AUNT JENNIFER’S TIGERS BY

ADRIENNE RICH
 KNOW THE AUTHOR
Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Her claim
to fame were her feminist ideas and her wide involvement in
contemporary women’s movement as a poet and theorist.
She received a number of awards including 1996 Tanning Award
for Mastery in the Art of Poetry, the Lennon foundation’s 1999
Lifetime Achievement Award, The Commonwealth Award in
Literature and National Book Award.

Aunt Jennifer's Tigers’ is a 1951 poem by American poet Adrienne

Rich. It appeared in her first published book of poems, A Change
(May 16, 1929 - of World. Written at a time when divorce was unacceptable, the
March 27, 2012) poem criticizes the traditional institution of marriage, suggesting
that it oppresses women.`
 THEMES

 The poem is a feminist poem and revolves around the theme of male chauvinism
and gender conflicts
 The poem deals with the pathetic condition of married women all over the world.
Aunt Jennifer is a symbol of all married women who are suffering at the oppressive
hands of a patriarchal society
 The poem uses the figure of Aunt Jennifer and her needlework –in order to explore
the themes of womanhood, marriage, repression of one’s personality and the
importance of artistic expression
 Even if the woman with the desire, dies , it doesn’t end the desire of freedom in the
other women in this patriarchal society- the poet imparts a ray of hope to liberate
women from the bondage of the oppressed men
 JUSTIFICATION OF TITLE

• Refers to the tigers in the tapestry made by Aunt

Jennifer.
• Tigers are symbolic of male chauvinism in
patriarchal society.
• In creating prancing, wild, ferocious, fearless and
proud tigers,Aunt Jennifer confronts her fear.
• Aunt Jennifer’s tigers symbolize her dreams and
desires of being powerful, fearless, decisive and
liberated.
• They hint “tiger like terror” of Aunt Jennifer’s
husband.
 KEY POINTS

 Aunt Jennifer has stitched a needle work consisting of a green world where bright yellow
tigers move about with confidence, unafraid of the stitched men beneath the stitched trees
 She faces the difficulty in pulling the ivory needle because of the heavy weight of the
wedding band that sits on her fluttering fingers. Her marriage to Uncle is a heavy burden
to bear
 When Aunt dies, her fingers will remain encircled by the wedding ring- the agent of her
marriage which dictated her life
 However, the tigers she stitched will go on moving around with fearless pride and
confidence. The art she created will outlive her mortal self
 STANZA 1
Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

 Poet is describing a woman whom she addresses as Aunt Jennifer

• She creates a needle point that shows tigers leaping across the canvas
• Bright and vibrant, like topaz gems, the tigers live within the green world of the canvas
• They are not afraid of the men standing underneath the tree, who are also depicted in the image
• These men could refer to hunters in a forest, out to kill the tigers.
• The tigers look elegant, shining and full of the gentleman’s grace.
Stanza -1
NOTE-
• The image of tigers stitched on the cloth by Aunt Jennifer isn’t merely a representation of a real tiger. It is
rather a representation of Aunt Jennifer’s tigers and is symbolic of the tigers within her.
• The tigers are a symbol of the free, roaring spirit that moves around the forests. The same spirit lies within
Aunt Jennifer.
• Though marriage has crippled this free spirit in the real life, it bursts forth in the figure of the tigers.
• These tigers are coloured like topaz, associating them with a glittering precious stone, gives them value.
• They are said to be the proud residents (denizens) of the green forest, asserting the animals as permanent
residents in the world of green.
• Green and topaz colours represent happiness and prosperity which would mean that the tigers are thriving in
the forest.
• The line ‘They do not fear the men beneath the tree’ suggests that the tigers are well-equipped to take on these
men and have no reason to be afraid that is certainly not the case with Aunt Jennifer herself .
• The animals are also described as "chivalric," an old term often used to describe the moral code of knights. In
likening the tigers' lack of fear to a "chivalric certainty," the poem thus ties their bravery and pride
to masculinity.
 STANZA 2
Jennifer's fingers fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand.

