What the significance of the presentation and description of Curly's Wife in Of Mice and Men?

Curley's wife is presented as lesser than the other characters, most notably through the lack of her own name. She is always referred to in relation to Curley, implying she has no identity outside of her marriage. As the only 'developed' female character in the novella it is interesting she is never given a proper name as it highlights the deep rooted inequality prevalent in the 1930s, especially in rural America. After WW1, when women had been allowed into the work force for the first time, many women went back into more traditional roles of servitude in their marriages, while others were still fighting for equality. This inequality but also traditional view of a wife is clearly shown through Curley's Wife and her lack of a name. However, she is also implied by the men of the book to be seductive, an attribute shown through her physical description. She is said to wear tight curls reminiscent of sausages, which itself has phallic imagery and therefore sexual undertones. Furthermore, the red dress she wears solidifies her position as this supposed 'seductress' as the colour red is often associated with love, lust and sexual desire. The male character's call her a 'tart', 'tramp' or 'bitch' conveying the vile rhetoric men use against women like her; a woman who seems to use her body and influence over men to get the little power she can. She is shown to still be dissatisfied with her life, confessing to Lennie her unfulfilled dreams of being a movie star. Therefore, as she is unhappy in the life she has, she has realized there is a sort of power in her body over men and uses this to ease her dis-satisfactory life. She is more complex of a character than the others in the novella give her credit for, and perhaps more than even Steinbeck intended considering the misogynistic treatment of women in his novella. She can be read as both a traditional depiction of a woman, shown through the lack of a name, as a seductress as shown through her physical appearance, and yet so much more than both of those through her interactions and her confessions that are slowly shown throughout the novella.