Rossetti’s Goblin Market ignites controversy in many of its readers. Many theories exist on thoughts of the poem’s meanings. Sexual references in the poem stir up such controversies. Many have presented their thoughts that prove this poem to have hidden sexual innuendos in its text. The idea of forbidden fruit, religion, and overly loving sisters help to support these statements. However, some believe the poemreads as a simple fairy tale for children. Goblin Market expresses both of these theories. Goblin Market presents feminine sexuality through the guise of a child’s fairy tale.
The first stanza of Goblin Market expresses the first signs of sexual innuendoes. The goblin men advertise their fruit in a sexual manner. Descriptions such as “Plump unpecked cherries” (Line 7), “Figs to fill your mouth” (Line 28), and “Sweet to tongue and sound to eye” (Line 30) express sexual temptation. The goblin men express the fruit as mouth watering and desirable, and use such descriptions to tempt the two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, into buying their fruit. Each description appeals to the senses which express sensuality. Furthermore, the fruits being sold represent sensuality. The goblin men advertise their “Plump unpecked cherries” (Line 7) and their “Pine-apples, blackberries/ Apricots, strawberries” (Lines 13-14). Cherries and strawberries have sensual qualities. Many may picture them dipped in chocolate and being shared between two lovers. The Goblin men sale such fruits because they sexually entice women. Beyond the fruit alone, the way Laura devours the fruit exhibits sexuality.
In Love and Sensuality in Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market”, Martine Brownley states, “The description of Laura’s eating the fruit adds the final touches to an experience which has as background sensuality, animalism, and sacrifice of personal essence” (180). Frenzied pleasure can be felt from the lines describing Laura eating the fruit, “She sucked and sucked and sucked the more/ Fruits which that unknown orchard bore;/ She sucked until her lips were sore” (Lines 34-36). Laura’s experience with eating the fruit sounds sexual compared to how most would describe a good meal. Laura’s fruitful meal exhibits a celebration of pleasure, so much that she appears intoxicated after her meal when the poem states, “And knew not was it night or day/ As she turned home alone” (Lines 139-140). Brownley states that Laura’s meal “results in slight physical discomfort which suggests harmful overindulgence” (180). The goblin men who sale the forbidden fruits exhibit sexuality, as well.
The goblin men represent everyday men tempting pure women into becoming fallen women. The way the goblin men use such sensual descriptions of their fruits represent men’s trickery in getting women into sexual situations. An emphasis of not falling for such tricks shows when Laura says to Lizzie, “We must not look at goblin men,/ We must not buy their fruits” (Lines 42-43). This warning suggests the common thought that women should not engage in sexual activity before marriage. As far as the reader knows neither Lizzie nor Laura are married. Furthermore, Lizzie’s interpretation of the goblin men’s appearances presents them as evil creatures. Lizzie describes the goblin men as being “Cat-like and rat-like” (Line340). The fact that the goblins are men with such horrid appearances emphasizes the idea that women should not fall prey to men. The goblin men appear as animalistic. Making them seem wretched plays with the theme that young women should avoid such men. The goblins represent men who persuade women into sexual situations.
Goblin Market also presents religious ideals against women giving into sexual temptation. Such ideals tap into the deeper meaning of feminine sexuality. Laura falling to temptation of the goblin men’s fruit sounds familiar to the story of Eve giving into temptation of eating the apple. In her article, Female Saint, Female Prodigal: Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market”, Kristen Escobar states, “It was also understood that so far as middle-class women, like Christina Rossetti, were not to know sexual desire, they were equally to lack the desire for other physical and personal gratification” (130). However, in the poem, Laura obviously breaks this social rule. She falls into temptation and celebrates her sensuality in her fruitful feast. The story of Jeanie in the poem signifies the consequences of falling into temptation. Lizzie describes the tragedy of Jeanie when she states:
She pined and pined away;
Sought them by night and day,
Found them no more but dwindled and grew grey;
Then fell with the first snow,
While to this day no grass will grow
Where she lies low:
I planted daisies there a year ago
That never blow. (Lines 154-161)
The fact that no grass or daisies will grow creates significance in these lines. Brownley points out that, “to the Victorian reader, daisies stood for innocence” (179). The daisies not growing on Jeanie’s grave shows to the reader that partaking in sexual activity demolished Jeanie’s innocence. More religious undertones are expressed in the poem when Lizzie and Laura are described as “Golden head by golden head” (Line 184). Such a description alludes to angels which exemplify innocence. Laura ends up buying the goblin men’s fruit with a lock of her golden hair. Such a task shows a sense of Laura selling her innocence in exchange for gratification in the sins of gluttony and lust. The same innocence can be seen in the description of the goblin men’s voices. To Laura the goblin men have “a voice of doves” (Line 77). Doves represent the Holy Spirit. By having such heavenly voices, the goblin men persuade Laura into believing that eating their fruit would not be sinful. Even the fruit seem to have a paradisiacal origin. Laura thinks of the origins of the fruit when she states, “How fair the vine must grow/ Whose grapes are so luscious;/ How warm the wind must blow/ Thro’ those fruit bushes” (Lines 60-63). Escobar states, “Vines and gardens that [Laura] cannot see suggest a paradisiacal origin for the fruit and thrill Laura” (138). Such a reference alludes to the idea of the fruits of Eden. However, these fruits are more symbolic of the forbidden fruits of Eden. Lizzie represents the most important religious reference in the poem. Lizzie represents “a symbol of the Christ who willingly undergoes suffering to redeem a sinner” (Brownley 183). Lizzie embodies Christ and saves her sister from sin. Thus emphasizing that Laura represents a sinner because she gave into her sexuality. Goblin Market presents another religious reference to the sins of lesbianism and incest.
