Goblin Market Sisterhood Essay

511 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The portrayal of women in 19th century literature

Reference
Casey, Janet Galligani. "The Potential of Sisterhood: Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market"." Victorian Poetry 29, no. 1 (1991): 63-78.

Description
This essay, entitled ‘The Potential of Sisterhood: Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market’ (1991) is a journal article incorporated as a book chapter in the twenty-ninth volume of the Victorian Poetry. It was written by American feminist literary critic Janet Galligani Casey. This chapter features as a small part of a much wider study concerning literature from the Victorian period through a range of theoretical and critical angles. Victorian Poetry currently has fifty-four volumes suggesting, that it is a popular landmark text in Victorian literary criticism.

Summary
In this journal article, Casey argues that the notion of sisterhood in Goblin Market is a ‘kinship which is purged of sexual bias,’ allowing for the acknowledgment of all divergent individuals to embrace the positive and negative aspects of life, which are both necessary in achieving a sense of …show more content…

It is relevant to the topic as it uses Laura and Lizzie to explore the potential of sisterhood in Goblin Market and the issues of gender exclusion in relation to the notion of sisterhood. The essay is most effective in its consideration of Laura and Lizzie’s sisterhood as not just a group with a capacity for social power but a bond which is pure and endearing, a title in which woman can play the role of both the saviour and the nurturer. In this essay, Casey explores and rebuts other critical material that have in the past claimed Goblin Market is centred around sisterhood in an attempt to argue that Rossetti creates a world which deliberately excludes men. However, Casey argues that sisterhood is not used as an exclusion term but, ‘implies several meanings in a way that includes both sexes’

Show More
Related

  • Jane Elton's Identity Conflict in Catherine Maria Sedgwick’s A New England Tale

    2005 Words  | 5 Pages

    The concern of this paper is the “happy ending,” typical in Women’s Fiction according to Harris (46), present in A New England Tale, in which Jane Elton sacrifices her autonomous self through marrying Mr. Lloyd. I will critique this ending by applying several of the points Harris makes, including the conflict between theme and structure, the “extended quest for autonomy” (50), and the issue of the self-willing and “socially determined self” (54); also, I will discuss the sexual and religious politics Jane faces, as well as the importance of her role as educator. Readers can understand the autonomous self to which I refer in a nineteenth-century context: this do...

    Read More

  • Comparing Poems Burning Sappho And Harwood's

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gwen Harwood and Judith Wright are two female poets who hold a celebrated place in Australian poetry and culture. Their poetry offers an insight into the representation gender differences to which a society consciously or unconsciously subscribes. Through symbol, juxtaposition and powerful imagery, Harwood and Wright demonstrate the subservience of women to men in ‘Burning Sappho’ (“Burning’) 1968 and “Eve to her Daughters” (‘Eve’) 1963, but Harwood suggests possible change in ‘Prize Giving’ (1963). All three poems illustrate the tendency of society to categorize the roles and expectations of the male and female, thus providing an insight into social history in regards to gender.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Little House on the Prairie

    2315 Words  | 5 Pages

    During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...

    Read More

  • Gwen Harwood

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout a collection of Gwen Harwood’s poems is the exploration of women during the 1950’s-90’s and their roles in society as it evolved in its acceptance of allowing a woman equal say in her identity. (struggling to end this essay)

    Read More

  • Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market

    1672 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the strongest emotions inherent in us as humans is desire. The majority of the time, we are unable to control what we crave; however, with practice, we learn not all things we want are necessary. As a result of this mature understanding, we are able to ease our feelings and sometimes even suppress our desires. Something even more mature is understanding that when we give in to our desires, we become vulnerable. In a harsh, brutal world, vulnerability will not work to our advantage. In Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market,” she writes about a sister who succumbs to her desire and pays dearly for it while the other sister resists her desires and receives the ultimate reward of her sister’s life. By creating such a spectacular tale, Rossetti stresses the importance of being in touch with one’s desires and being able to prevail over their strong hold because in the harsh world we live in, we cannot afford to let our desire get the best of us.

    Read More

  • Raven And The Goblin Market

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...re cautious look at "Goblin Market" shows that the poetry is pretty complicated, and able to back up a more innovative studying than the ones put forth above. Rather than saying that "Goblin Market" has a particular concept, I would put forth the idea that it efforts to cope with certain issues Rossetti identified within the cannon of British literary works, and particularly with the issue of how to create a women idol.

