There are several meanings and interpretations of Christina Rossetti’s, “Goblin Market”. “Goblin Market” is the story of two sisters, which one of them, Laura, is tempted to visit the new goblin market in town. Laura buys the fruit from the goblin men in exchange for a lock of her hair, despite the several warnings from her sister Lizzie not to consume the fruit. Laura gets sick and Lizzie saves her by going to the market. After the goblins taunt, tease and torment her with the tempting fruit, the fruit’s juices smudged in her face, she runs back home letting her sister kiss and suck them from her cheeks. Tasting the juices for a second time was what saved Laura. “Opening with the sensuous advertisement of exotic fruits hawked by goblin men to innocent young women, Rossetti’s poem presents an explicitly articulated image of a marketplace in which female ‘appetite’ is at stake” (Carpenter 415). This essay will analyze the two different interpretations of “Goblin Market”, there is arguable Christian symbolism and an erotic symbolism present.
“Goblin Market” was interpreted as a poem that contained symbolism from the Bible and Christianity, unlike in the modern era; it is interpreted as an erotic poem. “Temptation in ‘Goblin Market’ is symbolized great traditional symbol of sin and temptation in the Bible. Clearly the fruit sold by the goblin merchants…are the forbidden fruit of Scripture. They belong to the order of fruit which tempted Eve” (Packer 376). Packer described one of the most famous and common Biblical themes. In “Goblin Market”, Eve is presented as Laura, the forbidden apple is presented as the fruit sold by the goblin men, and the snake that lead Eve to temptation is presented as the goblin men. There are many a...
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...er terms, the fruit, the goblin men, Laura’s expressions and the Rossetti’s word choice implied an erotic connotation to the poem.
Works Cited
Carpenter, Mary W. “”Eat Me, Drink Me, Love Me”: The Consumable Female Body in Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market”” Victorian Poetry 29.4 (1991): 415-34. Web. Nov.2013.
Mendoza, Victor Roman. “”Come Buy”: The Crossing of Sexual and Consumer Desire in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market.” ELH 73.4 (2006): 913-47. Print.
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BibleGateway.com. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
Packer, Lona M. “Symbol and Reality in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market.” PMLA 73.4 (1958): 375-85. Web. Nov. 2013.
Rossetti, Christina. "Goblin Market". The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed. Vol. E. Ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005. 1466-1478. Print.
Wershoven, Carol. "Insatiable Girls." Child Brides and Intruders. Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1993. 92-99. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski. Vol. 157. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.
...nd “dew-wet grass” (ll. 532-533). As with the girls’ experiences with the goblin men, this homoerotic experience is like a dream (l. 537). Laura and Lizzie, by sharing of themselves, discover that “there is no friend like a sister” (l. 562). Their love, redeeming and life giving, surpasses the seductive yet bitter fruits of the goblin men.
In Christina Rossetti’s narrative poem” Goblin Market”, two sisters, Laura and Lizzie were enchanted by glorious calls from the goblin that were directed towards young innocent maidens, “Come by come by.” The sisters knew not to take the fruit from the Goblins because they were eerie as to where the fruit came from. However, Laura feel for the tempting calls of the Goblin men. It could be argued that Laura accepted the fruit because of her curiosity in the Goblin men created Laura’s desire to indulge herself into something she has yet to experience. Laura had a yearning for sexual temptation because of the tempting calls from the Goblins.
Parry, Joseph D. "Interpreting Female Agency and Responsibility in The Miller's Tale and The Merchant's Tale." 80.2 (2001): 133-67. Academic Onefile. Web. 16 May 2013.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
American Literature. 6th Edition. Vol. A. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 2003. 783-791
Barnet, Sylvan, William Burto, and William E. Cain. An Introduction to Literature. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006.
In the essay, “Come Buy": The Crossing of Sexual and Consumer Desire in Christina Rossetti's “Goblin Market” a critic name Victor Roman Mendoza expressed of how consumer desire and the goblins’ phrase “come buy” have a relation in the quote, “The poem’s own confusion of sexual and consumer exchange repeats itself in the frequent rehearsal of the goblins; phrase, “Come buy,” in which payment for the merchant’s good promises erotic climax” (Mendoza, 920). What Mendoza was emphasizing was that he described the poem confusion of sexual and consumer exchange as there was a repetition of the goblins' phrase "come buy" as the payment of the goblins fruits becomes the erotic climax. In addition, Mendoza mentioned the listing of the fruits promised
In line 9 there is a metaphor used to describe the fuzz on the goblin’s fresh peaches that makes the peaches seem like a human face. This personification is what opens the door to more erotic imagery that comes soon after. Later, in lines 406-407, Rossetti gives us intense imagery of what can be assumed to be sexual assault. Lizzie goes to the market and the goblins try to force feed their fruit to her. The goblins end up just squeezing the fruit juice all over Lizzie’s face after she fiercely tried fighting them off.
4. Linker, Kate. “Love For Sale: The Words and Pictures of Barbara Kruger.” New York. Harry N. Abrams, 1996. Print.
Brownley, Martine W. "Love and Sensuality in Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market" Essays in Literature 6 (1979): 179-86
Rossetti uses her protagonist maidens, Lizzie and Laura, as metaphors for women through out the poem; while the antagonist goblin men become metaphors for Britain with their fruit representing the British colonies. Rossetti creates a moral that aims “to serve the social function of warning against any illicit desire or action outside the boundaries accepted by society” (Watson 66). “Goblin Market” succeeds in presenting this moral in a light where a reader can not only find the moral and gain hope from it, but can learn how to better the society in which they are living
Hoggart, Simon. “Beauty and the beasts.” The Spectator. ProQuest, 31 July 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
Christina Rosetti’s poem “Goblin Market” has elements of Christianity and sexuality; however, the Christian elements outweigh and are more influential than the sexual elements.
Works Cited and Consulted Barnet Sylvan. The "Introduction" of the "Int The Merchant of Venice, Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New