"Most of the ranch hands except for Slim brand Curley's wife as a 'tart'. In fact, she is portrayed as such whenever she appears, obviously playing up to and teasing the men."
" "
"She is cruel to Crooks, Candy and Lennie in Crooks' room, and later on she tempts Lennie, letting him stroke her hair in the barn, and kneeling beside him in the hay in a provocative way?"
" "
"We can definitely say that she is lonely. She says so several times, and that is to be expected since she is stuck on a ranch with men who dislike her and rarely talk to her."
3
"However, she attempts to overcome her loneliness in the wrong way. George immediately realises that she means trouble when she first turns up in the bunkhouse, and it is hardly surprising that her actions lead her new husband to be fiercely jealous."
" "
"She walks around the ranch, dressed inappropriately and seductively, and remember that she has only been married a couple of weeks. She admits to Lennie that she doesn't like her husband and regrets marrying him. She seems to be of limited intelligence, as she was taken in by other men's promises of film parts."
5
"It is partly her desire to be petted and admired which leads her to allow Lennie to srtoke her hair, which in turn leads to her death at Lennie's hands."
" "
"Note that throughout the book, she is only ever known as 'Curley's wife' which seems to indicate that the author viewed her as a possession of Curley's rather than a human being."
" "
"Notice that she is frequently associated with the colour red, a colour symbolising an impure woman, as well as one calculated to enrage a 'bull' such as Lennie."
