Goblin Market: Teaching Women the Dangers of Sexual Predators Since 1862

Goblin Market: Teaching Women the Dangers of Sexual Predators Since 1862

When reading the poem “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti, you are immediately transported into a whimsical world where little goblin men tempt young girls with the delicious fruits they sell. Naturally the goblins and their fruit aren’t as innocent and lovely as they seem. When one eats the fruit, they become dreadfully sick and yearn nothing but to taste what has brought them to such a terrible position. The end of this poem ends just as any good fairy tale should, with the characters learning a lesson with a moral included, so any other girl who finds themselves being tempted to eat fruit from goblin men knows well, to walk away and never seek them out. As much as this poem looks to be just a story for children, there are some very major clues within the poem that push the reader to discover what meanings are underlying the fairytale theme.

The beginning of the poem begins with the goblin men crying for someone to buy their fruits. The main characters Laura and Lizzie hear them, Laura appears to be curious, she knows the dangers of the goblins but wishes to pursue. Lizzie, Laura’s sister, is less obliged, knowing better not to show the goblins interest.

Laura bowed her head to hear,

Lizzie veiled her blushes:

Crouching close together

In the cooling weather,

With clasping arms and cautioning lips

With tingling cheeks and finger tips.

                                                (34-39)

These lines were my first initial clue to seeing that this poem is trying to show the dangers of women being tempted by men without courtship or marriage in mind. I imagined the goblins as men, attempting to pick up women and calling for them. The 35^th line shows that Lizzie is in a way flattered or embarrassed by what the goblins are saying. Perhaps she is attempting to hide her desire being tempted by them, unlike Laura who has openly invited the goblins to call to her. At this moment both are being cautious “clasping hands” and “crouching close together” one can only feel how very vulnerable they are at this moment.

Laura then recites what she already has known well, they “must not look at goblin men” (42) or eat their fruits. In lines (44, 45) she says something interesting, “Who knows upon what soil they fed/their hungry thirsty roots?” It appears that these goblin men are being viewed as men who will satisfy their desires with any women who they can tempt into their grasps. These lines give me the idea that this poem was written with the mindset of a mother or a family member warning daughters or sisters of not falling for “goblin men” who are evil and inhuman, and want nothing but to satisfy themselves. The 44^th line could suggest that not only will these men ruin a woman’s life by making her a “fallen” woman, if she gives in, but could possibly bring her diseases and sickness. In line (48) Lizzie warns her sister that she “Should not peep at goblin men”. The word “peep” further implies Laura’s desire to give into them.

“No,” said Lizzie: “No, no, no;

Their offers should not charm us,

Their evil gifts would harm us.”

                                    (64-66)

            These lines indicate what a woman of the Victorian era should desire. The goblin men offer nothing but temptation and sex; women should not be charmed by a night of sexual desire. This satisfaction is the evil gift these men are offering, which inevitably would ruin a woman for she would be unable to be wed after this. A fallen woman would be forced to work strenuous labor or revert to prostitution, another underlying warning that this poem evokes. The title of the poem itself even foreshadows all of these warnings. “Goblin Market” it could refer to the place where the “goblins”, men, seek out women for a night of satisfaction, or the marketplace that the goblins themselves have created by turning women into "fallen women": the marketplace of prostitution.

“Buy from us with a golden curl”

She clipped a precious golden lock

She dropped a tear more rare than pearl,

Then sucked their fruit globes fair or red.

                                                                                    (125-128)

            Laura has now given into the goblin men. She has given them her innocence or her virginity as represented as her golden curl, and has taken the fruit. It is something she has never experienced or tasted ever before. The last line of this stanza foreshadows the fate she will have because of this choice, a life alone.

As she turned home alone.

                                    (140)

           

            Laura begins to deteriorate, she wants nothing but the goblins fruit, and is unable to live her life as she had before eating the fruit. Seeing the agony that her sister is in Lizzie sets out to find the goblins and purchase fruit from them. When she finally seeks them out she offers a silver penny for fruit. This symbolizes Lizzie’s control. She refuses to fall under temptation and puts the situation into her own hands. This shows the readers that a woman has the power to make her own decisions and can refuse the powers of men. A woman is not always helpless in hopeless situations. But the goblins do not take her control lightly. At first they tempted her as they tempted Laura, but when she refused they became angry and forced themselves upon her, another situation that this poem so boldly warns women of.

One may lead a horse to water,

Twenty cannot make him drink.

Though the goblins cuffed and caught her,

Coaxed and fought her,

Bullied and besought her,

Scratched her, pinched her black as ink,

Kicked and knocked her,

Mauled and mocked her,

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,

                                                (422-434)

            Lizzie laughing at the goblin men, as they attempted to force their fruits in her mouth is a pinnacle moment, signifying her strength to refuse them, even when she was being tortured by them. This shows that men and women are equal in strength when it comes down to what they believe in. The first two lines of this stanza give a perfect image of Lizzie’s power and control in this scene. The goblins eventually give up on her and move along. Lizzie returns to her sister offering the juices on her face. Laura greedily sucks away the juices only to find them vile in taste. The juices became the cure to Laura’s desire. They symbolize Lizzie’s refusal to sexual desire and the want to do what’s right in terms with herself and societal views. Laura turns back to who she used to be. This part of the poem shows a glimmer of hope for fallen women, that if the proper steps are ensured, they can have a happy ending after all.

Days, weeks, months,years
Afterwards, when both were wives
With children of their own;
Their mother-hearts beset with fears,
Their lives bound up in tender lives;
Laura would call the little ones
And tell them of her early prime,
Those pleasant days long gone
Of not-returning time:
Would talk about the haunted glen,
The wicked, quaint fruit-merchant men,
Their fruits like honey to the throat,
But poison in the blood;
(Men sell not such in any town;)
Would tell them how her sister stood
In deadly peril to do her good,
And win the fiery antidote:
Then joining hands to little hands
Would bid them cling together,
"For there is no friend like a sister,
In calm or stormy weather,
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands."

                                                                        (543-567)

            Both Lizzie and Laura become mothers and wives, which was what every woman would want in the Victorian era. Laura had fallen and yet she was able to have a good life, this is hope for all women who have fallen that they still have a chance to have the desired life. Not only do I find that the moral of this story is to help your friends and family when they are in a dark place, and to not give into temptation, but to also learn from mistakes made and to not allow those mistakes to define you as who you really are. I feel that this poem can easily transfer to women of every era, because regardless of what the desired life style is it is true for every one of every age of time to never forget those who really love you, and to be in ontrol of your own life and not fall into temptation that could ruin it.