Goblin Market

Question 1

What is Goblin Market about? (4 points)

Answer 1

It depicts two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, the former of whom goes to the goblins’ market and gorges herself on their fruits, only to return pallid and sickly

Lizzie goes to the market to try to buy some more of the fruit so that Laura might regain her health, but the goblins won’t sell her any– they shove the fruit in her face and try to ensnare her, as well

Lizzie resists, and eventually they give up

When she goes home, Laura takes a turn for the worse, but eventually recovers.

Question 2

What is the structure of Goblin Market? (3 points)

Answer 2

Irregular rhyme scheme - often using couplets or ABAB rhymes, but also repeating some rhymes many times in succession, or allowing long gaps between a word and its pair

The metrical rhythm is also irregular - three or four stresses per line, and broadly iambic tetrameter

Frequent use of enjambment that is run-on lines that create a loose structure to the poem - could suggest Laura and Lizzie’s lack of control in the situation and their own bodies

Question 3

What is the language and imagery of Goblin Market? (4 points)

Answer 3

The poem begins with a lush description of fruit that sets the tone for the poem - its sensuous, erotic overtones justify the view that this is a metaphor for female sexuality

The third-person voice gives a measure of detachment - the powerful narrator can describe the events in a way that the characters wouldn’t, so the reader can make judgments and draw inferences

The alliterated names, Lizzie and Laura, suggest the two sisters form a complementary whole, their opposing characteristics — self-indulgence and self-control — combined to contrast moral strength and weakness

Descriptions of the natural world are woven through the poem- weather, animals and birds, flowers, night and day, which are metaphors that reflect events; good and bad

Question 4

What other poems does Goblin Market link to?

Answer 4

The World
Babylon The Great

Question 5

What is the relevant context for Goblin Market?

Answer 5

Rossetti insisted that the poem was a cautionary tale for children

However, it could also be seen being about:
+ Rossetti’s feminist and homosexual politics, especially since the 1970s Feminist movement
+ Feminine sexuality and its relation to Victorian social norms - the “fallen women” archetype
+ A capitalist critique of the growing Victorian economic market - only the wealthy could buy fruit