Themes Presented in Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti Essay -- Gobli

Themes Presented in Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti Christina Rossetti's used her poetry to express herself; her work exhibits many autobiographical elements and from it the reader can discern Rossetti's emotions, beliefs and her comments on the society she lived in. As a female poet it would have been improper for Rossetti to deal directly with these issues though and so her ideas are masked through appearing to be children's poetry and having simple meanings. 'Goblin Market' superficially appears to a moral story about two sisters one of whom gives way to the temptation of the goblins forbidden fruits but through her poetic techniques Rossetti manages to embody her fears and desires. One of the desires Rossetti appears to have in this poem is for a relationship similar to that of Lizzie and Laura; the closing lines of the poem express the joys of having a sister "To fetch one if one goes astray", but Rossetti had only brothers. This theme of friendship is crucial to the plot of the poem and maybe Rossetti yearns for someone she can feel close to. Rossetti shows the difference between the love Laura has for the goblins fruits and the love between the sisters through the use of parallelism. While Laura "sucked" the goblins' fruits "until her lips were sore" showing Laura's greed as she gives way to temptation and gives a strongly physical image, Lizzie calling "Hug me, kiss me, suck my juices / Squeezed from goblin fruits for you" brings to mind Lizzie's self-sacrifice - the difference of Laura's lust for the juices and Lizzie's love for her sister is apparent. The image by Rossetti describing the sisters "Like two pigeons in one nest" creates a strong impression of the closeness between the two s... ...n coming before love in Rossetti's life. 'Goblin Market' contains many of the key themes that appear throughout Rossetti's poetry. In typical Rossettian style it appears almost superfluous on first reading but subtexts hidden within it. The casual rhyming scheme suggests that the work is a aimed at being children's poetry but the issues it deals with are distinctly adult. Early in the poem Laura is described as "rearing her glossy head" and much later on Lizzie is referred to as being stubborn as a "horse"; this demonstrates that through repetition and subtle parallels Rossetti manages to show how both sisters are so similar and yet so far apart. Christina Rossetti's use of poetic devices allows 'Goblin Market' to work on several levels allowing her to write poetry both acceptable to the society she lived in while also allowing her to express herself.