Christina Rossetti was an English poet born in London and well known for her long poem Goblin Market. She wrote a variety of other romantic, devotional and children’s poems. She had two brothers and a sister who were all successful writers as well. Earlier in the semester we read and analyzed Orchard Pit which was written by her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti. She was a devout Anglican and even broke off an engagement when her fiancé reverted to Catholicism. Goblin Market was composed in April 1859 and was published in 1862. It appeared in her first poetry volume, Goblin Market and Other Poems, and was illustrated by her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It is a long narrative poem that has irregular rhyme and meter. Goblin Market begins with the goblins plying their twenty-nine different fruits morning and evening and urging the listeners to try them. The sisters Laura and Lizzie live together in a house without parents and are self sufficient enough to take care of themselves. Lizzie, being the voice of reason, warns Laura that they shouldn’t buy the fruits; in fact they shouldn’t even look at the goblin men. Lizzie flees from the men but Laura stays for a closer look which leads to her being tempted and eventually falling for the goblins slick words. She craves the fruits so much that even though she has no money she buys it with a lock of her hair. After eating the fruit ravenously and greedily she returns home in a daze knowing whether it is day or night. Lizzie then tells her about Jeanie, another girl who ate the fruit from the goblin men and died. The following day they do their housework as usual and Laura longingly dreams about seeing the goblin men but alas she has lost the ability to hear the goblin men. Now only her sister Lizzie can hear the men. Laura sinks into a decline because she cannot buy anymore of the fruit she so badly craves and stops doing her housework. She also begins to age prematurely and is on the verge of death. One day she remembers the fruit seed she saved and plants it but it doesn’t grow. As time passes Lizzie realizes that Laura is dying and visits the goblin men in order to try to help her. She takes a silver penny and goes to the brook to buy some fruit. At first they are friendly to her but they become malevolent when Lizzie tries to pay them money for the fruit. In anger the goblins hit and beat her but she refuses to open her mouth to eat the fruit. After a while they angrily give up and leave her alone. Lizzie urges Laura to eat and drink the fruit from her clothing and body and when Laura eats, she violently transforms and it is a toss-up as to whether she will live or not. Throughout the night Lizzie watches over her sister like a mother would. The following morning Laura has returned to her normal youthful, vibrant self. As the poem closes both sisters are married with their own children. Laura tells the children about what happened to her when she ate the goblin fruits and warns them not to eat it. She also tells them about the power of sisterly love and how her sister had saved her.
There were four patterns of symbols that I encountered throughout the poem: fruit, flowers, sisterhood and money. Fruit is very prevalent throughout the poem and plays a central part to the story. The poem in lines 5 to 29 describes all the luscious fruits that the goblin men are selling. The fruit represents temptation and makes sense in this poem because Rossetti was very religious and could have been alluding to the forbidden fruit consumed by Eve in the Garden of Eden. Money also plays a large role in the poem as the difference between the outcome of Lizzie and Laura’s situation was how they paid for the fruit. Laura, as we can see in lines 116-126, had no money and thus had to pay for the fruit with her hair which led to her downfall. Lizzie on the other hand, as is seen in line 367, gave them a penny in order to buy their fruit which led to them assaulting her. Flowers are also symbols in this poem and are portrayed as fragile and pure. An example of this can be found in line 409 and 416 where Lizzie is being compared to a fragile lily in a flood and to pure, delicate white blossoms as she is being assaulted by the goblin men. Sisterhood plays a big part in this poem. Lines 322-446 describe the lengths that Lizzie went through to save her sister. Laura recognizes this and 557-559 tells the children how her sister saved her from the goblin men and in lines 560-567 encourages them to stick close to and value the friendship of a sister.
There are three predominant archetypes in this poem and they are found in the three characters Lizzie, Laura and the goblin men. The goblin men embody the devil figure archetype. This archetype can be defined as an evil character that offers worldly goods, fame or knowledge to the protagonist in exchange for possession of his soul. The goblin men can also represent the tempter archetype. This archetype represents someone to which the protagonist is attracted who ultimately brings their downfall. The goblins can be seen as the devil figure and the tempter because they kept offering Laura their fruits until she gave in and ate them. This led to her downfall as she aged and started to die. Laura portrays the archetype of the innocent. This archetype is defined as an inexperienced male or female character that is exposed to the evils and perils of the world. Laura embodies this archetype because she was unprepared for the consequences of eating the goblin fruit. Even though she was warned not to eat the fruit by her sister she naively longed for it and ate it which led to her downfall. Lizzie embodies the archetype of the hero. The hero archetype is common throughout literature and the character that goes on a journey and seeks to defeat the villain. Lizzie represents this archetype because she selflessly goes to the goblin men to buy their fruit in order to save her sister’s life. She takes their beating and wins out in the end as all heroes do. Goblin Market has the typical format of a fairy tale. It begins with usually the capture of a princess or an innocent by a villain and then a hero goes on a journey to save the princess and they live happily ever after. In this poem the goblin men represent the villain that has “carried off” the princess, Laura, by deception. In many fairy tales there is an element of deception that we as outsiders see but the princess does not. Lizzie represents the hero/ savior that embarks on an epic journey to save her sister while sacrificing herself. Finally, the happily ever after is seen in the end of the poem where the sisters are married and are living with their children.
I think this poem parallels the Adam and Eve story from the Genesis account in the Garden of Eden. The Goblins can be seen as the serpent or the devil that tempts Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. The goblins enticed Laura just as the devil enticed Eve into eating the fruit and this led to both of their downfalls. Lizzie can thus be seen as the Christ-like redeemer who sacrifices herself for the sake of her sister. In the bible Christ died for the sins of mankind and thus erased the situation that happened in the Garden of Eden. Lizzie endured the torment of the goblin men and redeemed her sister. Another interpretation for this poem can be of a sexual nature. Laura is the one that gave up her sexuality by giving up her hair whereas Lizzie kept her sexuality and instead offered them money for their fruits which demonstrated her power.
