Explain Milton's presentation of Curley's Wife in Of Mice and Men.

Milton presents Curley's Wife as being a victim to the male dominated society in which she is imprisoned. Firstly, we never find out her real name she is consistently referred to only as 'Curley's Wife'. The possessive apostrophe belittles her status as an individual and instead portrays her as one of Curley's possessions, under his complete control. Her attention to detail when regarding her appearance with her, 'red' nails, and her 'curled' hair suggest on the one hand that she enjoys being an object of desire. On the other hand it could suggest that Curley's wife realises the only way she is going to have a voice or even be noticed is through her sexual identity. And so her perfectionist approach to how she looks actually illustrates her isolation on the ranch, her purpose simply being to satisfy the male gaze.

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Answered by Elizabeth P. English Literature tutor

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