Class 12 English Notes Poetry 6 (Poetry 6) – Flamingo Book

Alright class, let's focus our attention on Poem 6 from your Flamingo textbook, "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" by Adrienne Rich. This is a short but deeply significant poem, often explored in competitive exams for its rich symbolism and thematic depth. Pay close attention as we break it down.

Poem 6: Aunt Jennifer's Tigers by Adrienne Rich

About the Poet:
Adrienne Rich (1929-2012) was a prominent American poet, essayist, and feminist. Much of her work explores themes of identity, sexuality, oppression, and power dynamics within society, particularly the constraints faced by women in a patriarchal world. This context is crucial for understanding "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers."

Central Theme:
The poem starkly contrasts the vibrant, free world of art created by Aunt Jennifer with her own constrained, fearful, and oppressed life. It explores the themes of:

1. Patriarchal Oppression: The constraints and burdens imposed on women by marriage and societal expectations.
2. Art as Escape/Expression: The way creative expression allows individuals (especially the oppressed) to articulate a freedom they don't possess in reality.
3. The Conflict between Inner Desire and Outer Reality: Aunt Jennifer's desire for freedom and fearlessness (embodied by the tigers) versus her timid, controlled existence.
4. The Permanence of Art vs. the Transience of Life: While Aunt Jennifer's oppressed life will end, her art, expressing her suppressed desires, will endure.

Stanza-wise Explanation:

• Stanza 1:

  • "Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,
  • Bright topaz denizens of a world of green."
    • Explanation: The poem opens with the image of tigers Aunt Jennifer is creating (embroidering) on a tapestry or panel ("screen"). These tigers are dynamic ("prance") and vividly coloured ("Bright topaz" - a yellowish-brown gem). They inhabit a lush, vibrant world ("world of green"). The word "denizens" means inhabitants, suggesting they belong naturally and confidently to this world.
  • "They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
  • They pace in sleek chivalric certainty."
    • Explanation: Crucially, these tigers are fearless, specifically of men ("They do not fear the men beneath the tree" - perhaps hunters or symbols of male authority). Their movement is confident, elegant ("sleek"), and embodies "chivalric certainty." 'Chivalric' usually relates to knights – implying honour, bravery, confidence, and perhaps a touch of masculine assertiveness, which contrasts sharply with Aunt Jennifer herself.
    • Literary Devices: Imagery (visual), Symbolism (tigers = freedom, fearlessness), Metaphor ("Bright topaz denizens"), Alliteration ("prance across a screen", "sleek chivalric certainty").

• Stanza 2:

  • "Aunt Jennifer's fingers fluttering through her wool
  • Find even the ivory needle hard to pull."
    • Explanation: The focus shifts dramatically from the powerful tigers to the frail Aunt Jennifer. Her fingers are "fluttering" – suggesting nervousness, weakness, or trembling due to age or fear. Even the simple act of pulling an "ivory needle" (light material) through "wool" (soft material) is difficult for her. This highlights her physical frailty and perhaps her nervousness or anxiety.
  • "The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band
  • Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand."
    • Explanation: This is the core of her oppression. The "wedding band" (ring) is described as having "massive weight." This is symbolic – it's not just the physical weight of the ring, but the emotional, social, and psychological burden of her marriage ("Uncle's wedding band" – emphasizing ownership) and the duties, compromises, and potential suffering it entailed. It "sits heavily," indicating a constant, oppressive presence.
    • Literary Devices: Imagery (kinesthetic - feeling the difficulty), Symbolism (wedding band = oppression, burdens of marriage), Contrast (fluttering fingers vs. massive weight), Hyperbole ("massive weight").

• Stanza 3:

  • "When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
  • Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by."
    • Explanation: The poem looks to the future, after Aunt Jennifer's death. Even then, her hands will bear the mark of her suffering. "Terrified hands" suggests her fear was lifelong. The phrase "ringed with ordeals" connects directly to the wedding ring, implying the hardships and suffering ("ordeals") she endured because of her marriage and societal role, by which she was controlled or "mastered."
  • "The tigers in the panel that she made
  • Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid."
    • Explanation: In stark contrast to her fate, the tigers she created will survive her. They will remain unchanged – dynamic ("prancing"), confident ("proud"), and fearless ("unafraid"). This highlights the enduring power of art to express the creator's suppressed spirit, long after the creator is gone. Her desire for freedom lives on in her creation.
    • Literary Devices: Contrast (dead Aunt vs. living tigers), Symbolism (tigers = enduring spirit, freedom), Irony (her creation possesses qualities she lacked).

