This document covers the poem: 'Goblin Market' by Christina Rossetti. I studied this poem for my A Level, Edexcel English Literature Exam as part of the poetry module.
By constructing these summarises and notes these provided me with ideas and themes which I could for my essays and thesis. It w...
• Two sisters, Laura and Lizzie go to collect water at dusk when they hear the sounds of the goblin
fruit market from their house
• At first, they try to ignore the enticing calls of the goblin men, telling Lizzie to ‘lie close’ and
warning lizzie against giving into the temptation of the goblin men
• Lizzie warns Laura against viewing the Goblin men and covers her eyes
• Laura encourages Lizzie to look but she refuses and turns away to go home, Laura remains
• Laura gets closer to the goblin men in her curiosity
• Goblin men offer her their fruit, and Laura thinks it looks tasty
• She doesn’t have any money, but the goblins offer to take a piece of her golden hair instead
• So, Laura gives up some of her hair, gorges herself on goblin fruit, and heads on home to her
sister
• Lizzie meets her at the gate and warns her not to be out so late
• Story of Jeanie who took the goblin fruit and wasted away as a warning to Laura that similar
could occur for her
• Laura claims she has eaten the fruit and she will be more tomorrow in her belief it was fine
• Attempting to tempt Laura through descriptions of the fruit
• Lay down in bed with two descriptions of the two sisters, both work up together and eat food
(not fruits could be seen as remedy foods). Complied to the domestic life of the typified women
• Laura wants it to be night while Lizzie is content filling duties
• Lizzie attempts to lead Laura back home, but Laura loitered.
• Laura does not hear the fruit call but Lizzie does
• Laura realises the consequence of her buying and eating the fruit from the goblin men
• Her and lizzie went to bed, but as Lizzie slept, she remained awake and cried
• Laura stats to decay and waste away as she indulged in and consumed the fruit
• No shot came from her Kernel-stone. Dreams of the fruit she cannot have
• Laura decaying and unable to continue with domesticated abilities. Fallen women ideas
• Lizzie wants to comfort Laura but fears ending up like Jeanie
• Fears Lauras deaths and decides that she should take action
• Silver penny could be representative of female virginity
• Lizzie takes action, saying goodbye to Laura and going to the market
• Goblin men attempt to tempt her when she asked for fruit and gave them a penny. Lizzie
declines saying she must get back
• Goblin men turn violent and try to stuff fruit in Lizzie’s mouth, but she squeezes her mouth shut,
so they just end up getting juices all over here
• Goblin men gave her back her penny and kicked their fruit
• Lizzie is relived at keeping the penny
• Lizzie runs back to their house all covered in goblin fruit juice
• Lizzie tells Laura what has happened and Laura is horrified of what she does di
• Laura kisses the juice of her sister’s checks and is miraculously, but painfully, healed and
redeemed
, • Unable to tell whether she was dead or alive so Lizzie had to wait for signs of life
• Laura awoke and is redeemed
• Years later, Laura and Lizzie are both wives and mothers, and they describe their experiencing
the goblin market to their own children as a cautionary tale about the importance of sisterly
love
Title:
• Goblin being a folklore creature, often menacing and threatening in mankind
• Devilish kind of ideas, threatening
• Market associated with Victorian
• Suggestion of commercialism
• Perhaps idea of how women are often objectified as products in society
Language:
• ‘Morning and evening’. Creates a sense of continuity and resilience in their attempt to tempt the
women. In a way becomes a metaphor for the women who have to constantly combats and
resist such temptations in society
• Idea of time, such as ‘morning and evenings’ is a common allegory that runs throughout the
poem. Idea that time is running out to buy the fruit. As the poem progresses, we see an
increasing hint at theme of temptation and the initial stages of that are certainly prevalent here
as the goblin talk up their wares. Indicates that morning and evening are concurrent, clearly
impossible, reinforcing the fantasy world
• ‘Come buy’ the goblin opening words echo a famous invitation in the bible from God to his
people ‘come, all who are thirsty, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy
and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Isaiah 55:1 TNIV’. Unlike
the freedom the bile offers, the goblins are seeking to entrap those who accept the foods.
