Goblin Market Essay

2017 “The Early Victorian struggles” in Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin market’

Although it might seem that Christina Rossetti’s poem Goblin Market, supports the theme of sisterly love and relationships, in fact, a careful study of Laura’s unhealthy appetite and forceful temptations uncovers the bitter controversy over the roles of women that took place during the Victorian times, when women were often symbolized as pure and treated like domestic commodities.

Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” compares the two main Victorian views towards women. One of them is represented by Lizzie who despite the attempts of the men to tempt her to consume the goblin fruit remains pure and innocent. The other view is represented by Laura who eats the goblin

Within the context of this historical epoch, characterized by its reverence for "earnestness, moral responsibility" and "domestic propriety," the function of art as a device to both commemorate and conserve societal ideals makes it an effective instrument for the delineation of the Victorian individual. Those operating within the domain of literature, therefore, attempted to recreate their experience of the issues challenging Victorian society. The efforts of poets in this period to identify and explore these issues, including the position of women in society, are reflected in their works. Nineteenth century poets Tennyson and Rossetti endeavored to confront the prevalent social issues within England at the time. Amy Roxana in her writing explains that their texts, The Lady of Shallot and Goblin Market respectively, engage in “literary discourse with one another on the Victorian Era's perception of women in society, presenting dissimilar views on the idea of women's need for male protection, but mutually concluding that the place of women is indeed within the domestic sphere”.

Following Laura's submission to her desires, the young girl loses all orientation to the domestic sphere, which is exemplified by her blatant neglect of her duties. Additionally, Laura begins to physically deteriorate, as "her hair grew thin and gray" and essentially becomes very reminiscent of a corpse The process of restoring the character to her former pure and virginal self is initiated by a fellow woman, her sister Lizzie. Thus, contrary to Tennyson's implication that women require the protection of a man, Rossetti's parable espouses the idea that a woman's savior can indeed be a member of the sex. Lizzie's mission to prevent her sister from sharing the same fate as the deceased Jeanie, despite its clear risks, is motivated by familial affection as opposed to the circumstances in The Lady of Shallot, which suggests that the "protection" rendered by the series of illusions, symbolic of a man's meditation of reality, is merely a stipulation of the Lady's "curse" (42; 1205) and not the manifestation of genuine