Lizzie and Laura’s lesbian-incestual relationship presents the most sexual innuendoes of the entire poem. In one scene of the poem, the sisters are described as being, “Cheek to cheek and breast to breast/ Locked together in one nest” (Lines 197-198). “Breast to breast” expresses a sexual embrace. The diction used in these lines suggests a more than sisterly situation. Some may claim the sisters are just holding each other with love. However, by Rossetti choosing to use sexual parts to describe the girls’ positions, the scene exhibits sexual references to the reader. The scene of Lizzie telling Laura to lick the fruit juices off her body presents more sexual innuendoes. Lizzie yells to Laura, ‘Hugh me, kiss me, suck my juices” (Line 468). Such diction leads the reader to a sexual image. Sisters may hug, and they may even kiss, but telling each other to such their juices does not exhibit normal sisterly behavior. Furthermore, the scene of Laura partaking in the act of licking the juices off of Laura appears to be more like lesbian eroticism than sisters caring for each other. The poem presents the scene as:
She clung about her sister,
Kissed and kissed and kissed her:
Tears once again
Refreshed her shrunken eyes,
Dropping like rain
After long sultry drouth;
Shaking with aguish fear, and pain,
She kissed and kissed her with a hungry mouth. (Lines485-492)
The image that forms in the mind upon reading these lines suggests females partaking in sexual acts together rather than a normal encounter between sisters. Such a scene expresses so much sexuality between the two girls. Laura kissing her sister with a hungry mouth suggests acomplete indulgence in pleasure. However, some argue if the poem represents a child’s fairy tale, this scene expresses no sexuality at all, but rather sisters caring for each other. The idea of Lizzie and Laura being sisters helps to hide the sexual references in such a scene. The poem can be viewed as a child’s story warning against falling into temptation. The uses of sexual references become necessary when trying to exhibit the consequences of falling to sexual temptation.
The poem can be viewed as a child’s story warning against falling into temptation. This helps to explain how a Victorian writer, such as Rossetti, would have such sexual innuendoes in her poem. The poem can be read either way, which helps make the sexual innuendoes have deeper meaning. The sexual references jump out at the reader, who may be thinking they are reading a normal fairy tale, and force the reader to examine as to what Rossetti might be trying to convey. In Lorraine Kooistra’s article, “Goblin Market” as a Cross-Audienced Poem: Children’s Fairy Tale, Adult Erotic Fantasy, she points out, “Goblin Marketisnot only a cross-audienced poem; it also dramatically enacts the truism that good children’s literature has no age restrictions, whereas some adult literature is accessible only to mature readers” (182). Some may comment that Goblin Marketreads as a fairy tale meant for children, and, therefore, the sexual references are over examined and not intentional. Yes, Goblin Marketexhibitscommon fairy tale form, but many children’s fairy tales express morals and themes to children in extreme measures. Take Hansel and Gretel for example, the story clearly tells children to not go wondering off alone or they will end up in the woods eaten by a witch. The story conveys a theme through extremes in order to enact fear in children. Rossetti presents the same ideals in her fairy tale. She expresses to young women the common fear of consequences to becoming a fallen woman. Kooistra also explains, “Goblin Market is one such poem for grown-ups that has been appropriated for a juvenile audience in anthologies, school texts, plays, and picture books. It has also been commandeered for “adults only” in magazines and books, as well as on stage” (182). Goblin Market interprets either way, whether it be a child’s fairy tale or an “adult’s only” story. Simply saying that due to Goblin Market being a fairy tale, the sexual references observed by the reader are unintentional by the author proves to be false because the story easily translates to both story forms.
Rossetti’s Goblin Market proves to be a controversial poem. Readers interpret many different meanings from the poem. However, through descriptive language, religious references, and lesbian eroticism the reader sees a theme of feminine sexuality. Rossetti presents the fear of partaking in feminine sexuality through the guise of a child’s fairy tale. With an extreme theme like feminine sexuality, it would be impossible to consider that the poem would exhibit no sexual references. Some wonder why Rossetti would discuss such a theme through a fairy tale. Many fairy tale morals are not taken seriously, and get viewed as stories with a sole purpose of entertainment. With this in mind, it could be said that Rossetti mocks the idea of fearing feminine sexuality.
Works Cited
Brownley, Martine W. “Love and Sensuality in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market” Essays inLiterature 6 (1979): 179-86. .
Escobar, Kirsten E. “Female Saint, Female Prodigal: Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market” Religion and the Arts 5 (2001): 129-54. .
Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. “Goblin Market as a Cross-Audienced Poem: Children’s Fairy Tale, Adult Erotic Fantasy”.Children’s Literature 25 (1997): 181-204. .
Rossetti, Christina. “Goblin Market”.The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume EThe Victorian Age. Ed. Julia Reidhead. 8th ed. Vol. E. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005. 1466-1478.
