Goblin market by Christina Rossetti summary

 

 Goblin market is a long narrative poem written by Christina Rossetti, the popular among the pre-Raphaelites. She establishes an ambiance of fantasy and supernaturalism. Its like a fairy tale still opened for serious critical interpretations.  

Lizzie and Laura were sisters and they go to fetch water from a nearby stream every evening.  They often listen to the tempting calls of goblin men selling delicious fruits. Lizzie was afraid of the goblins and warns her sister to keep away from them. When they catch sight of the goblins displaying their products on golden platters, Lizzie runs home, but Laura is enchanted. Their demonic appearance no longer threatens but rather fascinated her.

The goblins tried their level best to make her closer to them by making strange noises. Although Laura has no money, the goblins accept a lock of her hair as payment for the fruit.

Laura enjoys the delicious taste of the fruit. She consumes the last drop of it and returns to home. Intoxicated by the sweet nectars. She brought the fruit seed to home with her. Lizzie meets Laura at the gateway to their home and scolds her sister for returning late. She recollects and tells the tale of their friend Jeanie, who ate a piece of the goblin fruit and then became sick and died because she could not get any more. Laura assures her sister that all is well and that she plans to buy enough fruit for both of them the next day. The sisters proceed with their housework. The next day, Laura discovers that she cannot see the goblins anymore nor hear their calls, although Lizzie still can. Laura yearns for the fruit, losing her health and youthful vigor. Suddenly, the thought of the seed came to her mind and she planted it quickly. But she could not get a positive outcome. Her entire attempt was futile. As she could not cultivate even a plant out of the seed. As a result she stops eating and working.

Lizzie fears that Laura will die soon, so she places a silver penny in her purse and goes to the goblin men. She asks for fruit for her sister, but the goblins instead invite Lizzie to join their feast. When she refuses, the goblins beat her and try to force the fruit into her mouth, imprinting her face with juice. She was not ready to surrender before them and the goblins soon tire of torturing her.

Lizzie somehow managed to escape from them and reaches home. The moment Laura met her, she kisses and she once again tastes the heavenly taste of the juice, which cures all her ailments.  Laura awakens, her health and beauty restored. Years later, when they are both married, the two sisters tell their children the tale of the goblin men. Laura ends the story with the moral, “there is no friend like a sister.”

This long narrative poem primarily wrote for children, still it may lead to some complex interpretations. There are two popular interpretations of “Goblin Market”: one reading is religious, and the other focuses on gender and sexuality. It is difficult to prove Rossetti's original intention, scholars have invented a useful dichotomy. If the reader is more familiar with the religion, the reader will see the Christian allegory. However, if the reader is well versed in the study of gender and sexuality, then the symbolism will more readily relate to that topic.

In the religious perspective, Laura represents Eve, the goblin men are the equivalent of Satan, their fruit is the temptation to sin, and Lizzie is the Christ figure as she sacrifices her life for her sister in order to bring back to the life. Hence this is a homage to Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the Book of Genesis. The long list of the goblins' fruit represents the wide variety of temptations that humans face during their lifetimes. Like Adam and Eve, Laura discovers that the fruit does not bring fulfillment, but rather, death and destruction.

The second interpretation of Goblin Market is based on symbols of repressed sexual desire according to Sigmund freud and sexual violence. Lizzie and Laura are both innocent and virginal at the beginning of the poem, but Laura’s curiosity proves to be stronger than her sister’s warning. Rossetti creates an uncomfortable struggle between the consequences of pursuing lust and the need to explore natural human desires.