question_answer 7)

Interpret the symbols found in this poem.    

Answer:

Adrienne Rich uses a number of similes and symbols in the poem to convey her theme. The tigers, of course, symbolize the freedom of spirit which Aunt Jennifer dreams of attaining but never achieves except in her dreams and her art. Aunt Jennifer is symbolic of women as a whole rather than one individual.   The tigers are symbolic of the true nature of the woman's soul. They also display in art the values that Aunt Jennifer must repress or displace in life: strength, assertion, fearlessness, and - fluidity of motion. Aunt Jennifer's tigers represent what women desired to be like during that period. Although Aunt Jennifer created the tigers, in the end, she is the one they control. The image of the tiger is both inspiring and destructive. And the poem's conclusion celebrates the animal images as a kind of triumph, transcending the constraints of their maker's life.   The word 'ringed' has a double connotation—indicating not only the ring that 'sits heavily' on her hand, but the difficulties in her life that will continue to surround her.   Her embroidery is her immortal self that may exist beyond her in the work that she leaves behind, but in life, she was nothing like the tigers in her embroidery. She is depicted doing needlepoint, which happens to be a very traditional activity for a woman. Her reality, as a woman, is stifled and weighed upon by her marriage to a man for money rather than love. For all the ivory needles in the world will not lift for Aunt, the 'massive weight of Uncles wedding band'. Even though the legacy that she leaves for the world is one that exudes freedom and confidence, 'her terrified hands will lie / Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by'.