Curley's wife is an incredibly interesting character in Of Mice and Men. Her real name is never given to the reader, reducing her to an extension of Curley and her role as his wife. Her physical attributes are described in great detail and she clearly wants them noticed by the men on the ranch. Her behavior is considered questionable by the majority of the men, including Curley, who is always searching for her when she isn't at home. The men on the ranch are pretty clear about how they believe married women ought to behave and Curley's wife doesn't fit the bill. Curley responds to her flirtatious behavior by breaking her records later on in the story to teach her a lesson about how to respect him. Despite that, Curley's wife continues to sneak around the ranch. She knows that the prevailing attitude says wives should stay at home, but she finds it too boring:
The girl flared up. "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 twicet, and then bring in the ol' right cross? 'One-two,' he says. 'Jus' the ol' one-two an' he'll go down.'" (38)
In this scene in chapter four, Curley's wife reveals that she knows how Curley's hand became mangled and she also reveals how mean spirited she can actually be. Lashing out, she threatens Crooks and is finally chased away by Candy's promise to tell Curley on her if she won't leave.
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