John Steinbeck was ahead of his time in his portrayal of women in the 1937 novel Of Mice and Men. Curley’s wife exemplifies the stereotype and mistreatment of women from the early 1900s to present day. Curley’s wife struggles to find a voice in a male-dominated society and suffers mistreatment from other characters. Curley’s wife is dehumanized, discriminated, and persecuted until her death, which makes her the most deserving of the reader’s sympathy.ssd Steinbeck incorporates the mistreatment and degradation of women by never disclosing Curley’s wife’s name. This conveys the wife as Curley’s property. She is the only woman, on a ranch full of men, because of this she is subordinate to the men. The men label and judge her based on her appearance, rather than her character. George says to Lennie “I saw ‘em poison before, but I’ve never seen any jailbait worse than her. You leave her be” (Steinbeck 32). George makes assumptions based on her clothing and makeup, when none of these things influence who she is as a person. Many men thought she would be trouble because she was wife to Curley, the son of the boss, “She’s gonna make a mess...she’s a bait set on a trigger” says George (Steinbeck 51). Curley is the trigger: he’s stripped her of humanity, and left her helpless and lonely. Though he pays his wife no attention, he …show more content…
The faults brought on to her are encouraged by her appearance. Candy tells Curley’s wife’s corpse, “You God damn tramp...You done it, di’n’t you?...You wasn’t no good. You ain’t no good now, you lousy tart” (Steinbeck 95). Steinbeck highlights the men’s disrespect and callousness as they refer to Curley’s wife without regard to her death. Not once does she get respect, not once does she feel love. Instead, she dies in hatred and is painted the perpetrator rather than the victim; her beauty kills her in the eyes of the