Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Women 1930s

Satisfactory Essays
263 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Women 1930s
Women of the 1930s 22/09/12
Of mice and men topic
Back in the 1930 women were known as second class citizens. They didn’t have the same rights that men had. Doing any other job than being a house wife was really frowned upon. Men would go out and work for the money whilst women would look after the children and clean the home. Also during this time women had to cover up their legs and arms as men could get the wrong idea. By this point in history the suffragettes were in protest. The suffragettes were fighting the rights of women.by 1933 the modern area was coming in. women’s dresses were getting shorter. They all wanted to be like the Hollywood stars the femmes’ fatales.
In the story of mice and men the story is set in that time and the problems they were facing. Curley’s wife was one of the women in the story. She really wanted and was trying to be a femmes’ fatales. To show the sexism in the time the writer john Steinbeck didn’t even give her a name. She was referred to as just Curley’s wife.
In the story it describes what Lennie and George think of her. Lennie being thinks she’s really “Purdy” and takes a fancying to her. George being the smart and serious one understands the situation and what she is trying to do and says she a “rat trap”. Although in the story she is known as a slag she is just trying to be like all the movie stars.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The typical American woman during the 1930’s was shown in the world as a housewife, they were portrayed as women happy to stay home, clean and care for the children. They were typically seen as women who were very well dressed to do house hold chores and…

    • 672 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    At the beginning of the novel they are on the road traveling to a ranch after having fled from a ranch in Weed. When they arrive they already find a possible source of trouble in the form of Curley's wife. Being attractive and the only woman on the ranch George foresees that Lennie simple minded approach might get him into trouble as it had in their previous job. However Curley's wife doesn't make it easy for them, being married to an unpleasant man she spends her time hanging around the bunk house flirting with the workmen. But despite George trying to keep him out of harms way Lennie's inquisitive nature eventually gets the better of him and so does his strength leaving George with a difficult decision to make.…

    • 1696 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Curleys wife

    • 933 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Curley’s wife is the only female lives on the farm. Throughout the novella, the men that work on the ranch always refer to her as ‘Curley’s wife’. Her lack of identity could imply that she is more of a possession of her husband than a woman with rights. That is why she has no name; her identity is being someone’s wife. As this character develops, we find that she is not in fact the nameless, unimportant character as we first perceive her as, but she is a complex an interesting character which much more to her than we first think of. The lack of identity could also be referring to how womens rights were treated less equally than men. The lack of name demotes Curley’s wife to an insignificant status. Steinbeck says in a letter about the role of Curley’s wife “She (Curley’s wife) was told over and over again that she must remain a virgin… She had only that one thing to sell and she knew it.” This further enforces that women were only used for sex. Steinbeck may have portrayed woman in this way to allows readers to recognise the inferior role of women during the Great Depression.…

    • 933 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Analysis Of Curley's Wife

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Curley’s wife is the main women character in Steinbeck’s novel of mice and men. In this piece of writing I will be discussing the good and bad about Curley’s wife.…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Curley's Wife Analysis

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck portrays the story of two migrant workers, George and Lennie, who are completely different people, but who stick together in the face of discrimination and loneliness. There are many different characters who each have their own hopes and aspirations that are depicted in the book, however one character that stands out is Curley’s wife. At first, the book introduces her as a seductress who dresses extravagantly and wears too much makeup. The men on the ranch say she plays around and they call her names such as “tart” or “jail bait”. She is defined by her role in the book, Curley’s wife. In other words, Curley’s property. She is never given a name throughout the book, only being referred to as Curley’s wife. However, as the book goes on, the reader begins to learn the complexities of Curley’s wife. It is revealed that she has a dream of her own, to be in the movies, and hates being tied down on the ranch. “ ‘Nother time I met a guy, an’…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Curley’s Wife is portrayed as a “tart” and “tramp” according to the male characters in Of Mice and Men. She frequently flirts with the ranch hands on her father-in-laws’ farm. Even though she’s a trouble maker, Curley’s Wife experiences extreme loneliness and the hurt of her own broken dream. She explains on page 97 that she had a chance at an acting career but instead she was trapped into living an unhappy life with Curley. This proves that Curley’s wife is not a heartless “bitch” but actually a human being that has aspirations and…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Of Mice and Men

