An Aunt’s Hidden Life

The mid twentieth century American poet Adrienne Rich was a product of a conservative Southern family. Rich’s poem, “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” clearly reflects this gender struggle, for it is evident that it is a feminist poem in which the poet criticizes the male-dominated world for frightening and oppressing Aunt Jennifer, leaving her no alternative but to create an alternate world of freedom for herself with her sewing. The main theme of “Aunt Jennifer’…

…of a wife, beaten by marriage and conquered by the weight of her wedding ring. While “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” is certainly not overtly feminist, it encourages a feminist viewpoint, for although Aunt Jennifer was locked in her world, her tigers weren’t. http://college.hmco.com/english/heath/syllabuild/iguide/rich.html http://www.radcliffe.edu/quarterly/199803/page36.html http://pages.wooster.edu/deandg/rich.html http://marshasmusings.tvheaven.com/kat/eng112/arich.htm