Curley's wife is a hard character to track; she, at first, seems like a flirtatious woman with bad cheating habits, but I do believe that there's a reason behind all of her actions, no matter how big or small.
First, John Steinbeck introduces Curley's wife through Candy, as he says: "'Well
--- she got the eye" (28) and that "'I think Curley's married . . . a
tart'" (28). Right off the bat, you can see that Curley's wife isn't respected at all by the others in the ranch. He says that "'she's got the eye" (28), implying that she
is not faithful to her husband and is on the look out for other men.
Now, jumping to when Curley's wife appears at the entrance of the bunkhouse: "'Oh!' She put
her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her
body was thrown forward. 'You're the new fellas that just come, ain't
ya?'" (31). Here, she puts her body in a
position that shows off her attractiveness. This movement shows that she most likely wants to seduce George or Lennie, but we have to look
deeper. There must be a reason to why this happens. If Curley's wife isn't
faithful to Curley, then it's obvious that her marriage to him was an
unhappy one, or something similar to this. There are several factors to why it may have not been a happy one; perhaps she had to give up something special in order to marry Curley, maybe it had been a forced marriage, etc. In any case, we'll most likely see more to it in the story.
However, I also want to note that she doesn't even have a name, as all she is referred
to as is "Curley's wife". This shows that where Curley's wife stands
on the social platform, it's extremely low. She probably hates where she is and has zero
self-esteem. I mean, how would you feel if you were so insignificant that
you didn't even have a name?
As for Curley's wife's physical appearance, it's obvious that she's very attractive and "purty". She, herself, knows this and shows it off to other men, as means to seduce them. John Steinbeck describes her as a woman with "…full, rouged
lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her
hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages" (31). In this paragraph, the fact that she paid so much attention to her beauty, such as her eyes being "heavily made up" and her fingernails being painted red, really stood out to me. At first, I thought that perhaps these were just means to further seduce men, but, going back to my point on her low rank on the social platform, I also think that for Curley's wife, her beauty can also be a way to compensate for her low rank. Her line of thinking could go along these lines: "Even if I'm nothing but a tool... at least I outrank any other woman in beauty." She wants to feel important, so she tries furthering her attractiveness, which is her only "talent"; the only thing that is special to her and only her.
When Slim arrives at the bunkhouse, Curley's wife explains to him that, "'I'm tryin' to find Curley, Slim.' 'Well, you ain't tryin' very hard. I seen him goin' in your house.' She was suddenly apprehensive. ''Bye, boys,' she called into the bunkhouse, and she hurried away' (32). At this part, where she was nervous, I think this is because she thinks that Slim, Lennie, and George would think that finding Curley was
not her real motive for coming to the bunkhouse. I think she came there to take a look at George and Lennie, and see what they're like.
Reading this part also added to my theory of why Curley's wife tries to seduce other men. I think that Curley's wife is, simply put, lonely. Think about it.
Wherever there's a big/strong man, such as Lennie, Curley immediately acts
with hostility because of his insecurity with his wife. This would drive away anyone who would want to interact with
her, and there's no other woman on the ranch. I think that the reason why
Curley's wife tries to seduce other men is because she's kind of left with
no other option. She wants someone to accompany her; if friendship won't
be able to last long enough, than perhaps "love" can.
Coming back to the part with an unhappy marriage, I think I can add this part in as well. From her actions, I don't believe that Curley's wife actually loves Curley. Perhaps she seduces men because she wants to find "true love" as well?
There are so many mysteries surrounding Curley's wife. John Steinbeck might reveal more of her to us; about her relationship with Curley, her past, and her reasoning.
~ Kate_ChromtheChrommander
The part about Curley's wife looking at all the men on the ranch is a very good point. I think Curley also knows this is happening, and that's why he is studying Lennie and George (Like I said in my blog post), and maybe George even knows this as well. I think Lennie might have some trouble with Curley's wife in the future causing him to have trouble with Curley as well.
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