...Steinbeck depicts Curley’s wife not as a villain, but rather as a victim. Like the ranch-hands, she is desperately lonely and has broken dreams of a better life. She's the only female character in the novel, and she's never given a name and is only referred to in reference to her husband. The men on the farm refer to her as a “tramp,” a “tart,” and a “looloo.” Dressed in fancy, feathered red shoes, she represents the temptation of female sexuality in a male-dominated world. How is Curley's wife presented and developed throughout the novel? Curley's wife is an example of how our perception of a character can change without the character actually changing. She is portrayed as both a villain and victim throughout the course of the novel. Despite Steinbeck's rendering she emerges as a relatively complex and intricate character who through the course of the novel, our feelings become sympathetic towards. Throughout the novel she is shown in different lights, as from section 2 to section 5 in the novel, her character evolves and her sweeter and more vulnerable side is shown in contrast to her first appearance which portrays her as imposing and a trouble maker. Throughout the course of the novel, it appears women are treated with contempt and Steinbeck generally depicts women as trouble-makers who bring ruin on men and drive them mad. Aside from wearisome wives "Of Mice and Men" offers limited rather misogynistic descriptions of women who are either dead, maternal figures or prostitutes...
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...INTRODUCTION TO LAW AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK. FORMATION OF CONTRACT THE FOLLOWING NOTES SHOULD BE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE CORE LECTURE. OFFER. A communication is treated as an offer if it indicates the terms on which the offeror is prepared to make a contract and gives a clear indication that the offeror intends to be bound by those terms if they are accepted by the offeree. Partridge v Crittenden (1968) An advertisement in a magazine stated ‘Bramblefinch cocks and hens, 25s each’. As the Bramblefinch was a protected species, the person who placed the advertisement was charged with unlawfully offering for sale a wild bird contrary to the Protection of Birds Act 1954, but his conviction was quashed on the grounds that the advertisement was not an offer but an invitation to treat. Spencer v Harding (1870) LR 5 CP 561 The defendant had sent out a circular stating 'We are instructed to offer [certain business stock] to the wholesale trade for sale by tender ...'. The claimant had submitted a tender for the stock and his tender was the highest, however, the defendant refused to sell him the goods. The claimant argued that the circular was an offer which contained a promise to sell the goods to the party who submitted the highest tender, but the court rejected this argument. Willes J. in that case identified the crucial question to be 'whether there is here any offer to enter into a contract at all, or whether the circular amounts to anything more than a mere...
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...First off the only person on the ranch that Curlys wife can ever talk to to is Curly or else he gets mad. He’s always trying to start fights with whoever encounters her, even if she’s the first one to talk to them. All the men on the ranch know not to talk to her certainly because she’s the wife of the bosses son. There is a quote in the book that proves her statement, “I get lonely” she said. “you can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but curley. Else he gets mad. how’d you like not to talk to nobody?”. That shows that she is not trying to mess around with the men and she only wants someone to talk to her. Second of all there are no other women on the farm for her to talk to. How does curly expect her not to talk to the women when there isn’t any other women for her to talk to. In the book of mice and men it quotes, “when his aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin”(40) that implies that Curlys wife was the only other women mentioned in the book and besides aunt Clara that passed away. Therefore Curly was not letting her socialize which had let her to rebel and to try to socialize....
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...outbursts of Curley, Lennie, and Curley’s Wife. Curley’s inner doubt leads him to lash out in violence. To start, Curley feels threatened by big people. Candy described that Curley was “alla time picking scraps with big guys” because he’s mad “he ain’t a big guy” (Steinbeck 26). When Curley is after Lennie, Steinbeck develops the threat of bigger people to Curley. In addition, Curley assaults people who his wife eyes. Because Curley’s Wife is promiscuous, Curley...
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...Explore the way Steinbeck portrays Curley’s wife as someone we both sympathise with and dislike at times. Steinbeck portrays Curley’s wife as one we both sympathise and dislike at times by showing both sides of her story to the reader, he illustrates Curley’s wife’s, point of view by revealing her past and why she is married to Curley. He then depicts the other side of her personality by exposing how she is around the ranch workers, and what they think of her. The author also illustrates the life of a typical women in 1930’s America and the little respect they were given. Steinbeck does not make the reader feel one strong emotion for her but various different emotions throughout the novel. Furthermore he constantly foreshadows a coming of an event she will play a major role in by reminding George and Lennie how similar she is to the girl in Weed, who Lennie was falsely accused of raping. The first thing the reader notes when reading about Curley’s wife is the lack of importance she is being given by Steinbeck not mentioning her name, and by referring to her as a possession of Curley ,however this also reflects to 1930’s America, when women weren’t given any importance and were treated with a huge amount of disrespect. They didn’t have much power over the men and were considered ‘useless’. Henceforth Steinbeck may have not given her a name as women were not considered important enough and she may not have deserved a name in this era. This could make the reader feel sympathy...
