Composed in three carefully rhymed stanzas, the poem can firstly seem an homage to the speakers skills in stitching a panel with tigers. However, a detailed reading reveals images and symbols that suggest a relation of oppression concerning Aunt Jennif

produces her tigers under his control, represented by "The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band [that] / Sits heavily upon [her] hand." Physically a wedding ring is light, but this one has a "massive weight" heavily sitting on her hand. These images construct an opposition between the couple: as a woman she has a creative force, but her husband, represented by the wedding ring, seems to control her initiative. In spite of his dominance, she embroiders tigers that "do not fear men." Tigers are both admired and feared for their force. It is said that even demons would run away from them, a belief that explains the placement of tiger statues in front of buildings or for grave decoration. Through this symbol, her creation assumes a form of power. It is worth noting that this idea is ironically weaved with the use of a craft obedient to traditional patterns of poetry. Such formal structure can be read as a similar to Aunt Jennifer’s predicament of household confinement. The tigers in this poem are also representative of Aunt Jennifer’s quiet pride despite her adversity, her “chivalric certainty” of her inner spirit remaining pure, despite being shackled by her husband. This line also evokes the sense that Aunt Jennifer’s heart will never be bound by the chains of masculinity.Yet this road is certainly not easy for Aunt Jennifer to preside in, and certainly difficult for her to preserve her inner spirit. Physically and psychologically, her dream of being free from her burden is a gargantuan task in itself. She even finds it difficult to move her “ivory needle” (from which her tigers are born from) “hard to pull”. Aunt Jennifer is further weighed down by the hindering, “massive weight” of “Uncle’s wedding band”. Not only does this bondage restrict her movement, but it also serves to remind her that she is the property of another – no different from a slave, with no rights or liberties to call their own. This band limits Aunt Jennifer’s dream – the psychological weight of being owned like an animal is immense – Aunt Jennifer buckles beneath the weight of her ordeal. Furthermore, Aunt Jennifer is paralysed in the poem; her only action is to stitch the tigers, her stillness contributing to compose her submission. In the last stanza, suddenly the speaker foresees Aunt Jennifer’s death, however with no significant emotional change in the character’s mood. Jennifer’s death seems only to confirm the paralysis of her life. It evokes the sense of destabilisation as her rebellion and repression meet in the fearless tigers of her dreams and the lifeless aunt of reality. Her remaining art, however, concedes her a sense of immortality and a freedom from the dominance she experienced while married. The tigers spawned from her “terrified hands” continue to dance on long after she has faded, and continue to dance in the face of those who had enslaved her. For presenting art as an alternative to perpetuate women historically and as a medium for women's liberation, "Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers" is considered one of the first feminist poems written by Adrienne Rich.