In the poem Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers a woman expresses her suppressed feelings through her art. Aunt Jennifer is the victim of the male-dominated society. She has no one to tell her mental and physical pain. She makes a picture of a graceful and powerful tiger to convey her deep feelings.
“The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.”
Rich vividly shows the weaknesses of women and the clout and authority of male in the marital life through the image of aunt Jennifer in the poem. Suppressed and oppressed aunt Jennifer wishes to be powerful and strong within like the tiger in her art but fails. The stout and impressive image of a tiger in the artwork of Jennifer contrasts with Jennifer herself. Tiger is a symbol of strength, proud, experience and independent but Jennifer is weak, meek, armature and dependent to her husband. The poem is powerful and generalizes the plight of all suppressed women of the world.
