Submissions for the Critical Analysis category should critically evaluate or analyze a piece of literature, a theatrical performance, a work of visual art, a historical moment, a philosophical argument, a social movement, etc. Submissions should not exceed 20 pages. Emma Kollo wrote the 1st place submission in the Critical Analysis Category for the 2026 President’s Writing Awards.
About Emma
Emma Kollo is a third-year undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a minor in Creative Writing. She is a member of Boise State’s Honors College, and can almost always be found reading, writing, and researching. Whether curating a presentation on the historical context of Homer’s The Odyssey, tracing the publication history of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” or re-reading her favorite poems from William Wordsworth, John Keats, William Blake, and Mary Oliver, Emma continues to explore the boundless nature of literature and academia. When she is not busying herself with schoolwork, reading groups, writing, Honors events, or the occasional crafting session, she enjoys cozying up with one of the many books on her shelves, painting with watercolors, laughing with her family, and doubling her favorite cookie recipes. She is grateful for the unconditional love and support of her family and friends, and is honored to be selected for the President’s Writing Awards for Critical Analysis!
Winning Manuscript – Prancing, Proud and Unafraid: Embroidery as Escapism in Adrienne Rich’s “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers”
In an interview with The Arts magazine, renowned Spanish painter Pablo Picasso asserted that “art is a lie that makes us realize truth” (“Picasso Speaks…” 315). While art has long been examined as an outlet for expression, it unveils much more than creativity and beauty. Whether it is quietly subdued or done with loud intensity, art can reflect reality in profound ways that might go unnoticed if they are simply stated aloud. Using Picasso’s logic, art is a lie because of its subjectivity and illusory nature, yet the use of this lie ultimately engages viewers with deeper truths. This is exactly what occurs in Adrienne Rich’s poem, “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers,” which compellingly contrasts Aunt Jennifer’s fearless embroidered tigers – the “lie” – with Aunt Jennifer’s fear in her oppressive marriage – the truth – from the perspective of a young relative. As the poem progresses, it becomes clear that Aunt Jennifer’s embroidery is not merely an avenue of creative expression, but a means of psychological survival. Through this concise yet rich narrative, “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” uses embroidery to create an alternate universe where Aunt Jennifer can escape from reality, illustrating how art functions as a refuge for women who are confined by their circumstances.
The poem’s opening stanza introduces readers to the significance of embroidery in Aunt Jennifer’s life by first describing the vivid world she creates. The unnamed speaker of the poem is captivated by the colorful scene that Aunt Jennifer has embroidered, observing the tapestry with a focus on the tigers: “Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen, / Bright topaz denizens of a world of green” (Rich, ll. 1-2). The tigers’ prancing behavior exemplifies their status as apex predators in the jungle, embodying strength, courage, and bravery. These characterizations place readers in a fearless world that will be put directly in conflict with Aunt Jennifer’s real life later on. In addition to confident prancing, the use of color in Aunt Jennifer’s tapestry further nuances readers’ interpretation of the embroidered tigers. Referring to these tigers as “bright topaz denizens” illustrates their boldness as they stand out against the lush green jungle, roaming with a daring prowess that challenges anyone or anything that dares to take their power away.
The speaker continues to describe what unfolds in the tapestry, imploring readers to examine the tigers’ attitudes as trespassers enter their home. The speaker infers that “They do not fear the men beneath the tree; / They pace in sleek chivalric certainty” (Rich, ll. 3-4). Here, readers are acutely aware of the strange men watching Aunt Jennifer’s tigers. Given this predatory behavior of surveying from a distance, it is possible that the men disturbing this jungle scene are hunters looking to trap the tigers. In spite of this possible threat, the tigers show nothing short of comfort. In Aunt Jennifer’s embroidered tapestry, the intrusion of the men has no power over her tigers, whose prideful pacing echoes their enduring dominance. They are not thrown off by anything and continue to demonstrate their fearlessness as they roam the jungle with self-assurance. Through this vivid imagery, readers can immerse themselves in Aunt Jennifer’s artwork, taking note of her courageous tigers.
Following readers’ introduction to Aunt Jennifer’s imagined world, the speaker turns to Aunt Jennifer’s underlying desire for an escape. While the world within her tapestry exudes vibrance and strength, the speaker makes it clear that the life Aunt Jennifer lives is the exact opposite of the one she creates. The speaker first details the difficulty that Aunt Jennifer faces with her embroidery, observing how “Aunt Jennifer’s finger fluttering through her wool / Find even the ivory needle hard to pull” (Rich, ll. 5-6). While it is evident that Aunt Jennifer is passionate and dedicated to stitching her tigers, there is a force that restricts her ability to pull the needle through her tapestry. Beyond her physical struggle to pull the needle through, these lines also suggest that Aunt Jennifer may be experiencing a deeper struggle that interferes with her ability to obtain psychological freedom through embroidery.
