Analysis Of Christina Rossetti s The Goblin Market

Kay Campbell Dr. Kelly Women in Literature 6/19/2016 Laura and Lizzie? Or Humanity and Jesus? In Christina Rossetti’s the Goblin Market, sisters Laura and Lizzie are key factors in the poem’s allusion to biblical text. Rossetti illustrates this by letting each sister represent two different sections within the bible- the Old and New Testament. Laura represents the Old Testament, in particular, the book of Genesis. Some critics suggest that Laura takes on the role as Eve, since both women are beguiled into eating forbidden fruit or in Laura’s case, the Goblin men’s fruit. However, it becomes apparent that perhaps Laura is not just a symbol for the Old Testament and its characters. Rather, Laura takes on the symbol of humanity who has fallen into sin and a great deal of suffering. Whereas, Lizzie is the savior figure or Jesus-esque character, who witnesses the sin and suffering of her sister (or humanity in this case) and decides to risk her life in order to save her. Therefore, Rossetti uses the relationship between Laura and Lizzie to allude to the relationship between humanity and Jesus; how one character saves the other from the grasp of death. Initially, Rossetti’s allusion to the Bible depicts Laura as the symbol of a fallen humanity. In the beginning of the poem, Laura and Lizzie are on the same page, they both know that it is ill-advised to eat the goblin men’s fruit. In fact, Laura is more adamant about being strong willed against the goblin men’s temptationShow MoreRelatedThe Laugh Of The Medusa By Helene Cixous1618 Words   |  7 Pagescontext for a reader’s awareness of the complexities of Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market. The concept of the power and responsibility possessed by the poet is addressed throughout Cixous’ work in which she declares, â€Å"I write woman: woman must write woman† (877). Moreover, Cixous’ work points to Rossetti’s responsibility to change the perception of women through her poetic, ma gical universe. By presenting men as non-human creatures, Rossetti separates them from reality, creating an opening for socialRead More Fairy Tale or Epic Allegory2749 Words   |  11 PagesGoblin Market is one of the masterpieces of Christina Georgina Rossetti; composed in 1859 and was published in 1862 in Goblin Market and Other Poems. She was an English poet in Victorian era, a period when the Bible was chiefly and frequently read and people were too religious. Also, it was the time of sexual repression; to enjoy or to talk about sexual passion was considered a sin. Moreover, women were confined to their home and education was denied; it was an era of male dominance (Mitchell 150)Read MoreChristina Georgina Rossetti s A Magical Story Of Two Sisters1127 Words   |  5 Pagesanswer, as is the case with Christina Georgina Rossetti’s narrative poem Goblin Market. Rossetti crafts a magical story of two sisters (Laura and Lizzie) who overcome adversity together, but multiple feminist readings have failed to come up with a compelling theory that explains the significance of the poem while accounting for all of its details. The contradictions of the poem undo any attempt to decode it, and the reader is forced to view the poem exactly as Rossetti wrote it: a tale of sisterhoodRead MoreRhetorical Devices3007 Words   |  13 Pagesis part of classical rhetoric and a number of rhetorical devices are worth considering in any analysis of style. For the analysis of literature a knowledge of rhetorical devices is indispensable, since there is often a considerable density of rhetorical figures and tropes which are important generators and qualifiers of meaning and effect. This is particularly the case in poetry. Especially the analysis of the use of imagery is important for any kind of literary text. (For further details see Analysing