Seduction and Lust in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market Essay

Within ‘A Doll’s House’ Nora Helmer has a strong appetite for knowledge. This is particularly evident in her voracious longing for independence: “But it was great fun, though, sitting there working and earning money. It was almost like being a man”. This knowledge of “being a man”, and what that entails, would be unknown to many women during the Victorian era due to the fiercely patriarchal society that was perpetuated. The desire for knowledge and its inaccessible nature is particularly evident in the lack of further education for women. In fact, in the United Kingdom the first widespread report of female further education was the Edinburgh Seven in 1869. Whilst that instance of knowledge was not destructive, in the case of Nora and ‘A Doll’s House’ her appetite for knowledge is ultimately catastrophic for the Victorian female ideal due to the secrecy she creates around it: “My husband must never know of this”. As a result of this concealment and Nora’s appetite for knowledge, the Victorian ideal unravels and ultimately becomes destructive. Likewise, in Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market’ an appetite for knowledge is ultimately destructive for the characters within the poem. After tasting the “fruit” of the “Goblin Men” and becoming knowledgeable of the taste and effects of it Laura “knew not was it night or day”. This confusion of time and geographical

In a harsh world, desire is something that can bring vulnerability to any person. Cristiana Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” is a riveting tale about two sisters who handle desire differently. One knows desire exists, but has the maturity and courage to not give in to her own yearnings, whereas the other cannot control her desires and pays dearly for them. Love is a strong theme in “Goblin Market” and is shown through the love that Lizzie has for her sister, Laura. Lizzie does not let her desire get the best of her when hearing the goblin men, she “thrust a dimpled finger / In each ear, shut her eyes and ran” (Rossetti 67-68). However, it is Laura that falls into a desire for the goblin men through curiosity: “Curious Laura chose to linger / Wondering at each merchant man” (Rossetti 69-70). The difference in the sisters understanding of desire cannot be better shown than in these lines.

However, as time progress, Laura and Lucy’s exploration of sexual desires and/or aggressiveness puts them in a spot of being down upon as they may face dishonor and ostracism from a Victorian perspective. In Goblin Market, Laura is enticed by the goblin men during a visit to the market with her sister Lizzie. Laura’s sister warns her, stating how “[Laura] should not peep at goblin men” (Rossetti 49). However Laura’s curiosity overpowers her sister’s warnings, as she is made unable to resist the luring of the temptations of the goblin men’s fruits. The tasting of the fruit makes Laura a fallen women. Rossetti describes Laura’s diminishing pureness by writing how “[Laura] sucked and sucked and sucked … / … until her lips were sore” (134-36). The fruits of the goblin men have sexual and sensual connotation to them, and Laura who was pressured into tasting the fruit was also unable to resist due to her curiosity and human desires, which changes her into a fallen women. In the Victorian period that Laura is featured in, women are expected to follow a standard of conduct, such as remaining a virgin before marriage. However, Laura is not married

Christian Rossetti utilizes a unique insight into her works of ‘Maude Clare’, ‘Goblin Market’ and ‘Amor Mundi’ to express the struggle of religious values of the Victorian era. Throughout the three passages Rossetti uses devices such as alliteration, repetition and symbolism in order to express sentiment.

In both Goblin Market and “The Bloody Chamber”, women face objectification as pornographic objects whose solitary purpose is to be a man’s appealing possession. Evidently, the objectification of women impacted the way each author constructed their texts. Feminist movements aiming to undermine these rigid female and male roles are prominent in the time period of both literary works. Both Christina Rossetti and Angela Carter use strange worlds to differentiate from the typical fairy tale’s predictable conclusion and instead make a statement through the use of a female heroine. Both literary works contrast the archetypal idea that a man must always be the savior

“It’s not everyday we get company around here,” I reminded myself, “we haven’t shown our chateau in ages.” As we walked down the elegant staircase, each step creaked one by one. My hand-held lamp with the bright, burning fire was in clutch as we walked around the dusty furniture until we saw some of my men. They were silent, but you could see the fear in their eyes - almost like the fear in Rainsford’s. One had the guts to come up, and offer another light looking for a way to impress me with his concern, but I quickly declined.

