Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Think it out
1. How do ‘denizens’ and ‘chivalric’ add to our understanding of
the tiger’s attitudes?
Answer:
2. Why do you think Aunt Jennifer’s hands are ‘fluttering through
her wool’ in the second stanza? Why is she finding the needle so
hard to pull?
Answer:
3. What is suggested by the image ‘massive weight of Uncle’s
wedding band’?
Answer:
4. Of what or of whom is Aunt Jennifer terrified with in the third
stanza?
Answer:
5. What are the ‘ordeals’ Aunt Jennifer is surrounded by, why is it
significant that the poet uses the word ‘ringed’? What are the
meanings of the word ‘ringed’ in the poem?
Answer:
6. Why do you think Aunt Jennifer created animals that are so
different from her own character? What might the poet be
suggesting, through this difference?
Answer:
7. Interpret the symbols found in this poem.
Answer:
8. Do you sympathise with Aunt Jennifer. What is the attitude of
the speaker towards Aunt Jennifer?
Answer:
