Rossetti's The Goblin Market

While Christina Rossetti claims her narrative poem "The Goblin Market" is merely a child's tale, critics disagree with her. Many believe the story of Laura and Lizzie is a feminist outcry. It also can be compared to Adam and Even and the forbidden fruit. There are even some who compare Laura's thirst for the forbidden fruit to drug addiction. Laura and Lizzie are young sisters who live alone. They seem happy. But one day they hear the cries of the Goblin men trying to sell their ripe fruit. For a lock of Laura's hair, she tastes the sweet fruit of the Goblins. Lizzie and Laura are quite different in personalities. Lizzie seems to take on the mother figure, diligently doing the chores and warning Laura of the evil magic of the Goblins. Laura eventually wants more fruit but can't seem to hear or see the Goblin men. Laura, on the other hand, can because she has not tasted the fruit yet. The Goblin men and their fruit represent the sexual passion real men hae in reality. When Lizzie warns Laura of their fruit, she is warning her to stay away from men. Men will tell you lies to get what they want. They will make a girl give up the only thing that made them special and worth anything, their virginity. Lizzie even brings up the young girl who tasted the fruit and eventually wasted away and died alone. Laura seeks into a depression and Lizzie feels she will die if she doesn't do something about it. So Lizzie goes to buy some of the fruit from the Goblins. But they only want Lizzie to eat the fruit. They try to force her to eat it. The ripe juice from the fruit soaks her face yet she doesn't drink it. This can be considered Lizzie, a good strong Christinan, obstaining from committing this sin of eating the forbidden fruit, or some may see it as Lizzie being strong enough to deny the passions of men. She is even beaten by the Goblins, which can represent the devil trying to get Lizzie to fall into sin. But Lizzie is strong. So strong, she goes home and lets her weak sister lick the juice off her face. She cures her sister of her addiction.