Steinbeck present’s Curley’s wife as the only women in the ranch, who occupies a key role in the novella as the catalyst for much discontent for several of the characters and for the tragic ending, because of this men in the ranch constantly think of her as a ‘trouble maker’. George refers to her as a “poison” and that he has “never seen piece of jailbait worse than her” This suggests that if Lennie gets in trouble with Curley’s wife it’s trouble for the both of them as they will lose the chance of saving some money and buying a place together and their dream will be ruined.This makes the reader think about what Lennie did in Weed for George to be so paranoid about getting in trouble on the ranch. In Weed, Lennie “pets” a girl’s pretty dress and frightens her away which makes George and Lennie run out of town.
Steinbeck uses this incident, as well as others, including the petting of the mouse and the death of the puppy at Lennie's hands to foreshadow Curley's wife's death.Curley’s wife is a woman who is sexually charged and treacherous to any man with whom she might be involved with. Later, in the chapter it’s proved that she is a trouble maker and a woman who is treacherous because she destroyed Crooks dream by forcibly reminding him about how powerless he is, because of the fact that he is black and she also destroyed Candy, Lennie and George’s dream with getting herself killed which shows her as an antagonist of the narrative who put an end to everyone’s happiness.
