Cecelia Clubb
Professor Jeffery Wallace
ENGL 1102 SO4
23 April 2023 Seeing Freudian Theory Through Goblin Market
This beautiful poem by Christina Rossetti emphasizes the sin and sacrifice that is in the lives of the twin sisters Lizzie and Laura. The certain personality traits that they each have can be seen as a representation of the subconsciously alter egos, superego, and id. Lizzie is being the moral superego, sess a bit like her sister's conscience. Lizzie's voice is the voice of reason that runs through the poem for her sister. She acts as a warning to her sister Laura about the goblin men. Laura however must give in to the goblin men to desire. The ego is part of a person's mind it acts as the balance between the id and the superego.
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At the end of the poem, Laura is the only one that is named. She settles into a married life and does not have the drive by the pleasure anymore. making her a strong voice of reason. There is a sense that only Laura exists; Laura speaks "about the haunted glen/ [and] the wicked, quaint fruit-merchant men" (552-52) like they are old legends, a fable to scare children away from the choices of the id. Lizzie seems to become the brave sister belonging to the moral of the story, For there is no friend like a sister In calm or stormy weather...To fetch if one goes astray...To strengthen whilst one stands. (561-67). Laura has known to become a real person when only she was a personality. The choice between the id and the superego has been made. The author could have suggested in the poem that women do not need to fear the choices of the id. Laura survives and prospers as a wife and a mother. Laura must let go of the please and become a woman. Lizzie is still a well-known sister. If Laura had remained the same character in the poem she would still have to consequences of her desire. And that she would still be ruled by the pleasure that she wants like the