    Read More

  • Embracing Female Sexuality in Bram Stoker's Dracula

    1997 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Victorian society, according to Dr.William Acton, a doctor during the Victorian period argued that a woman was either labelled as innocent and pure, or a wife and mother. If a woman was unable to fit in these precincts, as a result she would be disdained and unfit for society and be classified as a whore (Acton, 180). The categorizing of woman is projected through the “uses the characters of Lucy and Mina as examples of the Victorian ideal of a proper woman, and the “weird sisters” as an example of women who are as bold as to ignore cultural boundaries of sexuality and societal constraints” according to Andrew Crockett from the UC Santa Barbara department of English (Andrew Crockett, 1).... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • Women's Issues in The Awakening by Kate Chopin, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Souls Belated by Edith Wharton

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    These women authors have served as an eye-opener for the readers, both men and women alike, in the past, and hopefully still in the present. (There are still cultures in the world today, where women are treated as unfairly as women were treated in the prior centuries). These women authors have impacted a male dominated society into reflecting on of the unfairness imposed upon women. Through their writings, each of these women authors who existed during that masochistic Victorian era, risked criticism and retribution. Each author ignored convention a...

    Read More

  • Seduction and Lust in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market

    2110 Words  | 5 Pages

    A seemingly innocent poem about two sisters’ encounters with goblin men, Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” is a tale of seduction and lust. Behind the lattice of the classic mortal entrapment and escapement from fairyland, “Goblin Market” explores Laura’s desire for heterosexual knowledge, the goblin men’s desire for mortal flesh, and Laura and Lizzie’s desire for homosexual eroticism.

    Read More

  • Goblin Market

    1544 Words  | 4 Pages

    There were two principle views concerning imagination, the Victorians and the Romantics, who didn’t accept each other’s ideas about imagination. But, despite their clashes on the status and views of imagination, the Romantics and Victorians share similar ideas through different angles of perspective, which we could assume are linked in part to their era. The long poem, named Goblin Market, written by Christina Rossetti shows the contrast between the ideas of Romanticism and the Victorian image of imagination while utilizing the same motifs. Goblin Market centralizes its theme on the Victorian approach towards Imagination as being a destructive, alien force that leads to grave and fatal consequences. Nature is seen as a demonic force that leads to death, as well as the clear distinction of the imaginative creatures, consisting of the goblins, being portrayed as satanic and evil. In addition, throughout this tale we see how the imagination is constantly blamed for leading to unfortunate situations, while the Romantics would consider the imagination to be doing the person good even if it leads the person astray on a path of death and destruction. Thus, Rossetti’s text demonstrates the Imagination having satanic nature, which portrays imagination as intoxicating and deadly. Also, the author displays her disapproval of nature by demonstrating Laura’s rejection of nature as her enlightenment, whereas the Romantics would do otherwise. The Romantics have different views of the imagination than the Victorians. They consider imagination as a divine force and a pathway to a higher experience and spiritual truth in any form. The Romantics consider that their perc...

    Read More

  • Feminist Perspective of A Sicilian Romance and The Castle of Otranto

    2835 Words  | 6 Pages

    In eighteenth century novels, a common means of discussing the role of women in society is through the characterization of two good sisters. The heroine of such a novel is a pure, kind young woman who also has a streak of spunkiness. Her sister may be more good and kind, but she is more submissive and reserved. I would like to look at these sisters (and their mothers) in Ann Radcliffe’s A Sicilian Romance , and The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Written At The Close Of Spring By Charlotte Smith

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout literature’s history, female authors have been hardly recognized for their groundbreaking and eye-opening accounts of what it means to be a woman of society. In most cases of early literature, women are portrayed as weak and unintelligent characters who rely solely on their male counterparts. Also during this time period, it would be shocking to have women character in some stories, especially since their purpose is only secondary to that of the male protagonist. But, in the late 17th to early 18th century, a crop of courageous women began publishing their works, beginning the literary feminist movement. Together, Aphra Behn, Charlotte Smith, Fanny Burney, and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge the status quo of what it means to be a

    Read More

  • Mothers of the Victorian Period

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thaden, Barbara. The Maternal Voice in Victorian Fiction: Rewriting the Patriarchal Family. New York: Garland, 1997.

    Read More

  • A Feminist Perspective of The Lady of Shalott

    2170 Words  | 5 Pages

    In an essay on feminist criticism, Linda Peterson of Yale University explains how literature can "reflect and shape the attitudes that have held women back" (330). From the viewpoint of a feminist critic, "The Lady of Shalott" provides its reader with an analysis of the Victorian woman's conflict between her place in the interior, domestic role of society and her desire to break into the exterior, public sphere which generally had been the domain of men. Read as a commentary on women's roles in Victorian society, "The Lady of Shalott" may be interpreted in different ways. Thus, the speaker's commentary is ambiguous: Does he seek to reinforce the institution of patriarchal society as he "punishes" the Lady with her death for her venture into the public world of men, or does he sympathize with her yearnings for a more colorful, active life? Close reading reveals more than one possible answer to this question, but the overriding theme seems sympathetic to the Lady. By applying "the feminist critique" (Peterson 333-334) to Tennyson's famous poem, one may begin to understand how "The Lady of Shalott" not only analyzes, but actually critiques the attitudes that held women back and, in the end, makes a hopeful, less patriarchal statement about the place of women in Victorian society.

    Read More

  • The Evolution of the Role of Women in British and American Literature

    1818 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.

    Read More

More about Goblin Market Sisterhood Essay

Open Document