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Summary "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" by Adrienne Rich
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"Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" by Adrienne Rich
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BackgroundAdrienne Rich, "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers"
‘Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’ was written in 1951 and included
1. Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen, in her first book of poetry, A Change in the World. She
2. Bright topaz denizens of a world of green. explores themes that include gender, power, or lack
3. They do not fear the men beneath the tree; thereof, and marriage. These are all seen through the
4. They pace in sleek chivalric certainty. time and dedication that Jennifer gives to her
needlepoint.
5. Aunt Jennifer's finger fluttering through her wool
6. Find even the ivory needle hard to pull. Through the short lines of the poem, the speaker
7. The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band embodies the struggle this woman is going through and
8. Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand. juxtaposes it against the tigers that she’s creating. Their
power is contrasted against her own lack of power.
9. When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
10. Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
11. The tigers in the panel that she made
12. Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid. Theme
The theme wants to highlight the Aunt
Explore conflicts, issuesTigers
Jennifer's and
struggles that a woman has to face in the male
1 Summary of Aunt
chauvinistic Jennifer’s Tigers2 Structure of Aunt
society.
Jennifer’s Tigers3 Literary Devices in Aunt Jennifer’s
Tigers4 Analysis of Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Structure
Three-stanza poem that is separated into stanzas of
four lines, known as quatrains. These quatrains
follow a simple rhyme scheme of AABB, with the
couplets changing end sounds from stanza to stanza.
While there is evidence of metrical patterns in ‘Aunt Summary of Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Jennifer’s Tigers,’ it is not completely consistent. ‘Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’ by Adrienne Rich is a
There are sections of the poem in which Rich uses In the first lines of this poem the speaker, who is unnamed, describes Aunt
multilayered poem that uses the images of sewn tigers
nearly perfect iambic pentameter and moments Jennifer’s work. She’s creating a needlepoint image of tigers. They’re beautiful,
to talk about the institution of marriage.
where she moves away from it and uses trochees described as brightly shining gemstones living in green canvas. There is also
instead. the additionIn ofthe
men first linesimage.
in the of thisThey’re
poem the speaker,
watching thewho is who move
tigers
unnamed,
without fear. describes
The speaker Aunt
spends Jennifer’s
time work.
describing howShe’s
fastcreating
Jennifer’s fingers
move and the aweight
needlepoint image ofring
of the wedding tigers.
on They’re beautiful,
her finger. The speaker looks to
the future described
at the endas ofbrightly
the poem.shining
Onegemstones
day Jenniferliving in green
is going to die and her
canvas. There
frightened handsiswill
alsostop
the moving.
addition But,
of men
the in the image.
tigers will not.
They’re watching the tigers who move without fear. The
speaker spends time describing how fast Jennifer’s
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