Theme of Marriage-Market in Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti Essay Sample

In Christina Rossetti’s poem “Goblin Market”, merchantmen described as goblins try to lure two young women into buying their fruits. The poem illustrates the sister’s efforts in resisting their desires to avoid eating the goblin's fruit and ultimately failing. This market represents the marriage market which was the concept in the Victorian era when women were prepared to marry off to prosperous suitors. Through the theme of the marriage market, Rossetti shows the importance of women suppressing their sexual desire to fit the ideas and expectations of women in the Victorian period. 

Throughout the poem, it illustrates how Laura and Lizzy are different from one another by the way they suppress their desires. Lizzie suppressed her temptations and avoided the goblin men in the market when Laura was doing the opposite. Rossetti portrays Lizzie to be cautious and timid as she warns her sister to not look at the goblins in the lines “We must not look at the goblin men, / We must not buy their fruits” (line 43-44). On the other hand, Laura is curious and outgoing as she shows interest in the goblin men in the lines "Curious Laura chose to linger / Wondering at each merchant man" (line 69-70). The two different depictions of the sisters show the two spectra of women in this period. Lizzie is the type of woman who waits till marriage to give in to their sexual desires and keeps their purity. While Laura is the type of woman who fails to suppress their sexual desires and loses their purity.

The idea of not giving in to buying the goblin’s fruits is heavily implied as it is seen to be dangerous. Lizzie many times warned her sister about the danger of the goblin men and their fruits in lines “Their offers should not charm us, / Their evil gifts would harm us” (line 65-66). Lizzie’s warning implies how Laura could become unfit for the ideal marriageable Victorian woman. Despite Lizzie’s warning, Laura gave in to her temptation and ate the fruit. Fruit in this context can have a sexual connotation when Laura: “She sucked and sucked and sucked the more / […] / She sucked until her lips were sore” (lines 134, 136). This suggests that Laura engaged in sexual activity resulting in losing her virginity. This shows how she no longer fits the ideal marriageable woman as she is no longer considered pure. Laura also no longer hears the goblin men’s calls and soon falls ill: “Laura kept watch in vain, / In sullen silence of exceeding pain. / She never caught again the goblin cry” (line 270-273). Laura is in this state when she realizes that she is unlikely to find a husband since she has become an unideal candidate.

Through references to goblin men and their fruits, Rossetti articulates the Victorian concept that women should be pure and virtual to be fit for marriage. Laura shows in the poem how she has become unsuitable for marriage as she has indulged in her desires before marriage. As a result of her inability to understand the marriage market, she had become an undesirable woman. Rossetti demonstrated how the fruit of the goblin men tarnishes a woman's reputation through Laura. This poem showed how competitive the marriage market was for women. As a result of Victorian society's strict and constricting expectations, the market only accepted women who conformed to these ideas. In the end, Laura teaches her kids about her experience in the marriage market: “Laura would call the little ones / And tell them of her early prime” (lines 548-549).