Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market

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Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market" is a children’s literature that is about two sisters whose names are Lizzie and Laura. Typically a hero is portrayed as a male figure that is courageous, strong and sacrifices himself for his people, but we see for the first time a female hero with these qualities. Goblin Market’s main purpose is to teach, "that young girls should not talk to strange men” or "that one should always resist temptation”. However, Goblin Market applies everyday Christian virtues such as temperance, courage, self-sacrifice and humility to critic gender role in Victorian society and to illustrate that women are capable of being as strong and equal as men. The poem begins with Laura’s desire to buy fruits from the goblin men, “Maids heard the goblin cry: Come buy our fruits, come buy,…show more content…
As soon as Lizzie approaches the goblin men, she tells them that she will only buy the fruit with the penny that she had brought and she refused to eat the fruit the goblins were selling to her, “Lizzie tossed them her penny… take a seat with us… thank you but one waits at home: if you will not sell me any of your fruits tho’ much and many, give me back my silver penny…” The goblins were not pleased to see her become more powerful than them and decide to rape her, “Tho’ the goblins cuffed and caught her, coaxed and fought her…mauled and mocked her, Lizzie uttered not a word…” We see that Lizzie being forced to a sexual act, but she gives her self in order to show courage and humility to be her sister’s savior from death. This shows how Lizzie’s actions make her a female Christ figure and inspires Victorian women to break the cage of gender roles. Also, it shows how men can be the tempters and are the ones that act like animals that have no morals or respect towards
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