Nature's Perilous Variety in Rossetti's "Goblin Market"
Author(s): Sean C. Grass
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Nineteenth-Century Literature, Vol. 51, No. 3 (Dec., 1996), pp. 356-376
Published by: University of California Press
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Nature's Perilous
Varietyin Rossetti's
"Goblin Market"
SEAN
C. GRASS
SHZcriticalinterpretations
of Christina
Rossetti's "Goblin Market" that have
been advanced duringthe last two decades are nearlyas multifariousas the goblin fruitsso lavishlydepicted in her verse. A
cursoryglance at the introductionto virtuallyany criticalessay
on "Goblin Market"providesa healthycatalog of the disparate
readings of the poem: as commentaryon the capitalistmarketplace; as tale of sexual, sometimes homoerotic yearning; as
feministglorificationof sisterhood;and perhaps most oftenas
Christianallegoryof temptationand redemption,"inescapably
a Genesis story."'IMany earlycriticismsof Rossetti'spoetryfocus on the location of biographical events that correspond to
the situationsdescribed in her verse,apparentlyin an attempt
to show Rossetti'spoetryas grapplingwiththe symbolicmean? 1996 byThe Regentsof the Universityof California
1
June Sturrock,"ProtectivePastoral:Innocence and Female Experience in William
Blake's Songsand ChristinaRossetti'sGoblinMarket,"ColbyQuarterly,
30 (1994), 99. See
also Terrence Holt, "'Men sell not such in any town':Exchange in GoblinMarket,"Victoand the
rian Poetry,28 (1990), 51-67. In TheMadwomanzn theAttic:The WomanWriter
Nineteenth-Century
Literary
Imagination(New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1979), Sandra M.
Gilbertand Susan Gubar explore the poem as a storyof sexual temptationand renunciation (see pp. 564-75). Two examples of articles that treat "Goblin Market" as a
glorificationof sisterhoodare DorothyMermin, "Heroic Sisterhood in GoblinMarket,"
Victorian
Poetry,21 (1983), 107-18; and Miriam Sagan, "ChristinaRossetti's'Goblin
Market' and FeministLiteraryCriticism,"Pre-Raphaelite
Review,3, no. 2 (1980), 66-76.
356
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ROSSETTI
S "GOBLIN
MARKET"
357
ings in events of her quiet, retiringlife.2But thisbody of criticism as a whole tends to be too narrowlyfocused on Rossetti's
poetryas a product of a singularaspect of her life-either her
ill-fatedlove affairs,her associationwithTractarianismand the
OxfordMovement,or her affiliation
withDante GabrielRossetti
and the Pre-RaphaeliteBrotherhood. However,seeing her poetryas influenced by only one or another of these forcesprovides an inadequate and myopic view of her verse as a whole
and of "Goblin Market"in particular.Instead,we should at least
attemptto account forthe comminglingof these influencesas
theymanifestthemselvesin her verse ifwe are to arriveat any
comprehensiveunderstandingof the severallayersof meaning
in "Goblin Market"-the poem that continues to be the enigmatic core of Rossetti'swork-and ifwe are to defythe inquiry
of any narrowlyideological approach.
In attemptingto arriveat such an understandingwe necessarilymustlet the poem itselfdeterminethe avenues of inquiry
and in "Goblin Market"Rossetti'suse of
that are most fruitful,
listsmay provide an interpretivekey.Nearlyfifteenyears have
passed since Miriam Sagan observed that "the major trope of
the poem is the list" (p. 71), but littlehas been done to explore
the ramificationsof thisaccurate assessment.More oftenthan
not the goblin fruitsand goblin characteristicshave been relesymbolicor allegorical significancebycritics,or
gated to strictly
theyhave been vaguely referredto only insofaras theyoverwhelm the senses or render the goblins and theirfruitsin ambiguous terms.3KatherineMayberryhas byand large discarded
the possibilityof any literalsignificancein the lists,attributing
"the proliferationof words,rhythms,metaphors,and similes"
to "thepoet's breathlessinebriationwiththe process ofwriting"
2 In her biographyChristina
Rossetti(Berkeleyand Los Angeles: Univ. of California
Press, 1963) Lona Mosk Packer attemptsto portraythe poem as a descriptionof Rossetti'ssexual yearningsforWilliamBell Scott (see p. 120).
3 In Christina
Rossettiand thePoetryofDiscovery(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ.
Press, 1989) KatherineJ. Mayberrywritesthat the fruits"by [their] sheer varietyand
number" "threatento overpowerLizzie completely,"and she goes on to claim that"the
of the
multipleimplicationsof the goblin experience" are reflectedby the multiplicity
fruits(p. 98). Sagan claims only that the multiplefruitsseem to intensifythe images
and overwhelmthe senses (p. 71) .
