Curley's Wife

On the outside, Curley's wife comes across as a very flirtatious woman. She flaunts her femininity by wearing revealing, tight clothing, and she spends a great deal of time doing her hair and face. Even though she is married, she spends a great deal of time trying to be desirable and attractive to other men. She seeks out conversations and meetings with the other men on the ranch under the disguise of 'looking for Curley,' even if she already knows where he is. The men are wary of her flirtatious ways, knowing well enough what could happen to them if they fell into her trap.

On the inside, however, I do not believe that Curley's wife is exactly as she seems. I think she feels trapped and bored having to live on the ranch: "--Saturday night. Ever'body out doin' som'pin'. Ever'body! An' what am I doin'? Standin' here talkin' to a bunch of bindle stiffs -- a nigger an' a dum-dum and a lousy ol' sheep -- an' likin' it because they ain't nobody else."

This quotation reveals a lot about her character and inner feelings. She resents the fact that she is stuck on the ranch with no one to talk to . She craves a larger social group, true friends -- I think that in many ways she is a lonely person. She does not have a happy marriage with Curley -- in fact, she does not like him at all, as is exemplified in the following quotation.

"Sure I gotta husban'. You all seen him. Swell guy, ain't he? Spends all his time sayin' what he's gonna do to guys he don't like, and he don't like nobody. Think I'm gonna stay in that two-by-four house and listen how Curley's gonna lead with his left twict, and then bring in the ol' tight cross? 'One two' he says. 'Jus' the ol' one-two an' he'll go down.'"

I think that Curley's wife feels quite lonely and shut-in in the house with her husband. She is a fairly arrogant woman who probably sees herself as being above him, and she is tired of having to listen to him talk about himself. The line "Think I'm gonna stay in that two-by-four house" also shows something about her. She thinks she is better than the life she is currently living, that she should be living in a nicer house in a town, with a more attentive husband than Curley. She deals with these feelings by dressing herself up even just for a standard day at the ranch.

I think that her flirtatious attentions towards the other men stem partly from a belief that she is attractive and deserves attention for it, but I think that most of it comes from a need of self-validation. She is probably unsure about herself and her image, and attention from the men boosts her self-esteem and affirms her feelings that she is better than the life she's currently living. A lot of it also probably comes from  a loneliness. She does not have the potential to make many friends, living out on the ranch like that, so she feels the need to interact with the people she can -- in the only way she knows.