Victorian Themes Of The Conventional Victorian Ideas In 'Goblin Market'

The goblin men are selling fruit that Laura eventually gets her hands on. As she begins to eat, she stops herself. The desire overwhelmed her to the point that when she did stop she “knew not was it night or day” (Rossetti 139). The fruit in the proceeding lines could be symbolizing drugs the goblin men were

However, as time progress, Laura and Lucy’s exploration of sexual desires and/or aggressiveness puts them in a spot of being down upon as they may face dishonor and ostracism from a Victorian perspective. In Goblin Market, Laura is enticed by the goblin men during a visit to the market with her sister Lizzie. Laura’s sister warns her, stating how “[Laura] should not peep at goblin men” (Rossetti 49). However Laura’s curiosity overpowers her sister’s warnings, as she is made unable to resist the luring of the temptations of the goblin men’s fruits. The tasting of the fruit makes Laura a fallen women. Rossetti describes Laura’s diminishing pureness by writing how “[Laura] sucked and sucked and sucked … / … until her lips were sore” (134-36). The fruits of the goblin men have sexual and sensual connotation to them, and Laura who was pressured into tasting the fruit was also unable to resist due to her curiosity and human desires, which changes her into a fallen women. In the Victorian period that Laura is featured in, women are expected to follow a standard of conduct, such as remaining a virgin before marriage. However, Laura is not married

Christian Rossetti utilizes a unique insight into her works of ‘Maude Clare’, ‘Goblin Market’ and ‘Amor Mundi’ to express the struggle of religious values of the Victorian era. Throughout the three passages Rossetti uses devices such as alliteration, repetition and symbolism in order to express sentiment.

In Goblin Market, when Laura is infected with the goblin’s poisonous fruits “her sister [stands] in deadly peril to do her good, and win the fiery antidote”. (Rossetti, 558-559) Evidently, the relentless bravery Lizzie illustrates when facing the violence and temptations of the goblins to save her sister’s life is used by Rossetti to provide an impression of power in female refusal to vigorous male

By the time Laura makes the decision to purchase the fruits from the goblins, her hunger has grown so rapidly and strongly for the fruits that she is willing to give up a nearly priceless part of herself to experience their taste. The goblins tell her that because she has no money, she must give up a lock of her golden hair. While this upsets her and she sheds a tear, she does not

Humans are inherently flawed, but through years have learned from past mistakes to create a more accepting and understanding future. Christina Rossetti understands the need for humans to evolve into a more accommodating society and hopes one day there may be a more prominent culture where people can make mistake and learn from them rather than be banished or shunned. In “Goblin Market”, the downfall of Laura’s character is paralleled to the downfall of Adam and Eve by having both women succumb to the temptations of the fruit they should not have. While Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, Laura was forgiven by Lizzie and was accepted back into society without further punishment.

Like many other renowned novels aimed at children, George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin draws extensively from the folk tradition in his telling of the tale. Many of the figures presented, such as the nurse and Curdie, have precedent in the tradition, but the grandmother in particular stands out. Archetypally, she is a variant on the Old Man, though she bears the undeniable touch of the supernatural as seen in common folklore - at times she is otherworldly and some of her actions and abilities are of the sort frequently associated with witches.

Christina Rossetti’s “The Goblin Market” is a poem that explores through heavy metaphors a woman’s place and action in society, whether she is fallen or not. “The Goblin Market” focuses on two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, and their experience with the goblins that attempt to sell the girls their fruit. Laura, rather curious than afraid of them, gives into their pitch and devours the goblins’ fruit – an act that over a short time ages her and sends her rapidly towards death. In an act of self-sacrifice, Lizzie confronts the goblins for fruit for Laura, but they beat and ravage her with their claws and fruit. She returns, giving Laura a second chance at life by eating and drinking the juice and left over pulp from her beating.

Upon the commencement of the poem, Rossetti makes it crystal clear to the reader that Lizzie is timid to stretch beyond her comfort zone and is strict to follow the social standard and what is morally right. Out of the two girls, Lizzie is the one whom is set in her ways and will not go against what is socially acceptable. Laura being the opposite of Lizzie becomes curious when she hears the goblins enticing cries. Lizzie seems to be the voice of reason for Laura,