 . The second stanza introduces us to Aunt Jennifer with her “fingers fluttering” through the wool.
. Aunt Jennifer's fingers swiftly and delicately work the yarn .
. She finds it physically difficult to pull even a small needle made of ivory through the canvas.
. Ivory is a luxury material from the tusks of elephants.
. Her fingers flutter, as if she's nervous or a little feeble in the process of self expression.
. This is because her husband's wedding band feels huge, and weighs down heavily on her hand,
perhaps as a result of the emotional baggage associated with it through her marriage.
Stanza -2

NOTE-
 The source of Aunt Jennifer's fear is clearly her marriage, which is
presented as an oppressive institution within which she is trapped.
 A metonymy is used to describe the matrimonial disaster that Jennifer got
into.
 There's a hint of hyperbole here, 'massive' seems over the top of a mere
band, symbolic representation of how stifling and burdensome this
marriage is.
 The poet is reinforcing the oppressive nature of Aunt Jennifer's fear,
which leaves her immobilized, meek, and unable to stand up to "Uncle”.
 The gloomy, closed and claustrophobic domestic space of the second
stanza in which the aunt is trapped is contrasted with the open, spacious
and natural atmosphere of the forests in the first stanza.
 The Aunt is truly unhappy in the ‘man-made’ institution of marriage,
clearly unlike the tigers who roam about freely in their ‘natural’ state.
 STANZA 3
When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid

 The third stanza is a ghastly one and presents the reader with the sight of Aunt Jennifer’s
lifeless body.
 When Aunt Jennifer dies one day, her frightened hands will finally be still.
 Yet they will still be marked by the difficulties that ruled over her while she was alive.
 However, the tigers she created will continue to leap across her needlepoint without
shame or fear.
 Aunt’s death will not affect the tigers.
Stanza -3
NOTE–
 A shift in emphasis, from the here and now, to the possibility of what's to come.
 It is evident here that even in her death, she would not win the battle against masculine domination.
 Even death would not free her from her ordeal.
 One noticeable aspect of the poem is the silence of Aunt Jennifer.
 She doesn’t utter a word throughout the poem. It is always her fingers that do the talking.
 Her hands will lie lifeless (still) surrounded (ringed) by the great troubles (ordeals) she was
overpowered by (mastered by).
 Even in death the submissive lifestyle she led shows through in her hands.
 The panels provide her a space to project her emotions. The one redeeming feature of her life
however, the prancing, free spirited tigers, will continue indefinitely. This gives a ray of hope for those
who see no way out of a relationship. Art can bring a sense of inner peace and instill confidence,
however fragile.
 SYMBOLS USED IN THE POEM
 Aunt Jennifer- represents women all over the world wedged under the tyrannical hand of
the patriarchal society.
 Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers have been used as a symbol of the terror and oppression
perpetrated on women like Aunt Jennifer by the male world
 Tigers also symbolize her dreams and desires of being powerful, fearless, decisive and
liberated
 Uncle denotes the oppressor
 The wedding band signifies the patriarchal society where command is defined as masculine
 Fluttering fingers -are signs of anxiety, nervousness and weakness. Aunt Jennifer is so
victimized and oppressed that her frail fingers are not able to carry the weight of something
as light as wool
 Aunt Jennifer’s hands represent reality of her life
 ‘Ringed with ordeals’ expresses the struggle of the spirit, injustice and oppression that Aunt
Jennifer suffers but never expresses
 POETIC DEVICES
 Alliteration- Fluttering Fingers, Prancing proud
 Metaphor- Use of topaz to describe the yellow colour of tigers (Bright topaz)
 Anaphora- use of same word in two consecutive lines (they do not … and they pace in…)
 Synecdoche and Transferred Epithet - Terrified hands representing her being terrified
 Pun- ‘ringed’ : (a) ring in her finger which sits heavily on her (b) difficulties which will always
surround her
 Personification- tigers prance, pace in chivalric certainty
 Hyperbole- massive – exaggeration of weight of wedding band
 Metonymy- wedding band which represents the Aunt’s marriage
 Anthropomorphism- The words ‘prancing‘ and ‘chivalric‘ underline the use
of anthropomorphism which assigns human attributes to the beast’s movements
 Enjambment-(the continuation of sentence beyond the end of a line or a stanza) )is used
through the word “ Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by
 Visual Imagery-Bright topaz denizens of the world of green
 IRONY

 Weak and submissive woman weaving a picture of tigers which are strong and fearless
 Brutal tigers are depicted as chivalric
 Even when creator dies, her art( tigers) will continue to exist

Use of Contrast

• Aunt Jennifer is an oppressed woman, dominated by male superiority, victimized,

fearful, indecisive, weak, timid, feeble, shivering in her fear, stifled and weighed upon
by the marriage whereas the Tigers she weaves are chivalric, confident, fearless,
assertive, strong and energetic