In Paradise Lost, Milton puts forth the idea that an innate difference exists between man and woman, claiming “For contemplation he and valor formed, / For softness she and sweet attractive grace; / He for God only, she for God in him” (Paradise Lost IV.296-298). For centuries, these three lines have been the topic of debate among poets and writers from every literary genre. Some have declared Milton to be an early chauvinist, criticizing him for supporting the notion that women should have no functional purpose within society, while others have maintained that the famous three lines prove him to be an advocate for women’s rights, asserting that Milton was disparaging this kind of attitude toward women, not condoning it. A similar issue is presented in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market. While her poem can be interpreted as a critique of woman’s role in society, it is difficult to decipher whether her critique supports the idea presented in Paradise Lost that women should have no purpose other than to love, serve, and submit to their husbands, or if Rossetti is using the metaphors within the poem to condemn those who believe women should be confined to such an obscure part. Rossetti uses ambiguous symbolism and flawed religious allegories in Goblin Market hat open the poem up to numerous interpretations, causing readers to puzzle over what message Rossetti is actually trying to communicate. This paper will explore the ambiguity of Goblin Market and attempt to determine what Rossetti is saying about feminism through it by examining the significance of the biblical allegories and symbolism she uses.
The beginning of the poem introduces the reader to two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, who are being tempted by goblin men to buy the lu...
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...nd become the acceptable, functional wives and mothers that they are expected to be. However, even though the days of the goblin market are “of not-returning time” (549), “Laura would call the little ones / And tell them of her early prime, / Those pleasant days long gone” (546-548). Even after undergoing the pain that she did, it does not appear that Laura shares the story as a warning to her children, but as a feat that she is proud of.
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Laura’s repetition of “Look, Lizzie, look, Lizzie” betrays her restless longings. The consecutive commencements with the word “one” and the assonance on the vowel “O” in the lines describing the goblins set the tone of urgency: “One hauls a basket,/One bears a plate,/One lugs a golden dish/Of many pounds weight” (ll. 54-59). This technique, like a refrain, punctuates the entire poem and Laura, wi...
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Of the two sisters Lizzie and Laura, Laura is the one whose curious desires get the best of her. She and her sister encounter the goblin men and Lizzie just “thrust a dimpled finger / In each ear, shut her eyes and ran” (67 – 68); however, Laura’s curiosity gets the best of her and she chooses to stay: “Curious Laura chose to linger / Wondering at each merchant man” (69 – 70). These goblin men are selling fruit, and once Laura gets her hands on it, she is hardly able to stop herself. Quenching her desire is overwhelming for her, so much so that when she is finally done she “knew not was it night or day” (139). When she arrives home later, she tells her sister, “I ate and ate my fill, / Yet my mouth waters still; / Tomorrow night I ...
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Even so, she understood the impossibility of any such personally ideal world. The poem illustrates this realization by including the Goblin men, who seem to haunt the female characters. The Goblin men’s low-pitched cries follow the girls. Laura and Lizzie constantly hear the goblins in the forest: “.Morning and evening / Maids hear the goblins cry.”
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