As readers contemplate Aunt Jennifer’s life circumstances, the speaker elaborates on the critical force that restricts her: “The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band / Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand” (Rich, ll. 7-8). The culprit of Aunt Jennifer’s hindered embroidery lies in her marriage to the speaker’s uncle, as signified by the wedding band which “sits heavily” on her. Since wedding bands are not physically heavy, the use of the phrase “massive weight” to refer to Aunt Jennifer’s wedding band is indicative of emotional weight. With this in mind, readers can now contrast the inhabitants of the two worlds presented in the poem: Aunt Jennifer’s imagined world where her tigers prance freely and dominantly, and Aunt Jennifer’s reality that is rife with psychological suppression in her marriage. Just like the strange men looming over the tigers in the poem’s first stanza, the marriage to Uncle looms over Aunt Jennifer in the second stanza. The key difference between Aunt Jennifer and her tigers, however, is that she feels utterly trapped in her situation, unable to embody the courage to challenge her husband. As a result, she is forced to search for the relief and freedom she will never experience in the real world by throwing herself into her embroidered world. With this revelation, readers are forced to grapple with the distressing reality that has prompted Aunt Jennifer’s psychological escape into art.
The final stanza of this poem cements the immortal quality of Aunt Jennifer’s art through the speaker’s profound commentary on the legacy that Aunt Jennifer’s tigers will continue to have. The speaker opts to speak in the future tense to reveal what Aunt Jennifer’s life will culminate in. The speaker asserts that “When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie / Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by” (Rich, ll. 9-10). Even in death, Aunt Jennifer can never truly escape. Her hands being “terrified” in death exemplifies the fear and powerlessness she felt in life, and the description of how her hands will “still [be] ringed with ordeals” adds another troubling layer. The word “ringed” tells readers that Aunt Jennifer will be forced to wear her wedding band, symbolizing how the weight of her oppressive marriage will follow her even when she is no longer alive. “Ringed” is also a play on the word “wring,” which describes a forcible or violent squeeze; a hint that suggests – but does not directly confirm – domestic violence. In being “mastered by” these ordeals, readers can conclude that Aunt Jennifer has not only been dominated by her marriage’s psychological and potentially-physical violence, but that she has additionally been suppressed by adopting a subservient life to appease her husband; her “master.”
The speaker approaches this devastating subject with profound understanding and offers one final comparison between the oppressed Aunt Jennifer and the fearless tigers she embroidered into existence: “The tigers in the panel that she made / Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid” (Rich, ll. 11-12). The assessment of her tigers’ “prancing, proud and unafraid” reveals a potent truth: in spite of all she has been through, Aunt Jennifer’s art will outlive her and everything she has ever been restricted by, including her husband. As indicated in the poem’s previous lines, Aunt Jennifer’s death alone will not grant her a release from the limits placed on her in life. However, her embroidered tigers will undoubtedly fulfill their purpose as liberators by preserving and emboldening the tapestry she found refuge in. As readers reflect on this transcendent power of embroidery, it is indisputable that art gave Aunt Jennifer the opportunity to create something that would encapsulate everything she could never be in life: a tiger; fearless, bold, and free.
Ultimately, Adrienne Rich’s “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” demonstrates how embroidery acts as an escape from Aunt Jennifer’s marital oppression, which reinforces the poem’s message about the role of art as a tool for women’s psychological survival. The value of embroidery in Aunt Jennifer’s life has been established from the start thanks to the engrossing details exposing her embroidered world’s symbolic inhabitants: the tigers. This vivid world contrasts with the agonizing reality of Aunt Jennifer’s restrictive marriage, as her tigers are able to embody the courage and freedom that she is not allowed to. In the end, Aunt Jennifer’s tigers will continue to live on in her tapestry, immortalizing the creativity and freedom she could only enjoy within the confines of her needlework. When bridging this poem to the world at large, Aunt Jennifer becomes more than just a fictional character; instead, she becomes a stand-in for every woman who has ever felt trapped, repressed, and desired an escape from life’s cruelty. It is through art – the liberating act of endurance and resistance – that creative expression is triumphant over reality. It is a force that submits to nothing and will continue to outlast the deepest burdens, prancing proud and unafraid even when the artist has succumbed to their reality.
Works Cited
“Picasso Speaks: A Statement by the Artist.” The Arts: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine Covering All Phases of Ancient and Modern Art, Volume 3, Number 5, May 1923, p. 315. Hathi Trust Digital Library, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015020076041&seq=339. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
Rich, Adrienne. “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers.” The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by Kelly J. Mays, W. W. Norton & Company, 2017, p. 550