Key Symbols:

1. Aunt Jennifer: Represents oppressed women, constrained by societal norms and marital burdens, whose creativity is an outlet for suppressed desires.
2. The Tigers: Symbolize untamed freedom, fearlessness, confidence, power, beauty, and the spirit Aunt Jennifer longs for but cannot achieve in life. They represent the world of art where she can express her inner self.
3. The Wedding Band: Represents the oppressive institution of marriage in a patriarchal society, the burdens, compromises, and loss of identity experienced by Aunt Jennifer. It's a symbol of control ("Uncle's wedding band").
4. The Panel/Screen: The medium of art, the space where Aunt Jennifer can create an alternative reality.
5. Fluttering Fingers/Terrified Hands: Symbolize Aunt Jennifer's nervousness, fear, frailty, and the toll her oppressed life has taken on her.
6. Wool/Ivory Needle: Represent the tools of her art, but also highlight her difficulty and struggle even in her creative pursuit, weighed down by her life's burdens.

Tone:
The tone is sympathetic towards Aunt Jennifer, critical of the patriarchal structures ("Uncle's wedding band," "mastered by"), and somewhat admiring or awestruck regarding the tigers she creates. There's a sense of pathos and sadness for her constrained life, contrasted with the vibrancy of her art.

Message for Exam Preparation:
Focus on the central contrast between Aunt Jennifer and her tigers. Understand the symbolism of the key elements (tigers, ring, hands). Be able to explain how the poem critiques patriarchal constraints through the portrayal of Aunt Jennifer's life and art. Remember the poet's feminist perspective.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs):

1. What quality do Aunt Jennifer's tigers possess that she herself lacks?
   a) Artistic skill
   b) Fearlessness and confidence
   c) Love for nature
   d) Ability to use wool

2. The phrase "Bright topaz denizens of a world of green" primarily uses which literary device?
   a) Simile
   b) Personification
   c) Metaphor
   d) Onomatopoeia

3. What does "The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band" symbolize?
   a) The physical heaviness of a gold ring.
   b) The financial burden of marriage.
   c) The oppressive constraints and duties of her marriage.
   d) Aunt Jennifer's love for jewellery.

4. Why does Aunt Jennifer find it hard to pull the ivory needle?
   a) The needle is too blunt.

   • b) Her fingers tremble due to fear, weakness, or the weight of her experiences.
     c) The wool is too thick.
     d) She is losing her eyesight.

5. What does the poet mean by "Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by"?
   a) She will be buried wearing many rings.
   b) Even in death, her hands will show the signs of the hardships and control she suffered in life, symbolized by the ring.
   c) Her fingers will be stiff and cold.
   d) The wedding ring itself caused her physical pain.

6. The tigers are described as having "sleek chivalric certainty." What does 'chivalric' suggest here?
   a) Aggressiveness and violence
   b) Timidity and fear
   c) Honourable, confident, and perhaps masculine bravery
   d) Connection to royalty

7. What is the central contrast presented in the poem?
   a) The contrast between humans and animals.
   b) The contrast between the colours topaz and green.
   c) The contrast between Aunt Jennifer's oppressed reality and the freedom of her artistic creations.
   d) The contrast between Uncle and Aunt Jennifer.

8. What will happen to the tigers Aunt Jennifer made after her death?
   a) They will fade away.
   b) They will be sold by Uncle.
   c) They will continue to exist, embodying freedom and fearlessness.
   d) They will come to life.

9. The poem suggests that art can be a form of:
   a) Earning a livelihood
   b) Escapism and expression of suppressed desires
   c) Passing time for the elderly
   d) Pleasing one's husband

10. The overall tone of the poem towards Aunt Jennifer can be best described as:
    a) Critical and mocking
    b) Indifferent and detached
    c) Joyful and celebratory
    d) Sympathetic and poignant

Answer Key:

1. b
2. c
3. c
4. b
5. b
6. c
7. c
8. c
9. b
10. d

Study these notes carefully, focusing on the symbolic meanings and the underlying critique of societal structures. Understanding the contrast is key. Good luck with your preparation!