Aunt Jennifer's Tigers - explained by Sukhpreet Singh

Adrienne Rich, "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers"

Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green. → Metaphor
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty. → Alliteration

Aunt Jennifer's finger fluttering through her wool → Alliteration
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band → Symbol of unhappy marriage
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand.

When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie → Transferred Epithet & Synecdoche
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by. → Metaphor
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

Stanza 1

1. Aunt’s creativity is being extolled here directly or indirectly.

2. She has embroidered tigers very vividly.

3. Tigers are shown as prancing here elegantly, unafraid and gallantly.

4. Men are shown sitting beneath the tree; directly or indirectly, tigers shown us unafraid of men, suggests aunt’s innermost feeling of becoming like a tiger or to acquire qualities of a tiger.

Stanza 2

5. Though, aunt is shown as embroidering gallant, fearless and confident animals (tigers), yet her fluttering fingers through wool, suggests her apprehensions and weakness.

6. Gradually, it comes to fore that she is a victim of male dominance.

7. She is scared of her husband and for her, marriage is a huge burden to carry.

Stanza 3

8. The stanza takes us directly to the future.

9. When aunt would be dead, she would die ringed with the same problems.

10.Whereas her tigers would prance unafraid.

11.It feels as if the poet gives a caution to the victims of male dominance to raise their voices against injustice, else they would die with the same problems and won’t be free even after death.

Poetic devices

1. Alliteration - Fingers fluttering, prancing proudly, chivalric certainity

2. Hyperbole - massive weight of wedding band

3. Symbols - Aunt Jennifer - Victim of male dominance, Uncle Jennifer - Domineering husband, Tigers - Courage and confidence, Wedding band - unhappy marriage

4. Metaphor - topaz denizens, ringed with ordeals

5. Transferred epithet - terrified fingers

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers - Questions and Answers

1. Why are Aunt’s fingers fluttering?
Aunt Jennifer is the victim of male domination. She loves to knit tigers for the realization of her dreams. While she knits or embroiders, she finds it difficult to pull her light ivory needle due to the weight of the marriage ring that her husband put in her finger, years ago. She is so much scared of her husband that even in his absence, she trembles with fear.

2. What does the ‘Wedding ban’ symbolize?

Here, the wedding band symbolizes unhappy marriage. Aunt Jennifer is being dominated by her husband and she is not at all happy from her married life.

3. What sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand?

The massive weight of Uncle’s Wedding band sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand. ‘Sits’ here refers to domination over someone’s freedom. For Aunt Jennifer her husband’s wedding ring was no sign of love or care. For her it was a sign of suppression and burden.

4. What conflict in marriage has been referred to by the poet in the poem?

The conflict of being dominated by the male counterpart is referred here. Aunt Jennifer is not having even the basic independence. She is dominated to this extent that even in the absence of her husband, she feels scared and suffocated.

b. Interpret the symbols found in this poem.

Aunt Jennifer – Symbolizes Submissive & tortured woman

Uncle Jennifer – Dominant and Cruel husband

Tigers – Bravery, strength, vitality and fearlessness

Needle work by Aunt Jennifer – Epitome of Creativity and compelling beauty. E.g. "prance across the screen." She injects work with a triumphant vitality.

Adrienne Rich’s ‘Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers, is rich in symbolism. ‘The massive weight of wedding band’ symbolises ordeals, hardships and worries of married life. ‘Terrified hands’, and ‘ringed with ordeals’ also indicate those unpleasant experiences that are still clinging to Aunt Jennifer physically and mentally. ,

c. How do denizens and chivalric add to our understanding of the tigers attitudes?

Like all beasts of prey, the tigers are the denizens of the forest. They live far away from human settlements. They are called ‘chivalric.’ This indicates the majestic and honourable position that they occupy in the world of animals. So, the use of the words ‘denizens’ and ‘chivalric’ adds to our understanding of the tiger’s attitudes. As against it, Aunt Jennifer is an inhabitant of rich lifestyle, but without freedom, she has become desolate, sad and fearful even in the sophisticated house.

d. Describe Aunt Jennifer;s tigers. How are they different from Aunt Jennifer?

Aunt Jennifer’s tigers are a picture of strength, beauty and certainty. They seem to be jumping across the screen. They “pace in sleek chivalric certainty”. They are confident and impressive. Aunt Jennifer is a weak, depressed and terrified person. Life has been a cup of woes for her. She is still in the grip of those ordeals and terrors that she faced and suffered from during her married life. Her fingers are so ‘terrified’ that they find it hard to pull even the ivory needle. Thus, the contrast is amply highlighted.

e. How does Aunt Jennifer express her bitterness and anger against the male dominated society?

Aunt Jennifer is too terrified to openly resist the oppression that she is a victim of. She expresses her bitterness and anger against male dominance silently through her art. That is why she deliberately shows tigers prancing unafraid of the men sitting beneath the tree.

Hope it is of some help!