Goblin Market

Question 1

significance of the name ‘Laura’

Answer 1

could be reminiscient of Petrarch’s Laura to whom he wrote over 300 sonnets.
- in Petrarch’s sonnets she is a passive object of love
- here, Rossetti makes her an active and sensual woman who seeks satsifaction

Question 2

significance of the lock of hair

Answer 2

this is reminiscient of ‘The Rape of the Lock’ by Alexander Pope in which the cutting of hair is symbolic of the loss of virginity.

Question 3

significance of the ‘silver penny’

Answer 3

slang for female genitalia in elizabethan times

Question 4

Original title

Answer 4

‘A Peep at the Goblins’ - new title adds a new layer of meaning with the rise of Capitalism/ the Industrial Revolution.

Question 5

interpretations

Answer 5

• invites religious interpretation: Laura, like Eve, eats the forbidden fruit and is redeemed by self-sacrificing love of her sister whose ‘Eat me, drink me, love me’ could be seen as sacramental
• strong sexual overtones: Jeanie has died because she anticipated the ‘joys brides hope to have’.
• any single allegorical reading tends to diminish the poem, which successfully creates its own coherent, although bizarre, world.