    • 2018 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Of mice and men is set in 1930’s America. During the time period it was a very much considered that women were merely seen as sex objects and that men were the dominant and more superior gender. Throughout the novella we see how Curley’s wife: one of the only women on the ranch is treated and disrespected by the other workers.…

    • 2018 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the novel “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck tells a story of dreams, hopes and loneliness. We are introduced to a majorly significant and complex Character, named Curley’s wife. Steinbeck shows us that Curley’s wife is flirtatious, mischievous but most of all an isolated character. She plays a main part in the novel; in doing this she displays and presents many of the main themes.…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    George warns Lennie to stay away from Curleys wife he says ‘You Leave her be’ he also calls her a ‘rat trap’ this is probably because he knows that she is a flirt and will draw him in and it will end up Lennie getting into trouble like a rat trap will use cheese to draw the rat in and end up in the rat being killed. George also knows that Curley is ‘fisty’ and any trouble with him could lead to them getting in a fight with Curley or being ‘canned’ by the boss which would mean they could not earn the money to fulfil their dream of owning their own land. Candy also says that ‘Curley’s married . . . a tart’ this is probably because of the way she acts and dresses. He knows that she is a flirt and thinks that she will get into any mans pants if presented with a chance. This may also be because he is old and his traditional stereotype of women is that in a marriage they should stay home clean and cook for their partners and not be out talking and flirting with other men most of the time as he could think that she has only one man to satisfy which is her…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In âOf Mice and Menâ John Steinbeck describes Curleyâs wife as a character of many contradictions she is shown as both a nice girl and a floozy; lonely yet vindictive; Motherly but also seductive. In this essay I will try to discuss both of her sides.…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    This period (1940’s) was a time of many tumultuous changes for the nation in general, such as World War 1 and the Great depression. Each of these factors significantly influenced women’s roles in both the family and the work force. Expectations of women were greater and more settled in the 1940’s. Young women then were expected to marry at a young age, usually around eighteen years of age. Although you may think that that was too young of a time to marry, in my opinion it kept women from running around with many kids and no father. At least they were a family. Women were expected to work hard in factories and domestic services. However, most women were having duties at home doing chores, babysitting, educating their children and run the house while the husband was not there. Society thought that doing these things would be a “successful women” (Sophia Cassey,) which they were somewhat right. If you look at these women, they became very successful hardworking women, making money and still taking care of home and nothing has changed.…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Curley’s wife is the single female character in of mice and men. She is not given a name, but referred to only as “curley’s wife”. This shows that she feels imprisonment (trapped). She is Curley’s possession and his possession only. Her only purpose is to be Curley’s companion.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife to present the theme of loneliness in Of Mice and Men. Her real name is never revealed in the story, showing that she has never been considered as a real person with an identity of her own. In fact, Steinbeck depicts women as troublemakers who bring ruin on men and drive them mad- Curley’s bad temper has only worsen since their marriage. Her purpose in the book is rather simple- she is a ‘tramp’, a ‘tart’ and ‘a bitch’ that threatens to destroy male happiness. Moreover, in the novel, we can frequently see that Curley and his wife is looking for each other, but we do not see them together, except when she is dead. Since Curley’s wife is the only female in the ranch, it is only out of jealous suspicion that Curley goes looking for her, at the same time, showing off to those ranchmen. However, Curley’s wife looks for him simply out of boredom and possibly as an excuse to spend time with other men, which makes her a pathetic figure.…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The character of Curley's wife in John Steinbeck's classic novel Of Mice and Men seems insignificant and one-dimensional. Curley's wife is considered nameless and flirtatious. Curley's wife has yet to establish an identity for herself. The "context" of her life has left her deprived of many of the established means necessary for the development of an identity. It is undiluted that Steinbeck omits both a name and a definite identity in his creation of Curley's wife in order to accurately portray her.…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    First, women’s treatment was an issue in the 1930s because they didn’t have any rights. The reason why they didn’t have any rights is because they were not that important during that time. An example is that in the book Of Mice and Men Curley’s…

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays