Grade XII PoemAunt Jenifers Tigers

INDIAN LANGUAGE SCHOOL
CLASS XII
ENGLISH CORE (301) FLAMINGO
AUNT JENNIFER’S TIGERS

BY: ADRIENNE RICH
Learning objectives:
To enable learners to:
 appreciate and identify the poetic devices.
 deduce the theme of the poem.
 enhance vocabulary.
 Express thoughts and ideas in grammatically correct language
Learning Outcomes:
The students will be able to:
 comprehend and appreciate the feminist aspects portrayed in the
poem.
 empathise with women suffering in the patriarchal norm.
 use the lexical(relating to words or vocabulary of a language) items
contextually.
 critically examine the theme of the poem.
 identify the different poetic devices.
Interpret the images
Prance : Walk or move around with high springy steps.
Topaz : A bright yellow coloured stone.
Denizens : (here) an animal that lives or is found in a particular
place.
Sleek : Elegant
Chivalric : Being courteous esp. to women, an act of a gentleman.
Ordeals : Extremely severe tests or experiences.
Prancing : To move around proudly.
Fluttering : To move in quick, irregular motions as if being
agitated.
About the Author
Adrienne Rich (1929) 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.
RELEVANT BACKGROUND
Adrienne Rich is an American poet who was born in 1929. She was brought up in a well-off
family. Adrienne was the elder of two daughters. Her father was a doctor and her mother was
a music composer. She grew up in with a Jewish father and a Protestant mother. As a result of
this mixed marriage she was used to tensions between her parents. Rich felt dominated by her
father’s strong personality while growing up. It was he who most guided her as a young poet.
This wasn’t always to her liking as he expected her to write her poems his way. When Rich was
growing up men dominated and women were expected to become dutiful wives in their adult
lives. All these elements may have influenced the picture of marriage which Rich drew in this
poem. At the heart of, the poem is an image of a husband who controls and frightens his wife.
Rich wrote a lot of poems based on everyday experience. In the poem ‘Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’,
Rich highlights Aunt Jennifer's frailty and underscores the domineering nature of her husband in
their marriage. Rich was also fascinated by how people could use a hobby like artwork to create
a
happier and prettier world than their daily life. Rich has been one of America’s most important
female poets for the past fifty years.
Analysis
The poem, written in 1951, addresses the constraints of married life a woman experiences.
Aunt Jennifer is a universal symbol of an oppressed wife who wants to escape from the
traditional institution of marriage and the patriarchal rules of society. The poem also depicts
the freedom of expression through art, as well as the permanence / immortality of art over the
transience of human life.
Aunt Jennifer has embroidered tigers in tapestries displayed all over her room. The tigers are
all depicted as dominant, active, brightly hued - a complete contrast to Aunt Jennifer. The
tapestries depict a whole forest scene complete with even hunters. The tigers are unafraid of
the hunters, and are elegant, brave and confident. Aunt Jennifer, a meek and subservient wife,
wants to be as courageous and lively as a tiger. She has not experienced any sense of chivalric
treatment from her husband.
Aunt Jennifer might not be in the prime of her life. She is so frightened of her husband (the
“Uncle”) that her fingers are trembling when she is embroidering. She finds it difficult to pull
the ivory needle. The wedding ring which the Uncle has given her on their wedding day is
heavy for her. The marriage has become a prison from which she can never escape.
Poetic Devices
• Metaphor: It is a literary device which is used to make a

comparison between two things that aren’t alike but do have
something in common. e.g. “Bright topaz denizens” (tigers are
compared with Bright topaz because of their elegant colour).
• Alliteration: It is the occurrence of the same sound at the

beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. e.g.
“finger fluttering”, “prancing, proud”.
• Symbolism: It is the use of symbols to represent ideas or

qualities. e.g. “Bright topaz denizens” represents tigers’ elegant
colours, “massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band” represent
male domination, “tigers” represent her hidden desires.
• Personification: It is the attribution of human characteristics to
animals and non-human things. e.g. “chivalric” is a word which was
used for knights in medieval times. But here, it is used for the
tigers.
• Hyperbole: It is an exaggerated statement. e.g. “massive weight of

Uncle’s wedding band sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.” The
weight of wedding band cannot be heavy. But it symbolises mental
trauma of marriage.
• Transferred Epithet: It is a poetic device in which adjective

is transferred from the noun, it is meant to describe to another noun
in the sentence. e.g. “terrified hands” refer to Aunt Jennifer who
herself is terrified.
• Enjambment: It is the continuation of a sentence or clause across a

line break. e.g. “The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band Sits
heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.”
Themes
 Marriage is unequal due to male

domination/Inequality.
 The world of art is happier than the

real world.
 Dreams versus Reality.

Extract Based Questions:
“Aunt Jennifer’s finger 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.”
Q1.What does Aunt Jennifer find hard to pull? A) Her wedding ring B) The ivory needle C) A
thread D) The wool
Q2. The "massive weight" mentioned in the poem refers to: A) The ivory needle B) Uncle's
wedding band C) Aunt Jennifer's hand D) The wool
Q3. What does the imagery of Aunt Jennifer's "finger fluttering through her wool" suggest about
her state of being?
Q4. How does the poem symbolize the impact of Aunt Jennifer's marriage on her life?
Q5. Define the term "fluttering" as used in the context of the poem.
Q6.What is meant by "ivory needle" in the poem?

Every poem breaks a silence that had to be
overcome.
- Adrienne Rich
SAQ1:Read the given quote. In your opinion, what silence does the poem ‘Aunt Jennifer’s
Tigers’ break?
LAQ2: “Turn your pain into art”: it’s a phrase most of us have heard before…
The theory that achieving something great requires suffering dates back to ancient times…
Pain, however, is less an artistic necessity and more a result of “contagion” – a term used for
the spreading of a harmful idea or practice…In the context of the struggling artist, it allows
mental illness to fester; to be glamourised and admired; even encouraged in the name of art.”
Evaluate Aunt Jennifer and her artistry in light of the above extract.

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INDIAN LANGUAGE SCHOOL

AUNT JENNIFER’S TIGERS

• Metaphor: It is a literary device which is used to make a

• Alliteration: It is the occurrence of the same sound at the

• Symbolism: It is the use of symbols to represent ideas or

• Hyperbole: It is an exaggerated statement. e.g. “massive weight of

• Transferred Epithet: It is a poetic device in which adjective

• Enjambment: It is the continuation of a sentence or clause across a

 Marriage is unequal due to male

 The world of art is happier than the

 Dreams versus Reality.

“Aunt Jennifer’s finger fluttering through her wool

Q6.What is meant by "ivory needle" in the poem?

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