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Q.State whether the following statement is True or False, with reference to the extract: Aunt Jennifer is nervous and traumatized because of the constraints of her marriage. (Aunt Jennifer's Tigers)

CBSECBSE Class XII Board 2024Subjective· 1mImportance★★★★★
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The poem's imagery of trembling hands, the "massive weight" of the wedding band, and the phrase "terrified hands" all point to Aunt Jennifer's fear and oppression within her marriage — the statement is True.

The poem "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" works through contrast: the fierce, confident tigers Aunt Jennifer embroiders stand in sharp opposition to her own timid, constrained existence. Adrienne Rich uses the act of needlework as a window into a woman's inner life, where the art reveals what the artist cannot express directly.

The evidence for Aunt Jennifer's trauma appears in three key moments:

  1. The physical manifestation of fear

    The poem tells us "Aunt Jennifer's fingers fluttering through her wool / Find even the ivory needle hard to wield." The word "fluttering" suggests trembling, nervous movement — not the steady hand of someone at peace. The difficulty in wielding even a light ivory needle points to a deeper paralysis than mere old age.

  2. The explicit weight of marriage

    Rich writes, "The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band / Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand." The adjective "massive" is crucial here. A wedding ring is physically light; calling it massive transforms it into a symbol of psychological burden. It "sits heavily" — the marriage itself is a weight she carries, pressing down on her very ability to create.

  3. The word "terrified"

    In the final stanza, the poem speaks of "her terrified hands." This is not ambiguous language. Terrified means gripped by fear, and the fact that this terror persists even in the context of her creative work (the embroidery) suggests it pervades her entire existence. …

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