CBSE Class 12 English Aunt's Jeniffer Tigers Notes Set B

About The Poet

Adrienne Rich (May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and radical feminist. She was called as one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century and was credited with bringing the oppression of women to the forefront of poetic discourse.

Summary

The poet starts with Aunt Jennifer’s visual tapestry of tigers who are fearless animals and they stay valiant in their environment. They are vibrant, coloured living in rich green environment. These tigers are living life with majesty as one would expect the tigers from the forests. There is a certainty and confidence in the way these tigers move.

But Aunt Jennifer is weak, feeble and captivated in contrast to the tigers she was knitting. She is suffering from physical and mental trauma. When Aunt Jennifer says that she finds the ivory needle hard to pull she tricks to reveal that she is facing hardship and trouble in her life. Her life has been tiring and hurtful and that her unhappy married life is overbearing and demanding. She even feels that the ring on her finger is a burdensome weight, which denotes that her husband is making her life miserable. She feels that her inner soul has been prisoned by the patriarchal society.

The poet in the last stanza brings in the contrasting picture. When she would die her hands will still reflect the terrors she lived in her life. Throughout her lifetime she suffered. But at the same time her tigers will remain the same courageous, fearless, free which would just be in contrast to the life she lived. They will hold the fort as the reflecting force against the male dominated society.

About the Poet
Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929-2012) was an American poet, essayist and radical feminist. She was called “one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century”, and was credited with bringing into the fore, the oppression of women.

Theme
The theme of the poem “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich is how the power of the patriarchy controls women’s forms but not their minds. The poem makes this point by presenting the wild, interesting, powerful tigers embroidered by Aunt Jennifer and contrasting them with Aunt Jennifer, the oppressed wife.

Background
Freedom has always been an important value in the United States that most people are not willing to give up. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a writer who lived in the 1800s, reminded Americans of their right to liberty at a time when many people started to conform to established norms. He voiced his opinions about the loss of freedom and invited society to realize that they were relinquishing their rights. Years later, his views still had an impact on the citizens. Adrienne Rich, a poet of the mid-1900s, also found her autonomy a necessity in life. She wrote a poem in 1951 called “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers,” which exhibited her opinions about living a life of reliance on others.

Justification of the Title
The title is appropriate as the poem is about a woman, Aunt Jennifer, who is trapped in an unhappy marriage. She embroiders a picture of prancing tigers. This represents her desire as she pines for the qualities that she has endowed to the tigers.

Message
“Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” is a statement of conflict in women, specifically between the impulse to freedom and imagination. Aunt Jennifer wants a life that she embroiders on the panel. She wants a colourful vibrant life which every woman should have the power to create.

Summary
In the poem, the poet Adrienne Rich addresses the constraints of married life experienced by women, especially her Aunt Jennifer who is shown to be a victim of a male dominated world. Aunt Jennifer’s embroidered tigers prance (dance about) across the screen on the panel. The tigers are bright yellow. They are the residents (denizens) or inhabitants of a green world (green forest). Their spirit is free and they are not afraid of the men shown beneath the tree. They walk about fearlesly with confidence and with free movements, unperturbed or undisturbed by anything around them.

Aunt Jennifer is making an effort to embroider. Her fluttering fingers signify that there is a lack of confidence and that she faces difficulty in pulling out the ivory needles. This depicts her frightened and timid nature because she has suffered at the hands of her husband. The wedding band that she wears on her finger appears to be heavy metaphorically speaking, depicting the ordeals and sufferings that she has been subjected to. Such is the trauma of Jennifer’s life that it may continue to haunt her even after her death. Her hands will still depict the ring (bowed down) which symbolizes the ordeals that suppressed her during her lifetime. On the other hand, her creative expression will continue to live in the form of the tigers that she has created in her panel. The tigers depict a free-spirited being who will continue to prance proud and unafraid.

Poetic Devices

1. Symbols
- Wedding band symbolises oppression in an unhappy marriage.
- tigers symbolise untamed free spirit.
- embroidery symbolises creative expression

2. Metaphor
- bright topaz denizens—use of ‘topaz’ to describe the yellow colour of tigers.

3. Alliteration
- finger fluttering
- prancing proud

4. Hyperbole
- the massive weight of Unlce’s wedding band.

5. Transferred Epithet
- terrified finger

6. Irony
- a weak and sumbissive woman weaving a picture of tigers that are strong and fearless
- the tiger will continue to pace freely, while Aunt will remain terrified even after death.

7. Personification
- ‘chivalric’ used for knights in medieval times.
But here, it is used for tigers.

POEM IN A NUTSHELL
The poem depicts:
1. Aunt Jennifer’s desires and her dream.
2. The real picture of Aunt Jennifer’s life.

Symbols in the poem
1. Aunt Jennifer represents women all over the world wedged under the tyrannical hand of a patriarchal society.
2. Aunt Jennifer’s tigers symbolize her dreams and desires of being powerful, fearless, decisive and liberated.
3. The wedding band signifies the patriarchal society where command is defined as masculine.
4. Uncle denotes the oppressor.
5. Aunt Jennifer’s hands represent the reality of her life.

Words help us to understand the tiger’s attitude
1. pace and prance suggest strength and energy, and movement in blithe.
2. bright topaz colour gives the tigers the attention to their prominent presence.
3. denizens mean occupants. Tigers are grand and fearless in their natural surroundings.
4. chivalric certainty represents the power and virtue with confidence and conviction.

