Continued discussion of "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers"
What happens when you change the tigers to rabbits?

How does the relationship between AJ and the rabbits differ from the
relationships between AJ and the tigers?

• the rabbits become more representative (AJ as timid, weak, fearful) OR
• the rabbits become more transformative (rabbits are exact opposite of AJ->they don't even know of their own danger/sorrow)

How does changing the poem change the meaning?
aspects of the poem are interdependent esp. rhythm, metaphor, so

• changing the rhythm changes the "prancing" feel
• changing the animal changes the metaphor and so the meaning

 "In an Artist's Studio"

Structure

• parallelism
• sonnet
      fourteen lines
      iambic pentameter
• Rossetti’s sonnet is Petrarchan in format
      Octet rhymes abab abba, sestet rhymes cdc dcd
      Octet states a problem, sestet a conclusion or reply

(the alternative: Shakespearean format
Each 4 line unit rhymes abab, contains a single image Concluding couplet draws a conclusion that connects the images)

• very formal
  Meaning:
• The artist paints pictures of a certain female that vary only in setting and costume—why?
  

These images are all highly feminine, highly ranked, innocent, positive , beloved

• the artist seems to idolize the idealized creation on his canvas
• there is tension created by the pull between

what "is" and what "was"
reality vs dream
portrait vs real woman

• this female figure is portrayed as unattainable, because

she does not exist at all,
she fails to exist as he wants her to be,
she has changed
she is dead

• the poem creates the feeling of loss: death, illness, love lost, disillusionment

dim, wan waiting vs hope true kind, fair, joyful

it is up to the reader to assert what they believe is the correct one

Back to Previous Page