the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow :
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.
(i)
Who is the aunt afraid of ?
(ii)
What do the tigers represent here?
(iii)
How has Mrs. Jennifer failed in her aim ?
(iv)
Name the figure of speech used in the second line.
Answers
Answer:
(i) The aunt is afraid of her husband and unhappy cause of her marriage
(ii) The tigers represent her artwork which is kind of the freedom she wants
(iii) It seems she mistook marriage only for a good thing and forgot what it cost, her freedom. Now, she suffers from her husband who isn,t really that friendly
(iv)Pun-ringed
Explanation:
Aunt Jennifer's Tiger by Adrienne Rich The poet describes a woman-Aunt Jennifer's inner emotions. Aunt[s embroidery patterns consistof strong, fearless tigers that run around the greenery. She lives a life of submission to the orders of her husband. He controls her acts and she is constantly afraid of him. This style of the free and timid tigers represents their inner wish for a free and terrifying life. The tigers are lovely, elegant and luminous.
Explanation:
(i) The poet explains Aunt Jennifer's fear towards her husband. She tells that Aunt Jennifer's fingers tremble with the fear of her husband while she's doing embroidery. Her husband doesn't accept her passion for embroidery So, when she holds the piece of cloth she trembles. She is unable to even pull and down the needle while doing embroidery
Aunt Jennifer was perhaps a survivor of patriarchal society's exploitation. The weight of the wedding band i.e. its wedding ring, felt loud on its side, and she was subjugated by her husband. She was so terrified that even when she carrying something as light as wool her hands were fluttering. . She says that her wearing this ring is a kind of responsibility.
The marriage which might have been a beautiful gift for her seemed a burden to her she was abused so much by her husband. In her married life, she faced so several difficulties that the little ring on her shivering fingers is a heavy band. This means that the Ring is associated to some bad torture experiences she had faced due to the dominant behavior of her husband
(ii) Aunt Jennifer is a frail and terrified woman who was oppressed with the constraints of marriage during her life. Through her painting, she secretly expresses her anger and bitterness toward male domination. On her tapestry she produces tigers; animals symbolized by courage, fearlessness and strength. They are a symbol of power, ardor and elegance. The poet claims that the tigers of Aunt Jennifer are gold-yellow.
She describes them on the screen as prancing. It is the inhabitants of a green dense forest. They are also brave and fearless. Aunt Jennifer's tigers represent her will to free herself from the restraints of her married life. Like the tigers she does embroidery, she too needs to be brave and fearless.
Eventually, the tigers created by Aunt Jennifer are eternal. They would keep on prancing even after Aunt's death. Perhaps, Aunt Jennifer wants to convey that the tigers which signify Aunt’s inner sense of freedom will remain forever.
(iii) The poet says that through her design of tigers, one can easily feel the desire of Aunt for fearlessness and freedom. However, Aunt Jennifer's says that during her lifetime Aunt can not achieve this independence. But here the tragedy of her life is that she is already bound to the shackles in the form of her husband's marriage ring. It will only happen after her death, however here the irony of her life is that still, she would be tied up with shackles in the form of her husband’s wedding ring. The ring was the only example of her husband's torture. On the other hand, Aunt Jennifer's tigers still demonstrate her desire to live a brave life by boldly and courageously jumping out of the piece of cloth.
(iv)Personification (ringed ordeals, here the rings are given human forms), Metonmy (mastered by (here refers to slavery, controlled, dominated))
Personification is where non-human objects are depicted in a way that we feel they have the capability to act like human beings. Metonymy is figure of speech wherein a word/phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely related to