AUNT JENNIFERS TIGERS By Adrienne Rich Aunt Jennifers Tigers is a stark picture of the woman in a male dominated society.

Aunt Jennifer embroiders tigers on a screen. The tigers stand for all the inner desires that Aunt Jennifer has but is unable to achieve, finding herself trapped in her marriage. The tigers are bright topaz denizens; they do not fear and they pace in sleek chivalric certainty, i.e., they are vivid, they stand out brightly in the green background and are not at all self-conscious or afraid (just like the males in our society). The tigers are not afraid of men the way Aunt Jennifer is. And they are so sure of themselves that they walk about with a manly swagger. The compelling image of Jennifers fingers trembling as she works with the wool, finding it difficult even to pull the needle, shows the effect of the restrictions of marriage and male domination upon her. The wedding ring symbolizes the domination of her husband and also that she is ringed (surrounded) with difficulties and restrictions. The massive weight of her wedding ring refers to her inability to express herself in a male dominated society. Even after death it seems woman is unable to be anything else but terrified. She has spent her lifetime being constrained and subjugated and dies like that. Her embroidered tigers are a complete contrast, proud and unafraid, stronger because they live on even after their creator is dead. The poem starts with a specific person (Aunt Jennifer) but ends with the general (Aunt), showing that women all over the world undergo the same suffering.