Themes Presented in Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti Essay -- Gobli

Themes Presented in Goblin Market by Christina RossettiChristina Rossettis used her poetry to express herself her workexhibits many autobiographical elements and from it the reader can take Rossettis emotions, beliefs and her comments on the societyshe lived in. As a female poet it would have been improper forRossetti to deal directly with these issues though and so her ideasare masked by coming into court to be childrens poetry and having simplemeanings. Goblin Market superficially appears to a moral story abouttwo sisters one of whom gives way to the temptation of the goblinsforbidden fruits but through her poetic techniques Rossetti manages toembody her fears and desires.One of the desires Rossetti appears to have in this poem is for arelationship similar to that of Lizzie and Laura the closing lines ofthe poem express the joys of having a sister To add one if one goesastray, but Rossetti had only brothers. This theme of friendship iscrucial to the plot of the poem and maybe Ros setti yearns for someoneshe can feel scrawny to. Rossetti shows the difference between the loveLaura has for the goblins fruits and the love between the sistersthrough the use of parallelism. While Laura sucked the goblinsfruits until her lips were sore showing Lauras greed as she givesway to temptation and gives a strongly physical image, Lizzie callingHug me, kiss me, suck my juices / Squeezed from goblin fruits foryou brings to mind Lizzies self-sacrifice - the difference ofLauras lust for the juices and Lizzies love for her sister isapparent. The image by Rossetti describing the sisters Like twopigeons in one nest creates a strong impression of the closenessbetween the two s... ...n comingbefore love in Rossettis life.Goblin Market contains many of the key themes that appear throughoutRossettis poetry. In typical Rossettian style it appears almostsuperfluous on first reading but subtexts hidden inside it. The casualrhyming scheme suggests that the work is a aimed at being chil drenspoetry but the issues it deals with are distinctly adult. Early in thepoem Laura is expound as rearing her glossy head and much later onLizzie is referred to as being stubborn as a horse thisdemonstrates that through repetition and subtle parallels Rossettimanages to show how both sisters are so similar and yet so far apart.Christina Rossettis use of poetic devices allows Goblin Market towork on several levels allowing her to frame poetry both acceptable tothe society she lived in while also allowing her to express herself.