Aunt Jennifer's Tigers - Adrienne Rich

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 finger 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.

This poem was written by Rich about her Aunt, Jennifer. The poem begins by describing the design on Aunt Jennifer's tapestry. The tigers on this tapestry 'prance' across the screen. Colours like 'bright topaz' and 'a world of green' are used to describe the scene too. These tigers are not afraid of man and are courageous. They walk in 'sleek chivalric certainty'. This means that they are powerful and in control of themselves.

These tigers represent everything that Aunt Jennifer is not. They are symbols for the life Aunt Jennifer would love to have and the life Rich wishes for herself. The tigers are a form of escapism for Jennifer. When she is creating her tapestry she too is free and unafraid. The positive imagery such as 'prance', 'topaz', 'bright' and 'green' all suggest that this situation is idyllic. The strength we can see in these tigers however is not visible in the character of Aunt Jennifer.

She is not even strong enough to pick up her tapestry needle:

"Aunt Jennifer's finger fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull."

Rich firmly puts the blame for Jennifer's oppression at the hands of her uncle, Jennifer's husband. The key quotation in this poem is:

"The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand."

This not only sums up the poem and Aunt Jennifer's life - it also gives the reader an insight into Adrienne Rich's views on men. She is quite bitter about male dominance and she paints a grim picture of her Aunt to highlight her opinion.

To back up her image of a woman with no life, Rich gives us an image of her aunt when she is dead:

"When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by."

It is quite shocking for Rich to even be thinking of an image of her Aunt being dead, especially since Aunt Jennifer has not even passed away yet. However, Rich wants us to listen to her feminist views and the best way to do that is with sensational imagery. She avoids euphemisms like 'passed away' because she feels that she needs to shock here. The 'ordeals she was mastered by' represent her marriage. The fact that she will be 'ringed' by them is another reference to how her husband and marriage controlled her. (Rich is saying that when Jennifer is dead she will still have her wedding ring on her finger)

However, the memories of what Jennifer could have been will live on through her tapestry, as the poet tells us that they will continue to "go on prancing, proud and unafraid".