Final answer:
The tigers in 'Aunt Jennifer's Tigers' symbolize Aunt Jennifer's inner strength and desire for freedom, contrasting with her oppressed life.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Adrienne Rich's poem "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers," the tigers embroidered by Aunt Jennifer symbolize her inner strength and vitality.
These tigers prance across the screen with a confidence and freedom that contrast sharply with Aunt Jennifer's own oppressed existence within her marriage. Unlike her, the tigers do not fear the men beneath the tree; they are untamed and chivalric, representing the independence and ferocity Aunt Jennifer herself cannot express in life, hinting at a deeper desire for personal autonomy.
Thus, the tigers are a stark symbol of the agency Aunt Jennifer yearns for, but is denied in her reality, trapped by the weight of "the massive weight of Uncle's wedding band," which symbolizes the oppression and confinement she experiences.