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358
NINETEENTH-CENTURY
LITERATURE
(p. go). To assume that these meticulouslystructuredlistsare
strictlysymbolicor that theyare only illustrativeof Rossetti's
poetic self-indulgence,however,is to underrate the breadth
and clarityof her poetic vision.
The listsin "Goblin Market"constructa vision of a bounteous and abundant nature thatis seductivein its infinitevariety-not a surprisingvision considering Rossetti'slove of the
naturalworldaround her. In fact,the use oflistsin "GoblinMarket"in such diverseways-in catalogingthe goblin fruits,in describingthe physiognomiesand behaviorsof the goblins themselves, and in developing the imageryassociated with Laura
and Lizzie-suggests thatvarietyand multiplicity
in the natural
world, especially when juxtaposed against the harmony and
unityof the sisters,are more central to Rossetti'sthemes of
temptationand moral discernmentthan has previouslybeen
thought.Such varietyis threateningfor Rossetti,for not only
does it have the potential to lead one to dissatisfactionwitha
simple and retiringlife,but it can also cause a spiritualcrisisas
the desire to celebrate the varietyof nature clashes withthe necessityof viewingnature morally.
That Christina Rossetti loved the natural world-especially all sorts of animals-has been thoroughlydocumented
by her biographersand by literarycritics.She and her siblings
were frequentvisitorsto the Regent's Park Zoological Gardens
throughouther adolescence and earlywomanhood, and one
such tripis recounted byher in a letterto her brotherWilliam
dated 18 August i858, only one year before "Goblin Market"
was written."We have revisitedthe Z. Gardens," she writes;
"Lizards are in strongforce,tortoisesactive,alligatorslooking
up. The weasel-headed armadillo as usual evaded us.... The
blind wombat and neighbouring porcupine broke forthinto
short-livedhostilities,but apparentlywithout permanent results."4In this passage we see not only the interest(and good
humor) withwhich she surveyedthe animals during her visits,
but also, in the "weasel-headedarmadillo,"we glimpseperhaps
4 TheFamily
Letters
ofChristmna
GeorginaRossetti,
ed. William Michael Rossetti(London: Brown,Langham, and Co., 1908), pp. 25-26.
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ROSSETTI
S "GOBLIN
MARKET"
359
the beginningsof her goblin men withtheirhumanoid forms
and animal components.William also indicates that "she knew
... Ratel at the Zoological Gardens,"and that"itwas C [hristina]
and I whojointlydiscoveredthe Wombatin the Zoological Gardens."5 Packer in her biographyhas discussed Christina'sexperiences of 1854 when, in a time of depression, "she walked in
the Botanical Gardens of Regent's Park" to relieve her melancholy (p. 98).6 This interestin and love of nature in itsinfinite
varieties is reflected in many of Rossetti's poems, including
workslike "From House to Home," "AnotherSpring,"and "A
Birthday."
The artisticsensibilitiesof Dante Gabriel and of the PreRaphaelite Brotherhood surelyserved to nurtureand perhaps
even to heightenthe love of nature Christinaalreadyfelt.The
paintersof the Pre-RaphaeliteBrotherhoodhad "the overtaim
of .
.
. a 'return to nature,"' much as the Romantics before
them,althoughin a verystylizedway.7Such a returnmeant precision and saturationof detail in depictingnature to produce
an aestheticallypleasing effect.Pre-Raphaelitepoetrytended
withmeticulous
to exhibitmany of these same characteristics,
attentionbeing paid to minute natural phenomena, and with
poets attemptingto use meter and melody playfullyto delight
the senses.8 "Goblin Market,"with its lavish attention to the
cataloging of natural phenomena and with its highlyirreguwould seem to be an archetypicalexlar but melodic rhythms,
And, ifanything,the Preample of both of these characteristics.
Raphaelite influencesshaping Christina'sversewould certainly
5 Mackenzie Bell, Christina
A Biographicaland CriticalStudy,4th ed. (1898;
Rossetti:
rpt.New York:Haskell House, 1971), p. 209.
6 Making use of such visitsto the Zoological Gardens was not an uncommon practice in attemptingto relieve particularlyemotional or psychologicalailments in Rossetti'stime.In Samuel Butler'sTheWayofAllFlesh(Garden City,N.Y: Doubleday, 1960),
"one of the most eminent doctors in London" suggeststhat such walks are medicinal
when he says,"I have found the Zoological Gardens of serviceto manyof mypatients"
(pp. 379-80).
7 John Heath-Stubbs, "Pre-Raphaelitismand the Aesthetic Withdrawal,"in PreRaphaelitism:A Collectionof CriticalEssays, ed. James Sambrook (Chicago: Univ. of
Chicago Press, 1974), p. 169.
