DONE BY

NAME : MUGUNTH NARAYANAN R B

CLASS : 12 –PCM [ALLEN]
REG. NO : 20656365
English project

-English poem-
 Certificate
This is to certify that Mugunth Narayanan
R B student of class 12 has successfully
completed the project report on English
titled “Poem- Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
written by Adrienne Rich” under the
guidance of Mrs. Rajani Mol ma’am for the
academic session 2021 – 2022

Signature of Signature of
internal examiner external examiner
 Acknowledgement

I would like to express my heartfelt

gratitude to my subject teacher Mrs. Rajani
Mol ma’am for her guidance, my
honourable principal Mr. Rohit Satish sir
and Director Dr. Satish sir for providing
me with all the facilities that was required.
I would also like to express special thanks
to my parents and friends for helping me
to complete this project
 Index

 About the poet

 Poet’s portrait
 Lines of poem
 Central Idea of poem
 Summary
 Key points
 Conclusion
 Vocabulary
 Poetic devices
 Bibliography
 About the poet
Adrienne Rich [May 16, 1929 –
March 27, 2012] was an American
poet, essayist and radical feminist.
She was called one of the most
widely read and influential poets of
the second half of the 20th century.
She is widely known for her
involvement in contemporary
women's movement as a poet and
theorist. A strong resistance to
racism and militarism echoes
through her work. Her first
collection of poetry, ”A Change of
World”, was selected by renowned
poet W. H. Auden for the Yale Series
of Younger Poets Award.
Adrienne Rich
 Lines of 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.
Central idea of poem
The theme of the poem “Aunt
Jennifer’s Tiger” relates to the issue
and subject of make dominance in
society. The theme wants to highlight
the conflicts, issues and struggles
that a woman has to face in the male
chauvinistic society. Aunt Jennifer is
essentially the protagonist in the
poem and she symbolizes or
represents the women across the
globe who have been victims of
persecution and oppression due to
the patriarchal system. The poet has
expressed her concerns for the
women via this poem.
 Summary
Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance and move across a
screen or panel. The poet
describes them as bright-coloured like the
shining golden-yellow jewel topaz. They are free
inhabitants of the green forests, and are not
scared of the men standing under the tree.
These tigers move about with grace, elegance
and confidence.

Aunt Jennifer's tigers are not real or living tigers.

They are images created by her on tapestry.
Aunt Jennifer, who is held captive by the
oppressive hand of a patriarchal society, creates
in her art an alternate world of freedom. The
tigers represent her dreams, her desire to be
free from constant fear and oppression that
govern her life. These majestic and fearless
tigers also present a sharp contrast to Aunt
Jennifer herself, who is bound by the constraints
of married life.
 Explanation in the second stanza, Aunt
Jennifer appears to be creating beautiful
images of the tigers by using wool. But
she finds it quite hard to pull even the
ivory needle. She is so terrorized and
tortured that she is unable to carry the
weight of the wool. Her fingers flutter.
The uncle's wedding band seems heavy
on her hand. It suggests that she feels
burdened with her marital
responsibilities. Through this stanza, the
poet wants to convey the fact that a
woman throughout her lifetime works to
glorify the tiger', i.e. her husband, but she
feels so much subjugated that the marital
bond becomes a burden on her. This is
also the reality of Aunt Jennifer's life.
 Explanation The final stanza reveals a
sad truth. The poet says
that even death will not be able to
release Aunt Jennifer from the trauma
she had to undergo during her lifetime.
Her life will be a story of her ordeals
and the oppression that she was
subjected to. However, the tigers
created by her will be eternal. They will
always be 'proud and unafraid.' Here
we get a glimpse of an oft-quoted
conventional theme in poetry that art
endures beyond human life. Perhaps
the poet wants to say that the women
themselves are creating these tigers.
They need to break their shackles and
be unafraid like the tigers themselves.
One more thing that can be inferred
from the poem is that Aunt Jennifer,
who for long has borne the miseries
she was subjected to, now longs for
freedom from dominance and male
chauvinism.
 Key points

 In this poem, the poet addresses the

constraints of married life, experienced by
a woman.
 Aunt Jennifer weaves tigers into the panel.
These tigers are brave & have no fear of
men.
 Aunt Jennifer is terrified by her
dominating husband.
 Her finger flutters due to the mental
suppression.
 She is not happy with her married life.
 She will die but her art will express her
desire to move proudly and fearlessly like
the tigers she has made.
 Conclusion

By Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers summary, the poet

wants to represent the life of a woman who
has to live under a constant fear from her
husband.
This poem delivers a very important
message in the context of women’s
experiences in a male-dominated society
and how adversely it impacts the lives of
women, especially married women.
Through her imagination and craft, the poet
touches on a very relevant and significant
subject that continues to drive
conversations even today. The poem
implores the women to bring courage by
breaking the shackles and becoming bold
and fearless like the Tigers.
 Vocabulary

Word Meaning
Prance Walk or run
energetically
Topaz A gem of yellow colour
Denizens Resident, Inhabitant
Pace Move
Sleek Slender, Gentle
Chivalric Polite and kind
behaviour
Fluttering Shaking
Ivory Colour similar to white
Wedding Band Wedding pact
Ringed Tied up
Ordeals Unpleasant experiences
Mastered Controlled
Panel Flat board
 Poetic devices
Imagery – Imaginary means a sensory
experience or creating a picture with words
only for the readers or Imagination is the
literary term that refers to the five senses for
language and representation. Imagery
includes: fear stricken, depressed wife,
magnificent tigers.

Metaphor – describes an object or an action

in such a way that isn’t literally true or is used
to indicate indirect comparison between
completely different things. For example:
bright topaz.

Alliteration – refers to the repetition of the

same letter or sound and they consist of
closely connected words; used when a series
of the words have the same letter or sound.
For example: sleek, chivalric certainty or
fingers fluttering or prancing proud.
Symbolism – shows the ideas and qualities
and is a literary device which uses
symbols, such as words, people, signs,
settings or abstract ideas in other ways.
For example: heavy wedding band, tigers
as untamed free spirit.

Personification – type of figurative

language where non-human beings are
described as having human characteristics.
For example: tigers are being given
qualities like pride, confidence, and
unafraid of humans/men.

Hyperbole – they consist of claiming

statements or claims that are not meant to
be taken literally. For example:
exaggeration of “heavy wedding band”.
 Bibliography:

I have taken some information from

the following:
 NCERT text [Flamingo]
 Google
 en.Wikipedia.org