...And Just When You Thought...

.....You Could Trust a Goblin....

 Filled with poignant imagery and symbolism, “The Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti is a tale of two sisters that are haunted by the calls of the goblins to buy their fruit. The goblin creatures walk up and down the street and lyrically tempt the girls “In tones as smooth as honey” by describing the various rare and unique fruits. The narrator tells us that the fruits they have to offer “Men sell not such in any town” and from the very beginning the implications of these goods is one of an almost evil nature. Although the theme of the story is somewhat ambiguous in specific meaning and has been interpreted in many ways, it is clear that Rossetti is alluding to fruits that are prohibited and detrimental to one’s well being. “The Goblin Market” describes the dangers that are associated with the hasty acquisition of self satisfaction, and the way in which humility and patience are more difficult to accomplish – yet much more nourishing and rewarding to one’s spirit.

At the beginning of the tale, the two sisters are described in such a way that their innocence is plain, and the bond that they have together is strong. One could even say that they may be two sides of the same person, or that the story is presenting the reader with a kind of duality between the two; a dark side and a light side. Lizzie is afraid of the goblins and their song and urges Laura against paying them any attention, yet Laura watches them and is increasingly tempted to taste their fruits. One wants to listen, while the other “blushes” at the song of the goblins implying that they sing of things that are not spoken of lightly. 

The unnatural and animalistic nature of the goblins points to the idea that their fruits are not of this world, and that their intentions are nefarious. However, despite her sisters warnings and the consequences that another girl had faced by eating the fruits, Laura is intrigued and eventually gives in to the temptation promoted by the goblins. 

 Agreeing to give the goblins a lock of hair as payment, Laura engorges herself on the forbidden fruits:

She sucked and sucked and sucked the more
Fruits which that unknown orchard bore,
She sucked until her lips were sore;
Then flung the emptied rinds away

These lines allude to the addictive and poisonous nature of the goblin fruit, as do the next few lines when we see that she has completely lost track of time and “knew not was it night or day.” When she returns, she tells Lizzie not to worry, and she seems to want the fruit even more now – she even wants to share it with her sister. The next day however, we begin to see the effects of her rash deeds on her mental state as the two are talking:

Lizzie with an open heart,
Laura in an absent dream,
One content, one sick in part;
One warbling for the mere bright day's delight,
One longing for the night.

She soon falls into a deep malcontent, and stops eating or doing any chores on their farm. All she can think of are the goblins fruits, but can no longer hear them calling out to buy and she eventually begins to waste away.

           Her sister, however, can still hear the goblins cry because she has yet to fall prey to their devices. It is not for herself that she is tempted to buy the fruit, but for her sister in the hopes that it may cure her of her malady. Finally, she can take it no longer and goes out with the intent of buying some of the goblins fruit with coin. The goblins do not want coin however, they want her to eat - and their evil nature is revealed at the notion that Lizzie will not partake.

No longer wagging, purring,
But visibly demurring,
Grunting and snarling.
One called her proud,
Cross-grained, uncivil;
Their tones waxed loud,
Their looks were evil.

Lizzie is steadfast in her declaration to not eat the fruit, and is brutally assaulted by the creatures because of this unfaltering stance. The narrator compares her to a tree being assaulted by stinging insects and the next few lines point to the significance of her personal determination and control of her actions:

Like a royal virgin town
             Topped with gilded dome and spire
             Close beleaguered by a fleet            

      Mad to tear her standard down.

    One may lead a horse to water,
   Twenty cannot make him drink 

The goblins assault is not successful, and even though they smear her with fruit attempting to force her to eat she holds strong. Ultimately the goblins give up, and kicking their precious fruits away they all disappear leaving Lizzie alone and covered in fruit juices. She happily returns home and encourages Laura to kiss her to retrieve the fruit pulp and in doing so restores Laura to her original vigor.

Setting aside the contextual symbolism of sin or lustful temptation in the fruits that Laura becomes addicted to, the more interesting aspect is how she acquired them in the first place. She was so eager and easy to sway in regards to tasting these forbidden morsels, that she put the cart before the horse so to speak. Had she been more mindful and thought about the implications of being so rash, she would have been especially mindful of the fact that it was not the act of buying that the goblins were after. Due to her willingness to sacrifice her cognitive abilities she was sorely lacking in the suspicion worthy of the goblins taking her hair as payment. It was not money that they were after, but something much dearer - her personal volition to make up her own mind. Nothing in this world can be acquired so easily as to substitute golden hair for gold, but her mesmerized and greedy state kept her from due mistrust. Her self-serving urges took over, and thus she paid a much higher price for the fruit.

Lizzie, on the other hand has a humble and more mindful perspective, and thinks of others before herself. She knows that it is wrong to expect something so fleeting to hold so much significance. Her sacrifice was far greater and thus her reward was as well, this is the lesson Rossetti is illustrating with the events in “The Goblin Market.” Lizzie is more resolute in her personal decisions as well, and is not so easily swayed – be it by the song of the goblins, or the temptation of their otherworldly fruits. The fruits are “honey to the throat/But poison in the blood.” While honey is sweet and a reward to the tongue, it is momentary and transitory. The blood is the life-force and constant. While Laura’s reward was short lived and self serving, and the consequences she faced extremely detrimental (poisonous) in light of such a shallow indulgence; Lizzie’s willing sacrifice for her sister is more admirable and treacherous in nature, and thus the reward is “life out of death.”

While Christina Rossetti has been known to incorporate different aspects of heavy symbolism in her poetry and works at its roots, this story is about not giving in to fleeting  rewards, but to have foresight into the rewards due to those who sacrifice the most.

For the full text of "The Goblin Market" you can read it here.

For different perspectives on the symbolism of this story and discussion about the many levels involved, you can visit this page or this location.