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...By far Curley’s wife is the most significant character in the novella. She symbolizes women at the time period, and plays a big role in the plot. She is the very reason most of the impactful events happen. At a glance Curley’s wife seems like a needy attention hogging woman, however she is very complex and interesting. Curley’s wife is an accurate representation of how women were treated in the 1900’s. Women were very irrelevant to the social world and became the minority quickly. All throughout the story Curley's wife is told to “stay in the house” and fulfill “woman duties.” The evidence above directly mirrors to the way women behaved and were treated in the 1900’s. Women stayed home doing chores, cooking, and performing every need...
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...who is the least. There are characters in the story who are the most powerful on the ranch, like Curley, but there are also characters with the least amount of power on the ranch, like Crooks. We can all see that Crooks has the least amount of power because he is black and because of his back injury, but I will be focusing on Curley’s Wife. Although she doesn’t have the least amount of power, Curley’s Wife is still extremely weak by simply being a woman and even more so by acting like a tart. Throughout the book there are multiple mentions and examples when Curley’s Wife is seen as overly flirtatious even though she’s a married woman, she is also never mentioned by name and constantly referred to as Curley’s Wife. “She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward.” This is how she acts when she is only barely meeting George and Lennie. She is already trying to catch their attention and using her body to her...
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...Curley’s Wife: The Tart In this novel, Of Mice and Men, the author is John Steinbeck. The author explains Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife is flirtatious with everyone she goes around. “gives men the eye, kinda flirting with them” (31). “I’m lookin’ for Curley”, she exclaimed. “Oh!” said George. “You’re the new fellas that just come, ain’t ya?” (31). Curley’s wife is a lonely woman since Curley is always busy doing stuff on the farm. Earlier into the novel, Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife is not only flirtatious, she claims to be lonely. Lennie made a comment to Curley’s wife “George says I ain’t to have nothing to do with you- talk to you or nothing” (86). She began to giggle “George giving you orders about everything?” (86) Lennie still wanted to listen to George and he expressed to Curley’s wife “No, sir. I ain’t gonna talk to you or nothing” (86). “Listen” she said. All the guys got a horseshoe tenement goin’ on. It’s on’y about four o’clock. None of them guys is goin’ to leave that tenement. Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely” (86). No one never wanted to Curley’s wife because if Curley ever found out or saw them talking, he would get mad and then want to fight them. Not...
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...it. “If it were done, when it’s done, then here well if it were done quickly.” Here Macbeth admits that he does want to kill Duncan, but also realises that he must take his chances while he can to avoid getting caught, or him missing his opportunity and never getting the chance to become king. He says this, so that the audience know what he is going to do it that night, so it builds the suspense. He still uses the word “if” indicating that Lady Macbeth has persuaded him to do it. Lady Macbeth was confident that she could persuade him earlier in scene 6, and now the audience would see that it has worked, and it would reinforce their view of how devious, and manipulative she is. Additionally, Curley’s wife is seen only as a possession of Curley, rather like a trophy wife. The fact that Steinbeck writers the characters as never once...
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...Curley's wife is the loneliest character in the story, not only was it a challenge to be taken seriously as a woman back then, but she was also stuck in an unhealthy marriage. In the 1930’s it was very much a “dream” for women to pursue their goals, for most women they were known for working indoors...
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...Curley's wife was unhappy and showed it through her aggression. Despite her meanness, her narcissism, crudeness and cruelty, we have sympathy towards her being that she’s a woman. We care about her because she is accidentally killed; painlessly, suddenly, violently. She met Curley at a dance and married him almost immediately, as a way to escape her overbearing mothering. Curley’s wife is in fact rude, selfish, and sometimes cruel. She constantly mocks the men that are weaker than herself, which stripes them from their dream of having a farm. But being a female who gets no attention and is seen as only property and having no identity, it would be rational for her to want to show little to no respect to any of the men. Curley’s wife lives a life following behind Curley’s shadows. She opens up first telling a story about how she could’ve been a movie star, which demonstrates her pushing for a better life or desperate need of a better future. She didn’t know what she was getting herself into when she married Curley, and soon after became trapped in the marriage. The outcome is an exact counterpoint to her dream of being on her own, independent, a movie star. She is a very gullible, which is enough for us to have sympathy for her. Her intelligence shines through when she knows she is being lied to, yet still falls short when she chooses...
