NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Poem 5 “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” provide precise, well-structured, and easy-to-understand answers to all textbook “Think it out” questions. This complete study guide explores Adrienne Rich’s powerful feminist critique of patriarchal marriage and the liberating power of art, along with its key poetic devices and symbols. Be sure to read the Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Summary first to grasp the background of the poem and answer these questions more effectively!
Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Questions and Answers
Think it out (page 99)
Q.1. How do ‘denizens’ and ‘chivalric’ add to our understanding of the tiger’s attitudes?
Ans.
- Denizens are inhabitants who belong to a place. Calling the tigers “bright topaz denizens of a world of green” shows that they are natural, rightful dwellers of the forest. They are at home there and fully free. Their bright golden colour (topaz) makes them look vivid and precious.
- Chivalric means like a knight: noble, brave and honourable. The tigers pace “in sleek chivalric certainty”, so they are confident, dignified and fearless. They do not fear the men beneath the tree.
Together, the words show that the tigers are proud, free and unafraid. This is the opposite of Aunt Jennifer’s timid and suppressed life.
Q.2. 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?
Ans. Her hands flutter because she is nervous, weak and fearful. Years of an oppressive married life have made her tremble and lose her strength. Even the light ivory needle seems heavy and hard to pull, because she is physically tired and, more importantly, emotionally crushed by the burden of marriage. It is also hard because she is putting her hidden desire for freedom into the embroidery, and this takes great effort under her husband’s domination.
Q.3. What is suggested by the image ‘massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band’?
Ans. The wedding ring, which should be a symbol of love, is shown as a heavy weight on her hand. It stands for the burden of marriage: the control, duties and restrictions imposed on her by her husband and a male-dominated society. It suggests that marriage has become a weight that oppresses and imprisons her. The word “Uncle’s” (and not “her”) shows that the ring belongs to him, as though she herself is his possession.
Q.4. Of what or of whom is Aunt Jennifer terrified in the third stanza?
Ans. She is terrified of her husband (Uncle) and of the oppressive married life that he controls. Even after her death, her hands will lie “terrified”, which shows how deep her fear is. Her fear also stands for the fear of the patriarchal society that dominates women.
Q.5. What are the ‘ordeals’ Aunt Jennifer is surrounded by? Why is it significant that the poet uses the word ‘ringed’? What are the meanings of the word ‘ringed’ in the poem?
Ans.
- Ordeals: The painful trials of her married life: the domination of her husband, the heavy household duties, the suppression of her wishes, the loss of freedom and constant fear.
- Why ‘ringed’ is significant: It links the wedding ring with her sufferings. She wears the ring even in death, which shows that the ordeals will stay with her until the end, and that she was “mastered” by them.
- Meanings of ‘ringed’:
- Wearing a wedding ring (literally).
- Encircled or surrounded by ordeals, like a prisoner enclosed in a ring or a trap. It suggests that she has no way out.
- Bound or imprisoned, as marriage has become a cage or shackle.
Q.6. 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?
Ans. Aunt Jennifer is timid, weak and oppressed, while the tigers are bold, free and fearless. She created them because they express what she wants to be. Her art is a form of escape and a way to fulfil her suppressed desire for freedom, strength and courage. The poet suggests that the difference shows how much the woman has been denied. It also suggests that creativity can give a woman a way to express her inner self, even when she cannot do so in real life. The tigers live on after her death, which means that her spirit and art will remain unconquered.
Q.7. Interpret the symbols found in this poem.
Ans.
- Tigers: Freedom, strength, courage, and the woman’s suppressed wishes and rebellious spirit. They are the person she would like to be.
- Green world: The free natural world, the freedom and life that Aunt Jennifer lacks.
- Men beneath the tree: Male authority and the patriarchal society that the tigers do not fear.
- Wedding band: The burden, bondage and control of marriage.
- Ivory needle and wool (embroidery/screen/panel): Art and creativity, her only outlet for self-expression. It is also the domestic work expected of women.
- Aunt Jennifer’s fluttering fingers/terrified hands: Her fear, weakness and suppression.
- Uncle: The dominating husband and male society.
Q.8. Do you sympathise with Aunt Jennifer? What is the attitude of the speaker towards Aunt Jennifer?
Ans. Yes, we sympathise with her. She is a gentle woman who suffers silently, is weighed down by her marriage, and is allowed freedom only in her imagination. The speaker also sympathises with her. The tone is sympathetic and sad, and also critical of the system that oppresses her. The speaker admires the way Aunt Jennifer expresses her hidden courage through art. There is also a note of hope, because the tigers will go on “prancing, proud and unafraid”, which shows that the creative spirit cannot be destroyed.
Notice (given in the book):
- Colours: Topaz (golden), green, and the ivory of the needle. These are bright, lively colours, which contrast with the dull life of Aunt Jennifer.
- Sounds: Alliteration (prance, pace; fingers fluttering; proud), assonance and consonance create rhythm and a sense of movement in the tigers’ stanza, while the heavy sounds of “massive weight” and “wedding band” give a feeling of weight.
Poem Summary
The poem has three stanzas of rhymed couplets. In the first stanza, the poet describes the tigers that Aunt Jennifer has embroidered on a screen. They prance across it, bright golden creatures at home in a green world. They are fearless and do not fear the men beneath the tree. They walk with sleek, knightly confidence.
The second stanza turns to Aunt Jennifer herself. Her fingers flutter nervously as she works with wool, and even the light ivory needle is hard for her to pull. The heavy wedding ring that her husband gave her sits like a massive weight on her hand. It stands for the burden of her married life.
In the third stanza, the poet looks ahead to Aunt Jennifer’s death. Her hands will lie terrified, still wearing the ring and still surrounded by the ordeals that mastered her. Yet the tigers, which she has created on the panel, will go on prancing, proud and unafraid. Aunt Jennifer may die oppressed, but her art, and the spirit of freedom in it, will outlive her.
Key points to remember:
- Theme: The oppression of women in a patriarchal marriage, and the longing for freedom, expressed through art.
- Central idea: The contrast between Aunt Jennifer’s fear and the tigers’ fearlessness. Her creation shows her inner desires, which she cannot realise in life.
- Message: Women are often confined by marriage and social expectations, but their creativity and spirit cannot be completely crushed. Art can outlive the artist.
- Structure: Three stanzas of four lines each, in rhymed couplets (aabb), with regular iambic pentameter. The first stanza describes the tigers, the second shows Aunt Jennifer’s suffering, and the third looks to the future after death. This neat form itself suggests control and restriction.
- Contrast: Tigers (free, proud, fearless) versus Aunt Jennifer (weak, timid, terrified); life versus death; the lightness of the needle versus the heaviness of the wedding band; the green world versus her confined home.
- Tone: Sympathetic, sad and critical, but with a hopeful undertone at the end.
- Poetic devices:
- Alliteration: “prance… pace”, “fingers fluttering”, “proud and unafraid”
- Imagery: “bright topaz denizens of a world of green”
- Symbolism: tigers, wedding band, needle, green world
- Metaphor: “ringed with ordeals” (the ring as a symbol of bondage)
- Contrast and juxtaposition
- Enjambment across lines, and a pun in “ringed” and “mastered”.
- Feminist perspective: Adrienne Rich is known for her involvement in the women’s movement. The poem shows a woman who is dominated by her husband and who has found her only freedom in creative expression.
- Word meanings: Denizen = a person, animal or plant that lives or is often found in a particular place. Sleek = elegant, smooth. Chivalric = knightly, noble, courteous. Topaz = a yellow-gold gemstone. Ordeals = painful or difficult experiences.
