Flamingo - Poem 6 Aunt Jennifer's Tigers - Adrienne Rich The Poem, Glossary, Summary, Questions, and Answers ...
Flamingo - Poem 6
Aunt Jennifer's Tigers - Adrienne Rich
The Poem, Glossary, Summary, Questions, and Answers
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The Poem -
Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.
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.
The tigers in the panel that she made;
will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.
Glossary -
1. contemporary - belonging to the same time
2. racism - the belief that some races of people are better than others
3. constraints - something that limits, restriction
4. prance - to move with pride
5. topaz - a precious stone
6. denizens- a person, animal, or plant that lives or is found in a particular place, inhabitant
7. beneath - under
8. chivalric - bold, glorious
9. fluttering - moving in confusion
10. ivory - tusk of an elephant
11. band- ring
12. Ordeals -a very unpleasant or difficult experience, trial, or continuous orders given to somebody to oppress or exploit.
Summary -
The poem, " Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" is written by the poetess, Adrienne Rich who is widely known for her involvement in the contemporary women's movement and solid resistance to racism and militarism can be observed through her collections of essays, poetry, and other writings, and this poem is written in the rhyming scheme of AABB, CCDD, EEFF.....
In this poem, she portrays the pain and suffering of an old lady, Aunt Jennifer, whose married life has been crushed and exploited by her husband. She is continuously tortured in the name of unending household duties and responsibilities, and she tries to compensate for her pain through the art of embroidering and making fearless and bold tigers who move freely across the globe and do not fear any men because she always wanted to be fearless and bold like tigers, and her sufferings are so severe that even her death can not make her free from her sufferings and hardships, and to show the pain and desires of her, the poet used many symbols like screen, chivalric, fluttering fingers, massive weight if the wedding band, her terrified hands, still ringed with ordeals, etc.
Think it out -
1. How do," denizens" and "chivalric" add to our understanding of the tiger's attitudes?
Ans - The word, " denizens" means habitats or dwellers of a particular region, and the word, "chivalric" means bold and glorious, as the tigers are the habitats of the forests and they hold the position of the master and move around boldly and gloriously, so these words very well describe attitude and behaviour of the tigers.
2. Why do you think Aunt Jennifer's hands are, " fluttering through her wool" in the second stanza? Why is she finding the needle so hard to pull?
Ans - The phrase, "fluttering through her wool" indicates to us that when Aunt Jennifer is embroidering Tigers on the panel, she is unable to pull her hand because of her old age, tiredness caused because of heavy and continuous household responsibilities, dominated nature of her husband. Also, the poem has a contrasting feature, she always wants to lead her life fearlessly like a tiger so her hands get stuck on the panel.
3. What is suggested by the image, " massive weight of uncle's wedding band"?
Ans -Here the phrase, " massive weight of uncle's wedding band" refers wedding ring worn by Aunt Jennifer and its massive weight indicates the huge responsibilities she is supposed to perform as a housewife, but the irony is that as the marriage is emotional bonding however is the married life, she finds difficult to break it and very difficult to survive. Here, another symbolic representation can be taken as the wedding ring is a very light-weighted object, but its responsibilities make it a massive weight.
4. Of What or of Whom is Aunt Jennifer terrified within the third stanza?
Ans - In the third stanza, the poet expresses the pain that Aunt Jennifer suffered throughout her life will be carried even after her death because her terrified hands will possess the wedding ring. Even her death will not be able to give her the freedom that she always wanted in her life, and the tigers, she embroidered on the panel will move with pride and fearlessness.
5. What are the "ordeals" Aunt Jennifer is surrounded by, and why is it significant that the poet uses the word, "ringed"? What are the meanings of the word, "ringed" in the poem?
Ans - For Aunt Jennifer, her married life was a bitter experience as she was overburdened by household responsibilities and continuously tortured and dominated by her husband. Now she has become old and weak, she is unable to perform her duties and these are the "ordeals" for her. The word, "ringed" indicates that still, she is in a ringed situation and bound to perform the duties which come along with the wedding ring or all sorts of household jobs that are supposed to be performed by any married woman.
6. Why do you think Aunt Jennifer created animals that are so different from her own character? What might the poet be suggesting, through this difference?
Ans - Aunt Jennifer embroidered very beautiful and fearless tigers on the panel and in her life, she always wanted to lead her life fearlessly like the tiger, though she was very timid and fearful, and this is the contrast that the poet is trying to express how the woman like her crushes her dreams and tries to compensate the pain by other possible means like panel embroidery.
7. Interpret the symbols found in the poem.
Ans - The poet has used many symbols to show the sufferings, hardships, and desires of a married woman, the poem is very rich in symbolic representation.
1. Tigers prance across a screen- Here she embroidered tigers on the panel because she always wanted to be fearless like them, the screen symbolizes the world.
2. They do not fear the men beneath the tree- The men are those individuals whom she knows and tigers do not fear them.
3. Ivory needle hard to pull - symbolizes the heavy burden on the soul.
4. The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band- symbolizes the huge responsibilities and male-dominated consequences.
5. Her terrified hands - Her soul is so crushed that even after death, she is not able to make herself free from her present exploited life and her hands are still feeling the unbearable pressure of the wedding ring.
8. Do you sympathize with Aunt Jennifer. What is the attitude of the speaker towards Aunt Jennifer?
Ans - Yes, I do sympathize with the central character of the poem, Aunt Jennifer because of the sufferings, hardships, torture, and responsibilities of her exploited married life. She became very old but still, she has no relief from her responsibilities and her pain can be felt from the line she finds difficult to pull the ivory needle. The speaker has a very sympathetic attitude toward Aunt Jennifer and she feels that even her death will not minimize her pain.
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