8 See Lionel Stevenson, ThePre-Raphaelite
Poets(Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1972), p.6.
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360
NINETEENTH-CENTURY
LITERATURE
and at length
have heightenedher desire to representfaithfully
the varietyshe found and so doted upon in the naturalworld,
both as she observedit at the Zoological Gardens and as she experienced it as a girl during her visitsto the English countryside.9 Thus Christina'sown predispositionto celebrate nature
received certainencouragementfromat least one of the forces
helping to shape her poetic sensibility.
Christina'sdesire to revel in and glorifythe splendor of
the natural world in her verse was mitigated,however,by her
religious apprehension that nature must be scrutinizedfor its
moral and sacred meanings-a beliefcharacteristicof the writings of TractariansJohn Keble and John Newman. Christina,
along withher motherand sisterMaria, probablycame under
the influenceof the Oxford Movementas earlyas 1840, and in
factboth sisterscultivatedlong-standingrelationshipswiththe
Anglican Sisterhood of All Saints.10As the Oxford Movement
influencedChristina'sspirituality,
so Tractarianismand thewritings of Keble and Newman informedher sense of symbolism
and interpretationwithregard to the naturalworld.11Tractarian thoughtincluded a centraltenetof intense sacramentalism
in whichthingsvisiblein the naturalworldwere thoughtto symbolize thingsinvisibleand divine,and Tractarianssaw in nature
9 Biographershave noted severalvacations in which Christinawould have had opportunityto explore the Englishcountryside,such as at Holmer Green (Packer,p. 144)
and at Frome Selwood, where she lived withher parentsforan eleven-monthstint(see
Bell, p. 24).
10 See Georgina Battiscombe,ChristinaRossetti:
A DividedLife (London: Constable,
1981), p. 154. Christinawas an Associate of thissame Order and workedat itsHouse of
Charityfrom186o to 1870 (Battiscombe,p. 94), which explains her supportof Maria's
decision to become a nun withthe Anglican Sisterhood of All Saints in 1873 (p. 154) .
though not whollyconvincingly,the hyIn fact,D.M.R. Bentleyexplores, intriguingly
pothesis that"Goblin Market"was in factwrittento be read aloud to the fallenwomen
of Highgate Hill, withwhom Christinawas associated through her involvementwith
the AnglicanSisterhood (see "The Meretriciousand the Meritoriousin GoblinMarket:A
ed. David A. Kent
ofChristinaRossetti,
Conjecture and an Analysis,"in TheAchievement
[Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, 1987], p. 58).
I' See MaryArseneau, "Incarnationand Interpretation:ChristinaRossetti,the Oxford Movement, and GoblinMarket,"VictorianPoetry,31 (1993), 8o. Rossettiin fact
"took the trouble to illustrateher own copy of [Keble's] The ChristianYearwithnaive
forKeble's verse (Battiscombe,
littlemarginaldrawings"despite her lack of trueaffinity
p. 18o).
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ROSSETTI
S "GOBLIN
MARKET"
361
"thesignsof the Creator."12 Since the incarnationof Christ,the
beautyof the physicalworldwas shaped byhis continuingpresence here on earth.The job of the Christianwas to look forthe
signsof Christon earth and to understandthe naturalworldin
termsof his continuingpresence and incarnation in order to
achieve ultimateChristiansalvation.13Moreover,the verycomposition of poetrywas based, according to Newman, "on correct moral perception ... where there is no sound principlein
exercise there will be no poetry."''4In order for Christinato
produce excellent poetry,she thereforeneeded to attemptto
resolve the underlyingtension between her desire to celebrate
the sheer varietyof nature and the spiritualand moral need to
make sense of thatvariety.The collision between her own affinityfornature and her religiouslyimposed moral doctrineproduced Rossettithe poet: a poet who worried that revelingin
nature could confuse moraljudgment, therebyimperilingsalvation. UnderstandingRossettiin these various contextsshows
us thatshe was deeply concerned withher own love of nature's
varietyand itsdepiction in her Pre-Raphaeliteverse.
This concern takes center stage in Rossetti'spoetic world,
from the veryoutset of "Goblin Market,"in the formof lists.
The firstfourteenlines of the poem list for us no fewerthan
sixteentypesof goblin fruit:
Morningand evening
Maidsheardthegoblinscry:
"Comebuyourorchardfruits,
Come buy,comebuy:
Applesand quinces,
Lemonsand oranges,
Plumpunpeckedcherries,
Melonsand raspberries,
Bloom-down-cheeked
peaches,
12 G. B. Tennyson, Victorian
DevotionalPoetry:The TractarianMode (Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1981), p. 21. Tennyson presents perhaps the most thorough treatmentof the influencesof Tractarianismupon Victorianpoetryand includes
a discussionof Rossetti'swork (and Hopkins's) in his "Postscript:ChristinaRossettiand
Gerard Manley Hopkins" (pp. 197-21 1).
