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Goblin Market Essay

736 Words3 Pages

Cassandra Moore
Mrs. McLelland
AP Literature - 5th Period
10 February 2023
Christina Rossetti’s Philosophy and “Goblin Market” Did you know that Christina Rossetti claimed that her epochal poem “Goblin Market” was “just a fairytale”, but was also not meant for children (). Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” is a story about redemption and sacrifice. The theme of this “fairy tale” is heavily influenced by Rossetti’s involvement in the Angelican church and her work at the St. Mary Magdalene Penitentiary for “fallen women” in Highgate. First, the poem itself has a very evident theme of sin, sacrifice, redemption. The epic tells a tale of two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, where one of which, Laura, is tempted by goblin merchants’ fruit for sale. …show more content…

Lizzie ends up running away and returning to her sister. Then Lizzie informs Laura of her venture …show more content…

Historically food, specifically sweet food, has been a central part in fairytales and stories about greed and indulgence, both of which are sins. One very popular example of these stories is the story of Hansel and Gretel, a story where two kids are caught, and almost killed, because they are distracted by the temptation of candy (). The fruit in the poem also have important symbolism because fruit, specifically apples, have a cardinal biblical meaning. When Adam and Eve first sinned they did so by taking a bite from one of the apples from the tree of knowledge. In “Goblin Market” there are multiple references to apples. For example, the goblins describe their fruits as “orchard fruits”, “fruit globes fair or red”, and “Fruits which that unknown orchard bore”. More than that, apples are the first fruit they name and after that they name two other specific types of apples. Another piece of evidence that informs us that Laura knows that that eating the goblin fruit is sinful is lines 125-127. In 1859, when this epic was written, hair had a much more important role in life than modern day. According to “Hair: Untangling a Social History”, in the 19th century cutting the hair of a defeated individual was often a “sign of humiliation” (). This is important because in lines 125-126 the Goblins request Laura pays them for the fruit by cutting a lock of her golden hair. This meaning is

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