchers’,
when this is a common chat-up line. She is ‘breathless with indignation’
because she cannot see a situation for what it is – just as she cannot see that
Lennie is unstable when she tells him to stroke her hair.
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‘You
keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it
ain’t even funny’ – she is vindictive and will use any power she has
to assert her authority. This makes her character very disagreeable, but stems
from her own marginalization as a woman during the Great Depression.
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‘Why
can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely’ at the
heart of her final destructive action is her sadness as a character who is
isolated on the ranch and whose dreams have been shattered.
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‘I
coulda made something of myself…I coulda been in the movies’ – she is bitter
about her shattered dreams, and Steinbeck uses her virulence as an example
of the ‘meanness’ that stems from being alone and disappointed.
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‘Fell
right aroun’ their an’ see how soft it is’ – In the instance of Lennie’s death,
her actions are selfish but she does not intend to cause harm. She is simply
quenching her thirst for attention through unsuspecting Lennie.
Redeeming
Qualities
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She
is a victim of situation and disappointment as a marginalized and
unfulfilled character. Can she be blamed for her actions when they stem from
her own shattered dreams?
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She
is gullible and ignorant – she does not fully understand her situation and acts
only to make things better for herself (emotionally and situationally).
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She
comforts Lennie
after the death of his pup – ‘Don’t you worry none’ – she is one of the few
characters who is not desensitized to human emotion – she is dismayed at
the death of the dog “‘why, he’s dead’ she cried” and does not have the same
ruthless approach to ranch life as Slim, who drowns puppies for practical
reasons without remorse.
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After
death, she is described as being ‘very pretty and simple, and her face was
sweet and young’ – all the negative aspects of her character disappear. This
suggests that all the ‘meanness and planning and the discontent and the ache
for attention’ that shaped her character were a result of the life she was
living, rather than any genuine malice.
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Curley’s
wife is a victim of her situation and survives her loneliness in the
only way she knows how – through her promiscuity. At the crux of her threatening,
vindictive nature is her own disappointment as a marginalized character whose
dreams have been shattered.