13 See Arseneau, p. 81.
4 Quoted in Tennyson,p. 39.
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362
NINETEENTH-CENTURY
LITERATURE
mulberries,
Swart-headed
Wildfree-born
cranberries,
dewberries,
Crab-apples,
blackberries,
Pine-apples,
Apricots,
strawberries;-15
Then, aftera five-linerespite,Rossettigoes on to catalog another thirteenof the goblin fruitsfor us. The effectupon the
senses is overwhelming,as many criticshave pointed out, but
such an observationis onlyparticularlyrelevantwithinthe context of Rossetti'sTractarianism.While the common view has
been to see these fruitsas togethersymbolicof the "fruitforbidden" (1. 479) of Eve's fallin Eden, thusrenderingthe poem
whollyallegorical, the case is not quite so simple. In other poems Rossettiutilized individualtypesof fruitas symbolicof sin
and temptation (such as in "An Apple Gathering"),but here
the forbiddenfruitis not of anysingle type.The Edenic fruitof
the Tree of Knowledge, unique as it is, servesas the means of
Eve's fall from innocence and grace, and Rossetticould certainlyhave made use of the single temptingfruithere had the
poem been intended as simple Genesis allegory.Instead, Rosdifferentfruits,all meticulously
settimakes use of twenty-nine
listed,some withaccompanyingdetails. This vision of the multifariousgoblin fruitsdoes overwhelm,but more important,
this overwhelmingof the senses can confuse moral discernment,the spiritualproblem Rossettibattledherself.
The way to combat this sensoryoverload, in Laura and
Lizzie's initialview,is twofold:the sistersmust remain united,
and theyalso must close theirsenses entirelyto the avalanche
of sensoryinput the situationattemptsto forceupon them:
Crouchingclose together
In thecoolingweather,
Withclaspingarmsand cautioninglips,
cheeksand fingertips.
Withtingling
(11.36-39)
15 "Goblin Market,"in TheComplete
A Variorum
Edition,ed.
PoemsofChristinaRossetti:
R. W. Crump, 3 vols. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press, 1979-1995), I, 1 ,
11.1- 14. Furtherreferencesto "Goblin Market"are fromthisedition and are cited parentheticallyby line numberin the text.
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ROSSETTI
S "GOBLIN
363
MARKET"
As theycrouch, Laura iterateswhat mustbe theircredo foraction if theyare to resistthejumbling of theirmoraljudgment:
"Wemustnotlook at goblinmen,
We mustnotbuytheirfruits:
Whoknowsupon whatsoiltheyfed
Theirhungry
thirsty
roots?"
(11.42-45)
The maintenance of unity of both mind and purpose is a
means of coping with the multiplicityand abundance of the
forLaura and Lizzie both,however,Laura
scene. Unfortunately
is breaking their unityeven as she acknowledges its necessity,
for she is "prickingup her golden head" (1. 41) to look. Very
earlyin the poem, then,the varietyof nature withits potential
to overwhelmand mislead is pitted against the unityand resolve of the sisters.
Justas the multiplicityof the forbiddenfruitin Rossetti's
poetic worldis at odds withthe uniqueness of the Edenic fruit,
the varietyof the temptersin the formsof the goblin men provide us with no unique Satan. The goblin men not only look
verydifferentin theiranimal aspects:
One had a cat'sface,
One whiskeda tail,
One trampedat a rat'space,
One crawledlikea snail,
One likea wombatprowledobtuseand furry,
One likea rateltumbledhurryskurry,
(11.71-76; see fig.1)
activities:
but theyalso are engaged in differentiated
One haulsa basket,
One bearsa plate,
One lugsa goldendish
Of manypoundsweight.
(11.56-59)
The repetitionof the word "one" reinforcesthatforLaura no
two of the goblin men look alike. The particularwonder of
each is unique, and we are told that although Lizzie "thrusta
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364
F,;.
NINETEENTH-CENTURY
LITERATURE
1.
dimpledfinger/ In each ear, shuteyesand ran" (11.67-68),
Laura chooses to remain,"wonderingat eachmerchantman
[emphasisadded]" (1. 70). Once again the varietyand multiplicityof the experienceare whatconfuseLaura's intellectual
and moralinstincts,
The result
causingherto reactimproperly.
is a completefragmentation
of the harmonyof the sisters,
for
now theyare separated-a situationthatwe feel inevitably
leads to Laura'sfall.