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...overpower someone else, whereas a victim is a subject to someone else’s power. Lady Macbeth and Curley’s wife both manipulate men using their femininity: Curley’s wife shows this as she manipulates the men on the ranch using her appearance and Lady Macbeth uses her sexuality to persuade her husband to kill the king and by welcoming Duncan into her home, even though she was plotting to kill him. Alternatively, there are differences between the two women, as Curley’s wife is lonely and isolated on the ranch, her husband disrespects her and is disliked by all the men on the ranch and as a result, manipulates the men innocently to get some attention. Lady Macbeth desires power and fame, and acts manipulatively and selfishly to get what she wants. Lady Macbeth is upperclass, giving her more freedom to do what she wanted. She had status, wealth, glamour and equal partnership with her husband. This was very unusual for the time- Shakespeare has presented her as a very modern anti-heroine. The writers have also presented the women as victims of their gender. During the time each text was written women had restrictions placed on their gender and struggled to achieve their dreams and ambitions. This is shown in the behaviour of each character. Although, it is harder to view Lady Macbeth as a victim because of her cruel and destructive behaviour, in comparison to the lonely and naive Curley’s wife. During the Elizabethan era, women were dominated by the male members of their family. They were...
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...Curley’s Wife: Miss Dynamite or lonely victim? Curley’s wife is a young, pretty woman, who is mistrusted by her husband, Curley. The other characters refer to her only as ‘Curley's wife,’ which is significant as she is the only character in the novel without a name. She is a simple object or possession belonging to her husband and this shows the severity of the sexual discrimination in America in 1930s. I believe Steinbeck would have thought of her not as a person but a symbol. Almost everyone on the ranch is lonely and she symbolises this. The audience would come to believe she is a weak isolated character however, the men are fearful of her. She is the wife of their boss. She has power and this power creates fear among the ranch workers. She is both in charge and screaming for attention. When we first meet Curley’s wife, the description of her suggests she is clearly overdressed for life on a ranch. ‘Her fingernails were red’ and she wore ‘red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers.’ The repetition of the red suggests danger. This could be a warning about trouble in the future. Danger creates fear and the workers on the ranch definitely fear her. She has the power to dismiss them from their jobs or even have them lynched as she is the boss’s wife. This ‘Miss Dynamite’ image is supported by the fact that George thinks she will be trouble. He calls her a ‘tramp’, ‘poison’ and tells Lennie (who has taken a shine to her) to ‘leave her be’...
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...treat others. Curley’s Wife, Crooks, and Candy are excluded because of gender, race, age, or disability. This bias results in these people feeling lonely and inferior. In Steinbeck’s novella, multiple characters experience alienation due to discrimination by other ranchers. Throughout the novella, Curley’s Wife is isolated from the male workers several times due to her gender. This is portrayed when the men in the bunkhouse argue with Curley about his wife, when they try to avoid Curley’s Wife because they view her as a nothing more than a distraction because they think her beauty is her only valuable characteristic. Carlson says, “Why’n’t you...
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...While leisurely conversing in the harness room with Crooks, Candy, and Lennie, Curley’s wife first reveals her suffering, and then expresses it by intimidating and belittling the men in order to feel superior and disguise her own misery. After exposing deep feelings of pain and powerlessness, Curley’s wife conveys this grief by trying to put down the rest of the men to make her situation seem less severe in comparison . She can be compared to a bully, a person that dispenses pain they have felt to others either to gain sympathy or to feel entitlement and belonging. In the case of Curley’s wife, being to only woman on the farm has isolated and excluded her. In attempts to make friend or at least company, Curley’s wife enters the cabin to talk with the men. What seems like a heartwarming conversation turns sour very quickly when Curley’s wife yells, “‘Well you keep your place then, n*****. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny.’... She turn[s] at last to the other two... ‘Tell an’ be damned,’ she crie[s]. ‘Nobody’d listen to you an’ you know it’” (81). Because she experiences social rejection she feels the need to pass it along to the rest of the men in the cabin. She does this to make them feel the same or worse than she is feeling, or to show that her hurting...
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