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ABOUT THE POET, , Adrienne Rich (1929-2012) was born in Baltimore,, Maryland, USA. She is widely known for her involvement, in contemporary women’s movement as a poet and, theorist. She has published nineteen volumes of poetry,, three collections of essays and other writings. A strong, resistance to racism and militarism echoes through, her work. The poem Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers addresses, the constraints of married life a woman experiences.
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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., , Aunt 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., , 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.
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© Word Meaning, , , , , , prance: move with high springy topaz: golden coloured denizens: dwellers, steps, world of green: green forest sleek: elegant/glossy chivalric: brave, kind, polite, respectful, , towards women, , wedding band: wedding ring | ordeals: painful/unpleasant experience prancing: springing/dancing/moving about, , , , , , , , Mood Aunt Jennifer is anxious, fearful, sad and nervous. She is in a state of turmoil because of, eo! her husband's dominating/terrifying nature., , , , The poem addresses the constraints of married life a woman experiences. Aunt Jennifer represents women all across the, world, who are caught under the oppressive hand of patriarchal society. She is torn between the impulse to freedom and, imagination (her tapestry of prancing tigers) and the massive weight of gender roles and expectations (symbolised by, Uncle's wedding band)., , "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers " reflects the gender struggle that women across the world are, 9 subject to. The poet criticizes the male-dominated world., , The poem revolves around desires, and the depressingly harsh realities of Aunt Jennifer's existence using sharp contrasts, between the tigers that she sews, and her own self. The tigers that she embroiders appear to be everything that she's not. The, tigers’ actions are smooth, uninhibited and robust. Aunt Jennifer, on the other hand, has great trouble even embroidering, because her movements are so weak and bumbling. Aunt Jennifer is evidently a lonely, pained old woman plagued with, anxiety. The reason for her miserable plight is the oppresive patriarchal family system wherein ‘Uncle’ dominates the scene., , one creates an alternative world of freedom — a world that she pines for. )
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>, , Aunt Jennifer's Tigers are Aunt Jennifer's as they are her creation. She has embroidered, , , , them ona screen. They are representative of her hidden aspirations and desires., , Aunt Jennifer is oppressed by the constraints of her married life and her husband's dominating nature. She feels herself as, a slave. She embroiders tigers on the panel because tigers symbolize strength, confidence, fearlessness, freedom and power, which she aspires for. She creates animals so different from her own character to show the bitterness in her married life,, to give vent to her suppressed feelings, and to show strong resistance to male-dominated society. She wants to get out of, the bondage imposed by the uncle, if not in reality, then at least symbolically. She has given an expression of her hidden,, unfulfilled desires through her tapestry of prancing tigers. This shows that Aunt Jennifer is weak, submissive, meek and is, scared of expressing her feelings freely. She expresses herself through art and creativity.
