Goblin Market (composed in April 1859 and published in 1862) is a poem by
Christina RossettiChristina Georgina Rossetti was a British poet, who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems...
. Throughout her lifetime, Rossetti claimed that the poem, which features remarkably sexual imagery, was a children's poem. When the poem appeared in her first volume of poetry,
Goblin Market and Other PoemsGoblin Market and Other Poems was Christina Rossetti's first volume of poetry, published in 1862. It contains her famous poem "Goblin Market" and others such as "Song" and aloof...
, it was illustrated by her brother, the
Pre-Raphaelite artistThe Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti...
Dante Gabriel RossettiDante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 and was later to be the main inspiration for second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement...
.
Plot
Goblin Market is about two close sisters, Laura and Lizzie, as well as the
goblinA goblin is a legendary, evil, crabby, and mischievous creature described as a grotesquely disfigured or gnome-like phantom, that may range in height from that of a dwarf to that of a human. They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and...
men to whom the title refers, and another girl named Jeanie.
Although the sisters seem to be quite young, they live by themselves in a house, and are accustomed to draw water every evening from a stream. As the poem begins, twilight is falling, and as usual the sisters hear the calls from the Goblin merchants, who sell fruits in fantastic abundance, variety and savor. On this evening, Laura lingers at the stream after her sister has left for home. Wanting fruit but having no money, the impulsive Laura offers a lock of her hair and "a tear more rare than pearl."
Laura gorges on the delicious fruit in a sort of bacchic frenzy, then comes to her senses and, after picking up one of the seeds, returns home. Lizzie, waiting at home, and "full of wise upbraidings," reminds Laura about the cautionary tale of Jeanie, another girl who, having likewise partaken of the goblin men's fruits, died just at the beginning of winter, after a long decline.
Night has by then fallen, and the sisters go to sleep in their shared bed.
The next day, as Laura and Lizzie go about their work in the house, Laura dreamily longs for the coming evening's meeting with the goblin men. But at the stream that evening, as she strains to hear the usual goblin chants and cries, Laura discovers to her horror that, although Lizzie still hears the goblins' voices, she no longer can.
Unable to buy more of the forbidden fruit, pining away for the lack of it, Laura falls into a slow physical deterioration and depression. As winter approaches, Laura pines away and no longer does her household work. One day she remembers the saved seed and plants it, but it bears nothing.
Weeks and months pass, and finally sister Lizzie realizes that Laura is on the verge of death. Lizzie resolves to visit the goblin men to buy some of their fruit, hoping thereby to soothe Laura's pain. Carrying a silver penny, Lizzie goes down to the brook and is greeted in a friendly way by the goblins. But their attitudes turn malicious when they realize Lizzie wants to pay with mere money, and to carry the fruits home with her. Enraged, the goblins pummel and assault Lizzie, trying to make her eat the fruits. In the process, the goblins drench the brave girl in fruit juice and pulp.
Lizzie escapes to run home, hoping that Laura will eat and drink the juice from her body. The weakened sister does so, then undergoes a violent transformation of such intensity that her life seems to hang in the balance.
The next morning, though, Laura has returned to her old self, both physically and mentally. As the last stanza attests, both Laura and Lizzie live to tell their children of the evils of the goblins' fruits – and the awesome powers of sisterly love.
Criticism
Since the 1970s, critics have tended to view
Goblin Market as an expression of Rossetti's feminist (or proto-feminist) politics. Some critics suggest the poem is about feminine sexuality and its relation to
Victorian social moresVictorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of people living at the time of Queen Victoria in particular, and to the moral climate of Great Britain throughout the 19th century in general that were in stark contrast to the morality of the previous Georgian period...
. In addition to its clear allusions to
Adam and EveAdam and Eve were, according to the Book of Genesis of the Bible, the first man and woman created by God...
,
forbidden fruitThe term "forbidden fruit" is a metaphor that describes any object of desire whose appeal is a direct result of the knowledge that it cannot or should not be obtained or something that someone may want but cannot have. The phrase refers to the Book of Genesis, where it is the fruit of the Tree of...
, and
temptationA temptation is an act that looks appealing to an individual. It is usually used to describe acts with negative connotations and as such, tends to lead a person to regret such actions, for various reasons: legal, social, psychological , health, economic, etc...
, there is much in the poem that seems overtly sexual, such as when Lizzie, going to buy fruit from the goblins, considers her dead friend Jeanie, "Who should have been a bride; / But who for joys brides hope to have / Fell sick and died", and lines like "Lizzie uttered not a word;/ Would not open lip from lip/ Lest they should cram a mouthful in;/ But laughed in heart to feel the drip/ Of juice that syruped all her face,/ And lodged in dimples of her chin,/ And streaked her neck which quaked like curd."
