TAGORE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

VASANT VIHAR, NEW DELHI

ENGLISH CORE
CLASS: XII (2021-22)

AUNT JENNIFER’S TIGERS

-Adrienne Rich

Name: Pareena Aneja Sec: 12 D Date: 15/05/21

1. Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow:

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.

a) Why do you think Aunt Jennifer’s fingers flutter so badly?

The lines given above are an extract from the poem ‘ Aunt Jennifer's Tigers’ written by Addrienne Rich.
Aunt jennifer’s fingers were fluttering so badly because of the "massive weight of Uncle's wedding
band," a symbolic representation of how stifling and burdensome the marriage was for her. Aunt
Jennifer's fingers are further portrayed as weak, finding "even the ivory needle hard to pull" against the
weight of this ring. Aunt Jennifer's fingers are further portrayed as weak, finding "even the ivory needle
hard to pull" against the weight of this ring. This reflects the oppressive nature of Aunt Jennifer's fear,
which leaves her immobilized, meek, and unable to stand up to "Uncle."

b) How would you describe Aunt Jennifer’s marital life?

Aunt Jennifer is trapped in an oppressive institution of marriage, which is the source of her fear. Aunt
Jeniifer’s Tigers was written in 1951, written at a time when divorce was unacceptable, the poem
criticizes the traditional institution of marriage, suggesting that it is oppressed women. It is also
suggested in the poem that she won’t be able to escape this marriage even after death because “her
terrified hands will lie Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by”. To sum up Aunt Jennifer's marital
life can be described as every woman’s nightmare.

c) Pick out the phrases which show you Aunt Jennifer was trapped in a difficult
marriage.
“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.”

d) Why does the wedding band feel massive to Aunt?

1
The wedding band in marriage is a sign of a commitment for one another and represents the love,
honour and faithfulness that you have for your spouse. It is a sign of love and fidelity of your partner to
you, but it seems that the basic values of a marriage are not being provided to her. The massive weight
of the wedding band is a constant reminder to Aunt Jennifer of how burdensome and psychologically
challenging her marriage is, and it is due to this oppressive nature of her marriage that the wedding
band seems massive to her.

2. What do 'prancing tigers' symbolise?

Prancing tigers symbolise freedom, courage, pride. The things that Aunt Jennifer desires to possess,
and expresses through her art Jennifer herself may not be free, but her tapestries and their tigers are.

3. Do you think the poem is truly and only about the poet’s aunt named Jennifer? Elucidate.
(100-125 words)

No, the poem is not only about the poet’s aunt named Jennifer, this poem was written in 1951, an era
when divorce was unacceptable. At that time women were heavily oppressed, they lived in fear and
waited to be liberated from man - made constraints like marriage. Living in a patriarchal society this
freedom from marriage seemed almost hopeless.
According to me, the poem follows two main themes, firstly about gender roles and the institution of
marriage in the 1950s and secondly, freedom through art.
If we explore the first theme, The psychological weight of Aunt Jennifer's marriage stems from the
dynamic inherent to traditional marriage, in which men dominate their wives. The ring is associated with
"ordeals" that Aunt Jennifer "was mastered by." The use of "mastered" suggests her husband as the
master. A "master" implicitly has a subject to dominate—a "slave." The fact that it is "Uncle's" wedding
band and not Aunt Jennifer's again affirms Uncle's dominance in this relationship. Uncle owns the
wedding band and, in a way, he also owns Aunt Jennifer. He is her master, reflecting the reality that a
woman in marriage is traditionally considered the man's property.
The interesting part of the poem is aunt Jennifer's coping mechanism, art. The poem argues that
through her art Aunt Jennifer finds an escape that not even death will grant her—a hint of freedom in
the immortal nature of her work. Although Aunt Jennifer can't escape, in life or death, the weight of her
difficult marriage or her subservient role in it, her creative work remains a liberating force. Jennifer
herself may not be free, but her tapestries and their tigers are. Her art will outlive Aunt Jennifer, Uncle,
and their marriage, indicating that art can create an immortal kind of freedom that goes beyond human
oppression.