The goblinmen,strictly
speaking,are moremanifestations
ofthesupernatural
thanofthenaturalworld,and theirorigins
in the books of Rossetti'schildhoodhave been convincingly
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ROSSETTI
'S "GOBLIN
MARKET"
365
traced.'6 But the goblins are no more entirelysupernatural
than theyare entirelyhumanoid, like the traditionalgoblins
of mythology.Rossettihas provided us with a rather curious
admixtureof mythologyand her own experiences at the Zoological Gardens, as we can see fromher referencesto animals
like the wombat and the ratel.The goblins' supernaturalaura,
though, is not what drawsLaura to them; rather,the focus of
the poem is on the aspects of the goblins thatare most closely
connected with the natural 'world-namely, their fruitsand
theiranimal characteristics.Moreover,these animal characterthe goblins fromone anisticsare preciselywhat differentiate
other. Despite theirpartiallysupernaturalorigins,the goblins
are unmistakablypart of Rossetti'sconcern withthe varietyof
nature as she depicts it in this poem; and insofaras theyare,
they interferewith Laura's moral judgment almost immediately.Even though Laura has taken time to examine each particular goblin man and found each unique, to her ear they
sound entirelyharmonious:
She hearda voicelikevoiceofdoves
Cooingall together:
Theysoundedkindand fullofloves
In thepleasantweather.
(11.77-80)
Later in the poem Laura's perception of the goblins' apparent
harmonywill be contrasted sharplywith Lizzie's own uncorrupted and morallydiscerningrecognitionof theirdiscordant
voices. Also, as Mary Arseneau has perceptivelypointed out
(p. 86), Laura's comparison of the goblin voices withthe cooing of doves is a clear indicator that Laura's discernmenthas
been muddled, forthe dove is the traditionalChristiansymbol
of the Holy Spirit,while the goblins themselvesare dangerous
and perhaps even evil.
16 B. Ifor Evans traces the origins of the goblins back to such sources as Thomas
(1828), and he makes convincing argumentsfor the
Keightley'sThe FairyMythology
sources of many other aspects of the poem, including the merchantcries, the lavish
scenery,and the animal featuresof the goblin men (see "The Sources of ChristinaRossetti's'Goblin Market,"'ModernLanguageReview,28 [1933], 156-65) .
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366
NINETEENTH-CENTURY
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Laura's inabilityto locate any moral meaning in all of this
natural varietyresults in the complete loss of her abilityto
make morallyproper decisions, as we learn fromyet another
listthatRossettihas assembled forus:
hergleamingneck
Laura stretched
Likea rush-imbedded
swan,
Likea lilyfromthebeck,
Likea moonlitpoplarbranch,
Likea vesselat thelaunch
is gone.
Whenitslastrestraint
(11.8i-86)
In thislistof images Laura is compared withand therebyclosely
associated withboth the animal and vegetable natural worlds;
she is finallya vessel, then, somethingassociated withhumanity,but onlyinsofaras she has lost all restraint.She has been entirelyassimilatedinto a nature thatis devoid of moral meaning
and that exists outside the possibilityof exercisingjudgment
and restraintto mitigatethe desireforself-indulgence.The first
three images, picturesque and attractivethough theyare, provide an interpretationof Laura that,for Rossetti,would have
been terrifying.
Later in the poem, when we come upon a similarlistof images associated with Lizzie's stand against the goblins, we are
firstreminded of Laura's fall.In fact,the firstsimileused to describeLizzie is "likea lilyin a flood" (1.409), intentionallybringing to mind the lilywithwhichLaura was compared duringher
encounter withthe goblins. The imageryused forLizzie is subtly,but decidedly,of a differentsort.The narrativevoice says:
Whiteand goldenLizziestood,
Likea lilyin a flood,
Likea rockofblue-veined
stone
Lashed by tides obstreperously,-
Likea beacon leftalone
In a hoaryroaringsea,
Sending up a golden fire,-
Likea fruit-crowned
orange-tree
Whitewithblossomshoney-sweet
Sore beset bywasp and bee,
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ROSSETTI
S "GOBLIN
367
MARKET
Likea royalvirgintown
Toppedwithgildeddome and spire
Close beleagueredbya fleet
Mad to tugherstandarddown.
(11.408-21)
Unlike Laura, Lizzie is part of both the beauty and varietyof
the naturalworld-as reflectedbyher comparison to a lilyand
a blossom-ladenorange tree-and the world of human, Christian understanding.The color blue and her comparison to a
virgincertainlyindicate a referenceto theVirginMary,and, despitethe beautyof the naturalworld,Lizzie realizes her precarious position "sore beset bywasp and bee" and under assault by
"a hoaryroaringsea." Indeed, her depiction as a beacon "sending up a golden fire"is accurate, for she is a moral example,
shedding a Christianlightthroughthe chaos of nature so that
others-especially Laura-may find the moral grounding and
directiontheyrequire.
