How Does Steinbeck Present Curley's Wife

J.B Priestley and John Steinbeck, the authors of thought-provoking texts ‘An Inspector Calls’ and ‘Of Mice and Men’, depict women in many contrasting and arguably controversial ways. Both authors present women to be powerful yet aggressive and temptresses yet victims although John Steinbeck depicts his main female character, (Curley’s Wife) to be a mercenary and seductive temptress and J.B Priestley illustrates his pivotal female character, (Eva Smith), to be a hopeless victim of society. Significantly, J.B Priestley and John Steinbeck promote themes of capitalism, socialism and stereotypical views within their texts, further emphasising the position of women during the time.

The way in which the characters in both texts are portrayed could

For example, ‘The rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off’. This could show that Curley’s Wife is attempting to assert power over the new men on the ranch and also shows that Curley’s Wife has an immediate effect over the male characters. This also implies that she manipulated events to draw attention to herself in this manner, thus suggesting her need for attention. Although, the literal meaning could simply be that the light has been blocked out by a figure in the doorway, which could have happened with any other character. Nevertheless, Steinbeck’s placement of Curley’s Wife creates an immediate image of the character within the reader’s mind and with the other men on the ranch. Steinbeck may have done this to reflect the stereotypes within the context of the novel and to present how women were treated and viewed during this time. On the other hand, Stienbeck may have also done this to create a contrast between the sexes on the ranch. The phrase ‘cut off’ has upper hand yet impregnable connotations and could possibly make the reader feel cautious towards the character of Curley’s Wife. However, the way that Curley’s Wife is presented could also make the reader feel curious due to her actions never being fully explained by Steinbeck. For example, Curley's Wife's actions are never explained when she manipulates Lennie into feeling her hair also, perhaps Curley's

This quote shows how lower class women were discriminated against and were left desperate for work. The word ‘penniless’ has connotations of how perhaps the lower class struggled financially, therefore implying how Eva Smith, along with most lower class females, struggled to find sufficient work with the current class divide impacting her ability to have a more valued place in society. J.B Priestley may have written Eva Smith in this way to emphasise how individuals of a higher class were intolerant of lower class people, however he could have interpreted Eva in this way to show how Mr Birling played a large role in her death. Eva Smith is later contrasted with a higher class woman named Mrs Birling who in the beginning of the play has intolerance towards lower class individuals, then later becomes more aware of the effects of the class divide. ‘As if a girl of that sort would refuse money.’ This is said by Mrs Birling about Eva Smith and it emphasises how she had a low opinion of people in the lower class such as Eva. Mrs Birling and Eva Smith are said to represent the typical high and lower class females of the