Aunt Jennifer's Tigers

“Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’’ comprises part of Rich’s first collection, published when she was still a college undergraduate. While the poem is sharp, poignant to her poetic goals, and expertly crafted, Rich’s poetic influences shape the poem more than her mastery. The poem shows more influence of mid-century American academia than her radical works in the proceeding decades. Rich admitted after the publication of her second book that her early work felt formulaic to her compared to her ease and confidence with later volumes. Still, the vibrant language and ideas expressed about womanhood and marriage make “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’’ a vivid point of departure and thesis for Rich’s early poetic work. The poem aligns with her burgeoning identity as a feminist, which continued to grow through her writing and personal life.

Rich found a decisive poetic movement later in her career in the 1960s and 70s. Her poetry is primarily associated with the radical feminist movement, which aimed to expand rights for women and question the predominating patriarchal structure and narrative of American society and culture. By writing about women’s experiences and the female body, and critiquing discrimination against women, Rich used her position as a prominent poet to advocate for women’s liberation.