Without Lizzie to guide her, however,Laura during her
encounter withthe goblins remains morallyungrounded, cast
adriftwithouta guiding principle for conduct. Laura is oblivious to the threatthe goblins pose, even though the narrative
voice depicts themin steadilymore ominous terms,"leeringat"
(1. 93) and "signalling"(1. 95) each other.As if theyare acting
on cue, the various activitiesof the goblins begin afresh,and
theyall speak to Laura to encourage her to eat:
The whisk-tailed
merchantbade hertaste
In tonesas smoothas honey,
The cat-faced
purr'd,
The rat-pacedspokea word
Ofwelcome,and thesnail-pacedevenwasheard;
One parrot-voiced
andjolly
Cried"Pretty
Goblin"stillfor"Pretty
Polly;"One whistled
likea bird.
(11.107-14)
The goblins no longer sound like cooing doves, but Laura is
too faradriftat thispoint to realize her danger and speaks "in
haste" (1. 115) to seal her moral collapse by purchasing the
goblin fruitswith "a precious golden lock" (1. 126; see fig. 2).
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368
NINETEENTH-CENTURY
LITERATURE
41
rotj,>-'>2)Ui
FIG.
tj4VI*\bCQgoe
2.
in thebounteousvariThe resultofLaura'sself-immersion
etyofferedbythegoblinmenis herengagementin a frenzied,
gluttonousfeastduringwhichshe is unable even to differentiate whichfruitsshe is eating.Perhapsmore importantis the
betweenthedifferfactthatLaura does not careto distinguish
ent fruits,
indicatingher completeabandonmentof even the
pretenseofmoralawareness.Notuntilshe returnshomeand is
subjectedto Lizzie's"wiseupbraidings"(1. 142) does Laura try
to reconstruct
exactlywhatherexperiencewiththegoblinshas
consistedof. Laura's descriptionof her adventure,as she tells
liketheopening
us ofitin herownvoice,soundsfrighteningly
the
themselves:
goblins
speechof
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ROSSETTI
S "GOBLIN
MARKET
1
369
"I'll bringyouplumstomorrow
Freshon theirmothertwigs,
Cherriesworthgetting;
You cannotthinkwhatfigs
Myteethhavemetin,
Whatmelonsicy-cold
Piledon a dishofgold
Too hugeforme to hold,
Whatpeacheswitha velvetnap,
Pellucidgrapeswithoutone seed."
(11.170-79)
Like the goblins,Laura is intoxicatedbythe sheer excess of her
indulgence in the varietyof the fruits.No single kind of fruit
appealed to her more than anyother,and she has no particular
fruitin mind for her returnvisit-she desires them all again.
Even free from direct contact with the goblins, Laura is consumed by the remembranceof her experience in all its forms.
The experience of eating the goblin fruitand the resultsof
that experience mark the poem's most significantdeparture
fromthe Genesis story,for Laura does not immediatelysuffer
any consequences forher transgression.Unlike Adam and Eve,
Laura is not overburdenedwitheither a feelingof guilt,a fear
of "the potentiallymortalconsequences of disobedience," or a
knowledge that she has done evil (Sturrock,p. 99). 17 On the
contrary,she is in a state of exhilaration when she reaches
home, and even that night in bed the sisterspresent what
D.M.R. Bentleycalls "a stabilitythatopposes itselfto the anarchic . . . nature of the goblins" (p. 71). At least for this one
nightthe sistersregain and retainthe harmonythatcould have
shielded Laura had theymaintained it at the startof the poem.
Accordingto the narrativevoice:
Sturrockargues that "Goblin Market"is "inescapablya Genesis story:it involves
arbitrarytaboo, forbiddenfruit,and the potentiallymortalconsequences of disobedience," but in her argumentshe does not explicitlyconnect Laura's suffering
to her disobedience, per se. It seems to me thatLaura's sufferingis more accuratelya resultof
her desire to repeat her experience than of her originaltransgression.The goblin fruit
is not intrinsically
harmful,nor is an omnipotentarbiterof the "taboo" involvedin meting out punishment,as in the Genesis story.Sturrock'sdescriptionof the poem as "inescapably a Genesis story,"then,remainsunconvincing.
17
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370
LITERATURE
NINETEENTH-CENTURY
Goldenhead bygoldenhead,
Like twopigeonsin one nest
Foldedin each other'swings,
Theylaydownin theircurtainedbed:
Like twoblossomson one stem,
snow,
Liketwoflakesofnew-fall'n
Like twowandsofivory
Tippedwithgoldforawfulki' Ts.
Cheekto cheekand breastto breast
in one nest.