Contrast in the poem:
Aunt Jennifer is an oppressed woman dominated by male superiority, victimized, fearful, indecisive, weak, timid, feeble, shivering in fear, stifled and weighed upon by the marriage, whereas the tigers she weaves are chivalric, confident, fearless, assertive, strong and energetic.

The future of Aunt Jennifer:
Being subservient Aunt Jennifer doesn’t win. First she loses her identity, (only termed as ‘Aunt’ in the last stanza) and then loses herself to death, and even in death she must obey the rules of the patriarchal society.
Aunt Jennifer’s hands be ringed with ordeals after her death?

Aunt Jennifer represents the oppressed women of the patriarchal society. It conotes that
1. Aunt is troubled by her marriage to the burdensome husband.
2. With the death of one oppressed woman, oppression will not vanish from the face of this Earth.
Significance of the last two lines of the poem
1. The mortal Aunt Jennifer created the immortal tigers.
2. Even if the woman with the desire, dies, it does not 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.

SUMMARY -
The poet is a feminist and she addresses the difficulties of a married woman. She spends good amount of time in embroidering panel of tigers prancing across the screen. The tigers are fearless creatures pacing elegantly and majestically. They symbolize the spirit of freedom. Aunt is a victim of male chauvinism (male domination).
Aunt Jennifer is so oppressed and terrified that she finds it hard to pull the needle. The “weight of Uncle’s wedding band “expresses how victimized and oppressed she is. It implies that aunt Jennifer has to work hard to meet his expectation.
She spends her life in fear but she embroiders on the panel the fearless tigers to express her secret longing for a life of freedom and confidence. Even her death does not end the problem and torture which a married woman experiences.

The poet is a feminist and at the centre of the poem. She addresses the difficulties of a married woman. The woman, Aunt Jennifer, is a nervous and fearful wife. She spends good amount of time in embroidering panel of tigers prancing across the screen. The tigers are fearless creatures pacing elegantly and majestically. They symbolize the spirit of freedom. Aunt is a victim of male chauvinism (male domination). She is so nervous that her fingers ‘flutter’ through the wool she is using in her tapestry or panel.
The poet portrays the marriage of Jennifer as an unhappy one for her. The “weight of Uncle’s wedding band “expresses how victimized, oppressed and dominated she is. It implies that aunt Jennifer has to work hard to meet his expectation.
She spends her life in fear but she embroiders on the panel the fearless tigers to express her secret longing for a life of freedom and confidence. Perhaps Aunt Jennifer uses art as an escape from her troubles. In her artwork she imagines the kind of life she would have liked. The creatures she places there are free and proud, just opposite to her. It seems that she creates a happier looking world than the one she lives in. She makes precise and brightly coloured pictures like the sharp yellow tigers of the poem, pictured against a green background. These bright contrasting colours are probably much more vivid than her everyday world.Her artistic work will live on after she dies, as, according to the poet, her tigers will ‘go on prancing’ The Aunt is terrified about the fact that when she would quit the world and when she would be lowered into the grave, she would still remain afraid of her husband and would carry the marks of torture in the form of wedding ring even in her grave. Even her death would not end the problem and torture which a married woman experiences. The poet is a feminist and she addresses the difficulties of a married woman. She spends good amount of time in embroidering panel of tigers prancing across the screen.

The tigers are fearless creatures pacing elegantly and majestically. They symbolize the spirit of freedom. Aunt is a victim of male chauvinism (male domination).
Aunt Jennifer is so oppressed and terrified that she finds it hard to pull the needle. The “weight of Uncle’s wedding band “expresses how victimized and oppressed she is. It implies that aunt Jennifer has to work hard to meet his expectation. She spends her life in fear but she embroiders on the panel the fearless tigers to express her secret longing for a life of freedom and confidence.
Even her death does not end the problem and torture which a married woman experiences..

She spends her life in fear but she embroiders on the panel the fearless tigers to express her secret longing for a life of freedom and confidence. Even her death does not end the problem and torture which a married woman experiences.

By Adrienne Rich

• Alliteration: Finger’s fluttering; prancing proud; chivalric certainty; weight of wedding band
• Visual imagery: Bright topaz denizens; world of green
• Irony: It is ironical that Aunt Jennifer’s creations- the tigers will continue to pace and prance freely, while Aunt herself will remain terrified even after death, ringed by the ordeals she was controlled by in her married life.
• Symbols:
  • Wedding band: symbol of oppression in an unhappy marriage. Its weight refers to the burden of gender expectations. Ringed means encircled or trapped, losing individuality and freedom.
  • Aunt Jennifer: a typical victim of male oppression in an unhappy marriage, who suffers loss of individuality, dignity and personal freedom silently. She becomes dependent, fearful and frail.
  • Tigers: symbolize untamed free spirit. Here they stand in contrast to their creator’s personality. The use of colours implies that Aunt Jennifer's tigers and their land are more vital and enjoy a sense of freedom far greater than her. They pace and prance freely, proudly, fearless, confident and majestic, fearless of men.
  • Yellow (bright topaz): connotes the sun and fierce energy.
  • Green: reminds one of spring and vitality.
  • Embroidery: symbol of creative expression. The artwork expresses the Aunt’s suppressed desires and becomes her escape from the oppressive reality of her life.
  • Aunt (last stanza): as opposed to Aunt Jennifer. It shows that she has lost her identity completely, thus lost even her name.
• Metaphor:
  • Ringed with ordeals: even death would not free her as the wedding band, a symbol of oppression, would yet be on her finger.
• Transferred epithet: Terrified fingers
• Action words: ‘Pace’ and ‘prance’ are action words. The rhyme mimics the movement of the tigers.