By the time Laura makes the decision to purchase the fruits from the goblins, her hunger has grown so rapidly and strongly for the fruits that she is willing to give up a nearly priceless part of herself to experience their taste. The goblins tell her that because she has no money, she must give up a lock of her golden hair. While this upsets her and she sheds a tear, she does not

On the surface, the poems “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti and “The Thorn” by William Wordsworth appear to be very different literary works. “Goblin Market” was written by a young woman in the Victorian period about two sisters who develop a special bond through the rescue of one sister by the other. “The Thorn” was written by the Romantic poet William Wordsworth about a middle-aged man and his experience overlooking a woman’s emotional breakdown. Material to understanding the works “Goblin Market” and “The Thorn” is recognizing the common underlying themes of sex and gender and how these themes affect perspective in both poems.

Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” proves the ways in which hair was prized as an embodiment of a woman’s sexuality. In Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” hair is used as a form of currency and a vehicle for giving into temptation, eliciting notions of Eve’s original sin. Furthermore, the poem bears resemblance to Eve eating the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden. An important similarity between these two is how each story is presented: through third person omniscient. This perspective evades bias and favors morality. However, in Pope’s

Often in narrative literature main characters develop over the course of the story line through the conflicts that they encounter. In the poem, “Goblin Market”, the author Christina Rossetti, depicts a story of two sisters with completely opposite morals and opinions. The main characters, Lizzie and Laura, each sit on opposite sides of what they believe to be socially correct and are different in every way. Throughout the poem, some characters are forced to adapt and act in ways out of their comfort zone to provide for the ones which they love. In order to save the life of her sister Lizzie is forced to take action and spread her wings, thus developing as a character. Through her relationship with Laura, the internal conflict regarding her morals and the interpersonal conflict with the goblins, Lizzie evolves from a timid and orderly character, into a heroic and outgoing character.

Christina Rossetti’s poem, Goblin Market, was written in the Victorian era during a time of vast social change across Europe. Though the Victorian period was a time of female suppression and order, Rossetti exposed social stigmas and ideologies that are displayed through the journey of two sisters, Laura and Lizzie. Despite initial impressions of a childhood fairytale, the suggestive and multi-interpretive use of language signifies an underlying message of erotic sexual commentary and feminist views. In addition, Rossetti conveys moral lessons by illustrating consequences of the goblin’s seduction. Through the sister’s experience with the goblins, the power of sisterhood becomes undeniable. Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market serves as a

The short epic poem the Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti resembles a fairytale because of the goblins and the happy ending of the united sisters, however the metaphors and allegory of fruit is ambiguous for different interpretations of drugs, sexual pleasures, temptation to sin, etc. The poem is broken into four major sections- temptation, fall, redemption, and restoration. Many people had mixed feelings toward the poem; some were even shocked of the Goblin Market because of how dark it is since Rossetti is usually linked to children novels and nurseries. The target audiences is not children but adolescents, as this poem is a merely a stage to warn young women about temptation and desires.

Goblin Market, an 1862 narrative poem written by Christina Rossetti, also fashionably presents the theme of sisterhood even though the context of the poem is different from the one shown in Little Women. For the first century after its publication, many parents and teachers alike read the poem to children as a way of teaching them about the importance of sisterhood and sisterly heroism. Thus, Rossetti made the theme of sisterhood one of the poem's essential themes as a way of presenting a particular message to the community and the upcoming generations, especially considering that it was a period where women did not have a significant role in the society. One of the areas

Christina Rossetti 's poem "Goblin Market" is what many deem Christina 's best work. "Goblin Market" presents itself as rather fairy tale like, featuring of several strange things, a parade of mythical goblin men. In fact Rosseti claims to have written it as a childrens poem. However, many who analayze or many of those who have read this poem claim that the underlining themes of "Goblin Market" feature a host of adult themes. Of several of those are "a struggle between self and soul, a comment on sex as a capitalist commodity, a parable of feminist solidary, a lesson about poetry 's subversive power, and a lesbian love story" (Heather Henderson and William Sharpe, 2010, p. 1644). Although, these themes are all apparently present within Rossetti 's work, another theme that has not been mentioned is also present. Evident within "Goblin Market" is a signifcant focus on capitalism and industrialism. England during the Victorian era proved itself quite accomplished within the realms of industry, capitalism, science, and literature. There is evidence that as the nation became stronger, powerful, and more profitable, morality suffered. So, along with these many achievements, many individuals had crisis of religous faith, while a substantial focus on capitalist greed and social darwinism took center stage. A concentration of these social attutides and their consequences are featured within Rossetti 's "Goblin Market", in several areas of her poem.

Goblin Market was composed in the mid-eighteenth century, England; therefore, Rossetti’s poem contains the gender roles present during era. The opening lines state the type of characters that will be featured