Lockedtogether
(11.184-91, 197-98)
This pictureof serenitydiffersfromthe listsdescribingthe goblins and fromthe listsof images describingthe sistersindividually,for here neither solitarinessnor true varietyexists.While
snowflakesand blossoms are not identical naturalphenomena,
theirfreshnessand puritysuggestthatthese sistersremain even
now unmarred by ugliness or defect.The absence of variety,at
least as it is presented here, is the happiest and least threatening of all possible states and exists even afterLaura's physical
consumptionof the goblin fruit.
If Laura's subsequent decline is not linked to the actual
eating of the fruit,as in the Genesis story,to what can we attributeit? It is not surprisingthat the keyprovidingan answer
for this question lies in another of Rossetti'slists. Although
Laura and Lizzie pass a peaceful and harmoniousnight,the following day brings the advent of another loss of harmonybetweenthe sisters.
Laura rosewithLizzie:
Fetchedin honey,milkedthecows,
Airedand setto rightsthehouse,
Kneadedcakesofwhitest
wheat,
Cakesfordaintymouthsto eat,
Nextchurnedbutter,
whippedup cream,
satand sewed;
Fed theirpoultry,
Talkedas modestmaidensshould:
Lizziewithan open heart,
Laura in an absentdream,
One content,one sickin part.
(11. 202-12)
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ROSSETTI
S "GOBLIN
MARKET"
371
The listhere, unlike the listsof goblin fruits,suggestsa tedium
of routine inherent in domestic pastoral life-a life,incidentally,that seems to have been satisfying
enough for Laura beforebut now is a wearisomeburden forher. The dizzyingeffect
of her self-indulgencein the varietyof nature has been so pleasurable thatLaura now findsa returnto her previousroutines
impossiblyconstraining.
Such a dilemma is particularlyinterestingin lightof what
we knowof Rossetti'sown life.Her various biographershave indicated thatRossettiled a quiet, retiringlife,devotingmuch of
her timeas a youngwoman to caringforher invalidfatherand
laterworkingcloselywiththe nuns at Highgate Hall. According
to Lionel Stevenson, "bythe time [Rossetti]was eighteen she
had givenup going to the theater,in spite of her love of drama
and music, because she believed that actors and other stage
folkwere prone to too much self-indulgence"(p. 8o). And accordingto KatherineMayberry,"from1854 until i 866 [the period duringwhich "Goblin Market"was written],ChristinaRossettiled a comparativelyquiet life,dividingher time between
her three central interests:her art,her religion,and her family"(p. 8). The theme of distastefora lifeof excitementand societyruns throughmuch of her poetry,most noticeablyin "Repining,"in which she depicts a girlwho "begs to returnto her
quiet isolation" (Stevenson,p. 84). We should not be surprised,
then,to see Rossettistrugglingwiththe same sortof conflictbetween a life of self-indulgentexcitementand one of ascetic
simplicity-withinthe verse of "Goblin Market."From whatwe
know of Rossetti'slove of nature,perhaps her greatesttemptation to leave her quiet lifewas the wonder of the naturalworld
around her. We see thissame inner tension in Laura, afterher
experience withthe goblins.
The mountingtensionin Laura and her increasingspiritual
desolation as she pines away are reflectedby a corresponding
change in her appearance. Her hair,whichwas golden less than
one hundred lines before,"whenthe noon waxed bright/ . ..
grew thin and gray" (11.276-77). Her behavior changes also,
forshe is no longer able to keep herselfin bed withLizzie during the night.The peaceful and harmonious scene of the two
of them asleep side by side is interrupted,for afterLizzie falls
asleep Laura rises and spends the night "in a passionate yearn-
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372
NINETEENTH-CENTURY
LITERATURE
ing" (1. 266), weeping and gnashingher teeth "forbaulked desire" (1. 267) of a repeat of her previous exhilaratingexperience. Finally,we are told that Laura does not even attemptto
participate any longer in the simple chores of her domestic
countrylife.
In order to redeem her rapidlyfailingsister,Lizzie must
finda way to reestablishthat harmonyand unityso splintered
byLaura's goblin experience:
TenderLizziecould notbear
To watchhersister'scankerouscare
Yetnotto share.
