CLASS 12 ENGLISH - AUNT JENNIFER’S TIGERS (Questions and Answers)
POET: ADRIENNE RICH
Q1. How do ‘denizens’ and ‘chivalric’ add to our understanding of the tiger’s attitudes?
Answer: Like all beasts of prey, the tigers are the denizens of the forest. They live far away from human settlements. They are called ‘chivalric.’ This indicates the majestic and honourable position that they occupy in the world of animals. So, the use of the words ‘denizens’ and ‘chivalric’ adds to our understanding of the tiger’s attitudes.
Q2. Why do you think Aunt Jennifer’s hands are ‘fluttering through her wool’ in the second stanza? Why is she finding the needle so hard to pull?
Answer: Aunt Jennifer is weaving tigers on the panel. Her hands are moving about her wool. She is finding the needle quite hard to pull. The weight of years of her married life is lying heavy on her hand. This makes the pulling of the needle so hard.
Q3. What is suggested by the image ‘massive weight of uncle’s wedding band’?
Answer: It suggests the weight of the harsh and tough experience of Aunt Jennifer’s married life. The image is quite suggestive. The wedding band is symbolic.
Q4. Of what or whom is Aunt Jennifer terrified in the third stanza?
Answer: In the third stanza, the poet refers to Aunt Jennifer’s ‘terrified hands’. The old unhappy memories are still fresh in her mind. She had passed through many testing and horrible times during her married life. These ordeals crushed and suppressed her. Their effect is still visible. So, she is still ringed with those ordeals that dominated her life.
Q5. What are the ‘ordeals’ Aunt Jennifer is surrounded by? Why is it significant that the poet uses the word ‘ringed”! What are the different meanings of ‘ringed’ in the poem?
Answer: The poem addresses the experiences of marriage in the midst of constrictions. The word ‘ringed’ is significant. It suggests that the vicious grip or her unhappy married life is still holding her tightly. The word ‘ringed’ has been used in two ways. First is the conventional use. Here ring is a symbol of the sacred bond of marriage. The other is the figurative use of ‘ringed’. It means encircled or surrounded.
Q6. Why do you think Aunt Jennifer created animals that are so different from her own character? What might the poet be suggesting, through this difference?
Answer: The tigers are ‘prancing’. They pace in ‘sleek chivalric certainty’. They ‘do not fear’ the men beneath the tree. Thus, they are symbols of strength, fierceness and beauty. Aunt Jennifer, on the other hand, is weak and terrified. Her hands are finding it difficult to pull through her wool. The massive weight of the wedding band sits heavily on her hand. Her terrified hands are still ringed by the ordeals of married life. The contrast heightens the intensity. She looks for a vent out through her art.
Q7. How has Aunt Jennifer created her tigers? What traits of tigers do they reveal!
Answer: Aunt Jennifer’s tigers are her own creations. She works with wool and ivory needles. She has created them in the panel. They have all the traits of the beasts of prey who are denizens of green forests. They are well-built and well-groomed. They are chivalric and full of confidence.
Q8. What difficulty does Aunt Jennifer face while making her tigers and why ?
Answer: Aunt Jennifer is making her tigers in the panel. She is using ivory needle. Her fingers are fluttering through the wool. She finds it difficult (hard) to pull even the ivory needles. The reason is obvious. The weight of unhappy and unfortunate experiences of her married life sits heavily on her hands.
Q9. What is the weight that lies heavy on Aunt Jennifer’s hand? How is it associated with her husband?
Answer: Aunt Jennifer is working with ivory needles and wool. But she can’t move her fingers freely in the wool. The experiences of her past married life are quite bitter. She has unpleasant memories of her married life with her husband. The heavy weight of the wedding band sits heavily upon her hand.
Q10. How will Aunt Jennifer’s hands look when she is dead?
Answer: When Aunt Jennifer dies, her hands will still look terrified. Perhaps she has experienced a lot of hardships and troubles in the past. Their effect has left its imprint on her hands. The ordeals that crushed her married life surround her even after her death.
Q11. What will happen to Aunt Jennifer’s tigers when she is dead?
Answer: Aunt Jennifer’s tigers will survive her. She has created the tigers in a panel. They are made of wool. These objects of art will survive their creator. The tigers will go on jumping, proud and unafraid just like the men in society.
Q12. Describe the poetic devices used in the poem Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’.
Answer: Adrienne Rich’s Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’ a beautiful short poem rich in symbolism and imagery. The metaphor ‘bright topaz’ depicts the shining yellow complexion of her tigers. The effective use of alliteration in ‘sleek, chivalric certainty’ describes the pace of the tigers effectively. ‘The massive weight of wedding band’ symbolises ordeals and hardships of Aunt Jennifer’s married fife. The images ‘terrified hands’ and ‘ringed with ordeal’ create the effect of oppression and terror as well as captivity.
Q13. How are Aunt Jennifer’s tigers different from her?
Answer: Aunt Jennifer’s tigers are a picture of strength, beauty and certainty. They seem to be jumping across a screen. They “pace in sleek chivalric certainty”. They are confident and impressive. Aunt Jennifer is a weak, depressed and terrified person. Life has been a cup of woes for her. She is still in the grip of those ordeals and terrors that she faced and suffered from dining her married life. Her fingers are so ‘terrified’ that they find it hard to pull even the ivory needle. Thus, the contrast is amply highlighted.
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