'Goblin Market’ as a Religious Allegory.

Christina Rossetti’s long narrative poem, ‘Goblin Market’, deals with two sisters tempted by evil goblin merchants who haunt the woods and allure maidens with sumptuous fruits, which are the traditional symbol of temptation in the Bible. The Goblin fruit symbolizes the forbidden fruit in the biblical story as Laura in the poem asks Lizzie if she has tasted ‘for my sake the fruit forbidden’.

‘Goblin Market’, one of Christina’s most sexual poems, contains numerous analogies to sexual appetites. Laura’s desire for sensuous fulfillment becomes more intense, which takes her on the characteristics of a beast, recalling the fate of many lustful figures in Dante’s Inferno.

The character of Laura closely parallels the figure of the She-Wolf which represents excessive desire. When humans are dominated by their emotions and sensations, they are reduced to the animal level and lose their capacity for freedom. Such errant desire unchecked by reason or the will of God resulted in the fall of man.

Whereas Laura succumbs to the goblin’s seduction, her sister Lizzie remains firmly resistant. In order to save her sister, Lizzie heroically braves the temptations of the goblins and exposes herself to their abuse in order to save her sister’s life. She was physically assaulted by the goblins. They scratch her with their nails. They even tear her dress, make her stocking dirty or and yank her hair. Then they become more violent: some of them sit upon her tender feet, some grab her hands while others try to force the fruit into her mouth. But Lizzie forbears temptation and keeps her mouth closed. As the goblins fail to get any fruit into Lizzie’s mouth, they smear her with the juice of the fruit all over her. When she returns home, she invites her sister to suck the juices from her body, which Laura does. The works as the antidote and Laura returns to her former self.

Perhaps the most significant influence of religious doctrine on Rossetti’s poetry is the concept of Soul Sleep. The death-like lethargy into which Laura falls after being ‘healed’ by Lizzie is an obvious manifestation of Soul Sleep. No glimpse into the process of Laura’s particular judgement is given, but her return to life means that the verdict was favorable; reconciled with her sister and her sexuality, she is destined for a sort of heaven on earth, the paradise of sisterhood.

Rossetti was strictly religious throughout her life, but it would not be fair to restrict the reading of ‘Goblin Market’ to a simple Christian allegory of sin and redemption.