On the ranch there is a well known woman merely referred to as ‘Curley’s Wife’. Her lack of identity could imply she is not woman but rather a possession of her husband. She is shown to represent the lost of identity after being associated with something or someone. 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 unimportant, nameless character we first perceive her as, but rather she is a relatively complex and interesting character, with much more to her than we first gather.
Alternatively, it could suggest she is insignificant and not as important of a character as George, Lennie or any of the other men on the ranch. It could also be referring to how during the great depression women were oppressed and treated less equally. Steinbeck may have portrayed women in this light to allow the reader to recognize the inferior role of women at that time. The lack of name demotes Curley's wife to insignificant status. In chapter four she joins Crooks, Lennie and Candy whilst on one of her ‘looking for Curley’ routines, where she says, 'They left all the weak ones here' alluding to the three men, all 'weak' in their respective ways. However there is a sense of irony because she is not even considered a real person but a possession. Therefore this comment is ironic because she seems to think of herself as higher in status than the men; however she is seen as unworthy of a name thus we can conclude that is she unimportant.
Curley’s Wife is first presented to us through the dialogue of ranch-hand Candy, when he describes her to George. She is perceived by Candy to be the cause of all that goes wrong in Soledad: ‘Ever’one knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good’. He uses expressions such as ‘she got the eye’ and goes on to describe her as looking at other men, before eventually calling