Coleridge’s definition of imagination consists of the imagination as the prime agent for all human perception. However, Goblin Market is a story that completely rejects the Romantics’ ideals of the imagination since it is a Victorian text. Thus, the imagination is shown as something associated with being evil and dangerous, which compliments the Victorian ideals while criticizing the Romantics’ admiration of the imagination. The initial setting of the tale dwells upon the nature taking evil and satanic forms due to the destructive tone of the imagination that contradicts the Romantic’s policy of nature being pure and divine in any form it takes. Basically, the initial setting of the tale takes shape with the aid of local folklore about the mysterious mythical creatures that appear with luscious baskets of fruits. The author builds upon this folklore by distancing the characters, such as Laura and Lizzie, from this weird folk culture by introducing the harm inflicted by these goblins on innocent, gullible young girls. Therefore, the author has already contradicted a central tendency of Romanticism, which is to root their stories in relation to inquisitive adventures regarding folk culture and myths. Furthermore, the term used for these imaginative figures is goblins, which is considered by the Oxford dictionary as “a mischievous, ugly, dwarf-like creature of folklore” (Oxford University). Once more, Mrs. Rossetti

82-85). Desire for the goblins’ exotic fruits proves to be too much of a temptation for Laura and, with her last restraint gone, she trades a lock of her golden hair for the treasures. Why does she shed a tear at this? It is merely a lock of hair, yet its implications are far greater. Laura falls from innocence as she sucks the fruits feverishly. Her act’s sexual connotations are clear as she “sucked and sucked and sucked the more” (l. 134; italics mine). The fruits motif’s importance is highlighted with superlatives such as “sweeter”, “stronger”, and “clearer” (ll. 129-131). This loss of virginity is surreal to Laura, as she “knew not was it night or day” (l. 139), and she wishes to remember this experience with a single kernel-stone from the goblins’ fruits. Can this kernel-stone be a symbol of a goblin’s sperm? As seen later in the poem, it breaks Laura’s heart when this seed does not bear fruit. The enjambment in Laura’s resolution – “tomorrow night I will/Buy more” (ll. 167-168) – clearly indicates how strongly Laura desires to again experience what the goblins have offered her.

The goblins gives up as Lizzie's resistance is too much for them and throw the money back at her. They'd kick their fruits away along with the road as they disappear. As they’d disappear, some of the goblins went into the ground and some drive into the brook. By interpreting it as consumerism, the seller would give up due to the buyer's resistance or persistent and the seller would give into what the buyer want. As an example, the seller is trying to sell a dress for fifty dollar and the buyer want to buy it for ten dollar instead of fifty dollar. The seller and buyer start to negotiate of the price. The buyer would tell the seller that they could buy same dress with the same quality at a cheaper price. Therefore, the seller does not want to

One of the most common interpretations of the fruit is that it represents sexual temptation. Goblins are only men that sell their fruit at the market but only to "maidens" who hear their cry "come buy, come buy". Lizzie is aware of the evil men because of her friend Jeanie who ate the fruit and slowly passed away. Because of this, Lizzie tries to protect her sister and warn her about the goblins, "You should not peep at goblin men...Their offers should not charm us, their evil gifts would harm us.”( Rossetti 49. 65) Despite her sister's warning, Laura cannot resist the temptation. Laura trades a lock of her hair for the fruit, which symbolizes losing her virginity and paying with her body. “Buy from us with a golden curl. She clipp’d a precious golden lock ... Then suck’d their fruit globes fair or red". ( Rossetti 125-128) Laura has never tasted anything like that before and soon she wants more, like an addiction. "Her craving for the fruit becomes like that of an addict, her inability to be satisfied causing her to be completely debilitated. She becomes "listless" (297), and unable to work because her hope of again eating the fruit is destroyed."(MPhill par 3) The "feast of fruit" symbolizes her transition from a maiden

A topic that is given less attention in Goblin Market is the goblins and what they represent. Carrying on with the theme of temptation, the goblins contrast the Christian ideal to not profit off of other people’s misfortune and the mistreatment of

Christina Rossetti 's poem "Goblin Market" is what many deem Christina 's best work. "Goblin Market" presents itself as rather fairy tale like, featuring of several strange things, a parade of mythical goblin men. In fact Rosseti claims to have written it as a childrens poem. However, many who analayze or many of those who have read this poem claim that the underlining themes of "Goblin Market" feature a host of adult themes. Of several of those are "a struggle between self and soul, a comment on sex as a capitalist commodity, a parable of feminist solidary, a lesson about poetry 's subversive power, and a lesbian love story" (Heather Henderson and William Sharpe, 2010, p. 1644). Although, these themes are all apparently present within Rossetti 's work, another theme that has not been mentioned is also present. Evident within "Goblin Market" is a signifcant focus on capitalism and industrialism. England during the Victorian era proved itself quite accomplished within the realms of industry, capitalism, science, and literature. There is evidence that as the nation became stronger, powerful, and more profitable, morality suffered. So, along with these many achievements, many individuals had crisis of religous faith, while a substantial focus on capitalist greed and social darwinism took center stage. A concentration of these social attutides and their consequences are featured within Rossetti 's "Goblin Market", in several areas of her poem.