Due to his loveless marriage of convenience, Curley knows his got to keep an eye on his beautiful young bride and as his wife says, " I get lonely. You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad." (page 91) Curley's wife is so lonely and is too foolish to realise that by flaunting her sexuality it loses her more friends then it gains and further contributes to her isolation.
Curley's wife is an extremely desperate young woman, she loves to be the centre of attention and longs to be a movie star. Due to Curley's wife's isolation on the ranch, she has lost all hope in her dream of starring in the pictures. When no one around you will even talk to you, your self-esteem and belief quickly diminishes. Steinbeck does not even give Curley's wife a name she is simply referred to as his wife not a person, but a possession. From the way Curley's wife is treated by her husband and the men on the ranch she has come to believe that she "she coulda been in the movies" (page 93) but now her dream is no longer attainable due to her predicament. Curley's wife speaks about her aspirations in past tense giving the indication to the reader that it can no longer happen and that she can no longer make something of herself.
Curley's wife is ultimately destroyed because of her isolation she is always looking for someone to talk to, and pay attention to her. None of the other men on the ranch including her husband have any respect for Curley's wife she is seen purely as a sexual object. In Curley's wife pursuit for company, she is lead to seek solace in Lennie. She pours out her pent up frustration of her unrealised dreams and ambitions. When she realises Lennie isn't taking much interest she lets him feel her hair. Lennie being Lennie strokes harder and harder even though Curley's wife begs him to stop. As she struggled to get out of his grasp, he accidentally breaks her neck causing her ultimate destruction.
