FLAMINGO…

AUNT JENNIFER
TIGERS
-ADRIENNE RICH
ADRIENNE RICH
 ABOUT POET
• Adrienne Cecile Rich (May16,1929-
March27,2012) was born in
Baltimore,Maryland,USA.
• She was an American poet. 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 “the
oppression of women and lesbians to the
forefront of poetic discourse.”
• Rich went on to write the introduction to the
published volume.
 THEME OF THE POEM
• The theme of women and feminist can be
found in this poem. “Aunt Jennifer’s Tiger’s
sound like a bead of good times. In reality ,it
is about a woman whose life has been limited
by the male –dominated society in which she
live.
CENTRAL IDEA OF THE POEM
• The central idea of the poem “Aunt Jeniffer’s
Tigers “ by Adrienne Rich is how the power of
the patriarchy controls womens’s forms but not
their minds. The poem makes this point by
presenting the wild, interesting and powerful
tigers embroidered by Aunt Jennifer and
contrasting them with Aunt Jennifer, the
oppresed wife.
 STANZA-1
• 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.

 SUMMARY OF STANZA
• In the stanza, the reality of Aunt Jennifer is revealed as she is
feeble,weak and enslaved,very much the opposite of the tigers
she was knitting.
• Her physical and mental trauma is depicted in the line- “find
even the ivory needle hard to pull.”
• Even though a wedding ring doesn’t weigh
much, “the massive weight of uncle’s wedding
band,sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s
hand.”signifies the amount of dominance her
husband exercised over her.
• This also means that her inner face spirit has
been jailed by the patriarchal society.
 STANZA-2
• 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.

 SUMMARY OF SATNZA
• The stanza starts on a creepy note about
Aunt Jennifer’s death.
• Even her death couldn’t free her from the
ordeals she went through which can be seen
in “when Aunt is dead ‘her terrifiedc hands
will lie still ringed with ordeals she was
mastered by”
• But her art work which was her escape route
or in a way, her inner sense of freedom,will
stay forever,proud and afraid.
 POETIC DEVICES
• ALLITERATION -finger’s fluttering;
• pranching proud;
• weight of wedding band

• METAPHOR-ringed with ordeals-even death would not free her as

the weeding band,a symbol of oppresion ,would yet be on her finger.

• IRONY-it is ironical that Aunt Jennifer’s creations-the tigers will

continue to pace while Aunt herself will remain terrified even after
her death, ringed by the ordeals she was controlled by in her married
life.
• SUBMITTED BY-
• SHRISHTI GARG
• Class-12th –B

• SUBMITTED TO-
• MRS.BABITA MA’AM
THANK YOU