📚 Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers – Important Questions and Answers
✒️ Poet: Adrienne Rich
📘 Book: Flamingo (Class 12 English Core)
❓ 1. Who is Aunt Jennifer? What do her tigers symbolize?
Answer: Aunt Jennifer is a woman trapped in a patriarchal marriage. The tigers she creates in her embroidery symbolize the freedom, courage, and power that she longs for. They are fearless, confident, and independent—unlike Aunt Jennifer herself.
❓ 2. What is the theme of the poem “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers”?
Answer: The poem explores themes of gender oppression, artistic expression, and female empowerment. It contrasts Aunt Jennifer’s inner desires and artistic imagination with her external life, which is dominated by fear and societal expectations.
❓ 3. Why do you think Aunt Jennifer chooses to embroider tigers and not any other animal?
Answer: Tigers are a symbol of strength, bravery, and fearlessness—qualities that Aunt Jennifer lacks in her real life due to her oppressive marriage. Through her art, she expresses her hidden desires for power and freedom.
❓ 4. What do the “massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band” and “ringed with ordeals” signify?
Answer: These lines symbolize marital oppression and the burden of responsibilities Aunt Jennifer bears in her marriage. The wedding band is described as a heavy load, indicating the emotional and societal pressure she faces as a woman.
❓ 5. What poetic devices are used in the poem?
Answer:
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Imagery: Describing the tigers as “prancing, sleek chivalric”.
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Alliteration: “Fingers fluttering through the wool”.
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Symbolism: Tigers symbolize strength; the wedding band symbolizes burden.
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Metaphor: “Ringed with ordeals” refers to being trapped in life’s struggles.
❓ 6. Explain the significance of the last stanza of the poem.
Answer: The last stanza contrasts Aunt Jennifer's physical death with the immortality of her art. Even after her death, her tigers will continue to leap freely, suggesting that art outlives the artist and becomes a symbol of eternal freedom.
❓ 7. What is the central conflict in the poem?
Answer: The central conflict is between Aunt Jennifer’s suppressed life under patriarchy and her desire for freedom and strength, expressed through her artwork.
❓ 8. How does the poem reflect feminist concerns?
Answer: The poem highlights the limitations placed on women in a male-dominated society. Aunt Jennifer's lack of agency and voice, and her dependence on embroidery to express herself, reflect the larger feminist concern of women seeking identity and freedom.
📝 Conclusion:
"Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers" is a powerful poem that uses art as a metaphor for inner freedom. Adrienne Rich subtly yet strongly voices the emotional struggle of women and their silent resistance through creativity.