The poem's attitude toward this temptation seems ambiguous, since the happy ending offers the possibility of redemption for Laura, while typical Victorian portrayals of the "fallen woman" ended in the fallen woman's death. It is worth noting that although the historical record is lacking, Rossetti apparently began working at
HighgateHighgate is a village in North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath. Highgate rises to an altitude of at Highgate Wood and at North Hill.-Overview:...
PenitentiaryPenitentiary may refer to:* Apostolic Penitentiary, a tribunal of mercy, responsible for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in the Roman Catholic Church* Prison or penitentiary, a correctional facility* Penitentiary, a 1979 film...
for fallen women shortly after composing "Goblin Market" in the spring of 1859.
According to Antony Harrison of North Carolina State University,
Jerome McGannJerome McGann is a textual scholar whose work focuses on the history of literature and culture from the late eighteenth-century to the present.-Career:Educated at Le Moyne College , Syracuse University Jerome McGann (born July 22, 1937) is a textual scholar whose work focuses on the history of...
reads the poem as a criticism of Victorian marriage markets and conveys "the need for an alternative social order". For
Sandra GilbertDr. Sandra M. Gilbert , Professor Emerita of English at the University of California, Davis, is an influential literary critic and poet who has published widely in the fields of feminist literary criticism, feminist theory, and psychoanalytic criticism...
, the fruit represents Victorian women's exclusion from the world of art. Other scholars – most notably Herbert Tucker – view the poem as a critique on the rise of
advertisingAdvertising is a form of communication used to influence individuals to purchase products or services or support political candidates or ideas. Frequently it communicates a message that includes the name of the product or service and how that product or service could potentially benefit the consumer...
in precapitalist England, with the goblins utilising clever marketing tactics to seduce. Laura J. Hartman, among others, has pointed out the parallels between Laura's experience and the experience of
drug addictionDrug addiction is a pathological condition which arises due to frequent drug use. The disorder of addiction involves the progression of acute drug use to the development of drug-seeking behavior, the vulnerability to relapse, and the decreased, slowed ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli...
.
The poem uses an irregular
rhyme schemequote this will not help you at all with home work language practice week 7 msl students in 6th gradedo not use wiki for msl language practice week seven it will not help with unless we are doing stanza's and things...
, often using couplets or ABAB rhymes, but also repeating some rhymes many times in succession, or allowing long gaps between a word and its partner. The
meterIn poetry, the meter is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse meter, or a certain set of meters alternating in a particular order. Prosody is a more general linguistic term, that includes poetical meter but also the rhythmic aspects of...
is also irregular, typically (though not always) keeping four or five stresses per line. The lines below show the varied stress patterns, as well as an interior rhyme (grey/decay) picked up by the end-rhyme with "away". The initial line quoted here, "bright", rhymes with "night" a full seven lines earlier.
-
- But when the noon waxed bright
- Her hair grew thin and grey;
- She dwindled, as the fair full moon doth turn
- To swift decay, and burn
- Her fire away.
Uses in popular culture
- Goblin Market is quoted in "Midnight
"Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008...
", an episode of the BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
television series Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien time-traveller known as "the Doctor" who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box...
, by a minor character, Dee Dee, to suggest the hidden dangers of an invisible entity:
- "We must not look at goblin men,
- We must not buy their fruits:
- Who knows upon what soil they fed
- Their hungry thirsty roots?"
- Goblin Market is also quoted in the BBC film About Adam
About Adam is a 2000 Irish/British/American romantic comedy film written and directed by Gerard Stembridge. The screenplay focuses on the effect a seductive young man has on four siblings.-Synopsis:...
by the character of Laura, who uses Christina Rossetti as a main influence for her theses.
- In the episode "Cat Among the Pigeons
Cat Among the Pigeons is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 2, 1959, and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1960 with a copyright date of 1959...
" of the TV homage series Agatha Christie's PoirotAgatha Christie's Poirot is a British television drama that has aired on ITV1 since 1989. It stars David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was originally made by LWT and is now made by Granada Productions...
, an English teacher at an English girls' school reads a snatch aloud, foreshadowing the revelation of her past unwed pregnancy.
- Goblin Market was adapted into a musical in association with Youth Music Theatre: UK
Youth Music Theatre UK is the United Kingdom's biggest provider of music theatre projects for young people. It is one of nine recognised National Youth Music Organisations ....
. It ran at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2005 for a 21 performance run.
- Changeling: the Lost
Changeling: The Lost is the fifth supplementary role-playing game line set in the new World of Darkness. It is published by White Wolf, Inc. It uses the Storytelling System for rules...
features Goblin Markets, areas where hobgoblin merchants trade anything from magic items to slaves to memories, and Goblin Fruits, which have restorative properties and strange side effects.
External links