• ‘goblin’ as a recurring theme throughout the poem. In a strange way their voices almost offer a
reflection of the fruits that they are trying to peddle. One thing I noticed about this section is
how it refers to one of the goblins as being parrot-lie. Interesting as parrots are associated with
repetition. Goblins repeatedly say in the mantra ‘come buy, come buy’
• ‘Come buy’ idea of commercialism within Victorian society. Tempting to the maids. Threatens
their purity. The idea of ‘maids’ could be a representation of Laura and Lizzie chaste and virginial
nature. They are suspectable to corruption as perhaps lower-class women. Perhaps having them
as ‘maids’ would make them more relatable to a contemporary when bringing forward ideas of
the fallen women
• ‘Orchard fruits’ alludes to ideas of the garden of idea. The idea of the original sin manifested
within all of us to give into temptations like eating the forbidden fruit.
, • ‘apple’ is utilised by Rossetti symbolically perhaps to allude to the original sin. Also, the first on
the list could be significant in the suggest that it is one of the most common fruits. The ‘pine-
apple’ is separated by a hyphen given the impression that it is a different fruit. Highlights the
deceit of the fruit to potentially represent the threat which it imposes to Laura.
• Rossetti uses compound nouns to compress and exaggerate, for example ‘bloomed-down-
checked’ and ‘swart-headed’ and ‘free born’. Dense hyperbolic description draws the reader in,
so that the fascination that Laura experiences it readily understandable. Consonantly rhymed
line endings reinforce the hypnotic effect. No conjunction, no words like ‘and’ or ‘but’ which
compress it further and builds a sense of excitant. Asyndetic list.
• ‘All ripe together’ is significant as these fruits are seasonal and should not all be ripe at the same
time. Especially in the nineteenth centry when farming technology lacked the advances that we
see today. Most of the fruits named from ‘pomegranates’ to ‘damsons’ are unusual or exotic in
nature. Adds to the templating nature of the fruit. Not fruits that would have been readily
available in England during that period. Fruits are meant to represent going against the norm,
the mundane. More tempting as hard to come buy. Highlight the idea of worldly pursuits. In this
case Laura submits to her temptation for their fruits that are listed to imply their inducing
nature.
• ‘Grapes fresh from the vines’ grapes are the fruit from which wine is made and source of
drunkenness
• ‘bullaces’ are a kind of damson. ‘citrons’ are a lemon-like fruit. Both of which are bitter perhaps
highlight the deception of the fruit. There are tempting due to their outward appearance but
they manifest in one and can cause such corruption.
• ‘pomegranate’. Sinister fruit here: pomegranates are the fruit of the underworld. Consuming
Hade’s pomegranate seeds ensured that the goddess Persephone would have to dwell there for
a number of months equal to the number of seeds she’d eaten. Throughout western literature
pomegranates usually have sexual connotations. Due to their abundance of seeds, they are
associated with fertility. Rossetti is linking the fruit to these themes: they ae ‘full’ with sexuality
and they are ‘fine’ and sensuous
• Citrons are a fruit nowadays much cultivated in Mediterranean countries and the west indies
(‘citrons’ also means ‘lemons’ in French). Goblin instils and enticing foreign-erotic-appeal to his
fruit collection
• Symbol of fire is a recurring image and is used to depict life, passion, lust, life and health.
Amongst the list of fruits are the ‘bright fire like barberries’. Amongst the long overwhelming
list, it is easy to miss the use of the term ‘fire-like’. Its implicit inclusion could indicate the danger
hidden by the fruits ripe look and appealing texture. After her first taste of the goblin fruit, Laura
returns to the brook ‘most like a leaping flame’. Compared to Lizzie who accompanied her in a
state ‘most placid in her look’, Laura’s passion is shown to be unhealthy and dangerous. Laura
falls into a swift decline when she is no longer able to enjoy life after tasting the goblin fruits.
‘Fire away’. Extinguishing the fire indicates the diminishment of her life. Immediately turning
fray and worn, she loses interest in the tasks she uses to enjoy. Laura reclaims her life and
reignites her spirituality by clinging to and kissing Lizzie resulting in ‘swift fire spreading through
her veins...’. Laura realises the scarifies Lizzie made for her sake associating fire with. ‘Must your
light like mine be hidden’. Alludes to an image from the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament
‘neither do people light a lamp and pit it under a bown. Instead, they put it on its stand and it
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