(11.299-301)
The only course of action that Lizzie can conceive of taking
thatwill provideboth her and her sisterwitha commonalityof
men herself,and
experience is to encounter the fruit-merchant
to do so she must overcome her own fears "and for the first
time in her life/ Beg[i]n to listenand look" (11.327-28). But
Lizzie's visit to the haunted glen is fundamentallydifferent
fromher sister'sbecause of theirdifferentmotivationsin dealing withthe goblins. Whereas Laura's determinationto experience the goblin fruitswas based firston her fascinationwith
theirinfinitevarietyand second on her own inabilityto refrain
from self-indulgence,Lizzie's visit to the goblins is driven by
Christianvalues. First,and most important,Lizzie is moved to
take this course of action by a pure, unconditional love for
her degeneratingsister.Moreover,Lizzie's aim is not simplyto
experience nature but to meet it and wrestfromit the secret
of her sister'ssalvation-and, by association, her own. Thus
Laura's failurein Tractariantermsto scrutinizenatureforsigns
of a greaterpurpose than mere self-indulgenceis redeemed by
Lizzie's fundamentallyTractarianapproach to the problem of
redemption and salvation. In approaching the overwhelming
natural world that seduced her sister,Lizzie begins on much
firmermoral ground.
The differencebetween Lizzie's experience and Laura's
becomes apparent as the scene of Lizzie's encounter unfolds.
For thirty-four
lines (11.329-62) the bewilderingdescriptionof
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ROSSETTI
S "GOBLIN
373
MARKET"
the goblins goes on-the longest and most dizzyingsuch catalog in the poem. Everythingabout them is described in rapid
succession and withmeticulous differentiation:
means of locomotion,demeanors,features,sounds, activities,and finallytheir
fruits.The cumulative images overwhelmthe imaginativeeye
as the poetic language of the catalog rises to a cacophonic crescendo. Yet in spite of this most furiousof the poem's assaults
upon the senses, Lizzie remains morallyuprightand physically
composed, never indicatingthatshe is for a moment tempted
to experience nature for a reason other than her professed
purpose. When Lizzie speaks of her desire to buy goblin fruits
she does not do so hastily,as Laura has done; rather,Lizzie is
"mindfulof Jeanie" (1. 364) in her reserved approach to the
arrayof fruits.
Further, the goblins seem much more threatening to
Lizzie's perceptions than theyseemed to Laura's. None of the
goblins speak in honey-sweettones or purr as theyapproach;
instead, theymake harsher,less melodic sounds as theycome,
and blowing,
Puffing
Chuckling,
clapping,crowing,
Cluckingand gobbling.
(11.333-35)
Rossetti'suse of harshersounds in thispassage, compared with
those describing the goblins' seduction of Laura, emphasizes
the goblins' more gratingapproach to Lizzie. The goblins have
become representativeof the uglier,less seductive side of the
natural world, though theyare still the same goblins that accosted Laura. But because of her morallydiscerningeyes and
ears, Lizzie interpretsthe goblins not as benevolentlycooing
like doves but as "chatteringlike magpies" (1. 345)-birds
withdecidedly less attractivereputationsand lacking Christian
resonance.
As Lizzie's resistance to the temptationsof the goblins
mounts, their frenzied and disharmonious activitiesintensify.
The varietyof the goblins and theiractions has become, at this
point of the poem, a threateningand dangerous repulsion
ratherthan an excitingattraction.The listsin these lines detail
a multitudeof malevolent and violent activitiesrenderingthis
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374
NINETEENTH-
LITERATURE
CENTURY
as a symbolic,ifnot a
portionof the poem, at least superficially,
literal,rape of Lizzie at the goblins' hands. Despite the violence
and struggleof the scene, though, the' rape is a failed one.
Lizzie has encountered the ambiguous varietyof the goblins
and theirfruits,but throughher moral stabilityshe has come
to a realizationthatLaura failed to reach. Lizzie has discovered
thatthe seductivebeautyof nature'svarietyis neithergood nor
evil in itselfbut instead has the abilityto produce eithergood
or evil results,depending upon the viewer'sresponse. The goblin experience and her initial taste of the fruitsproduced for
Laura an evil result,primarilybecause her approach to thatexperience was self-indulgent
and, ifnot immoral,at least amoral.
But when the same experience is encountered witha discerning moral eye and a pure heart,as Lizzie has approached it,the
resultcan be spiritualrejuvenationand moral salvation.
Many criticshave pointed to Lizzie's returnto Laura as a
barelyveiled momentofsexualityand homoeroticism,primarily
because of Lizzie's words to Laura:
"Didyoumissme?
Come and kissme.
Nevermindmybruises,
Hug me,kissme,suckmyjuices
foryou,
Squeezed fromgoblinfruits
Goblinpulp and goblindew.
Eat me,drinkme,loveme;
Laura,makemuchofme."
(11.465-72)
While the language of this passage is both erotic and suggestive,Rossetti'sintense sacramentalismand devout Christianity
render rather hollow any strictlysexual or homoerotic interpretation.As we have seen, much of the poem is concerned
withthe temptationofferedby the varietyof the naturalworld,
a temptation to which Laura succumbed earlier. The more
likelyinterpretationof this scene is a Christianone in which
Lizzie becomes a representativeof Christ,offeringcommunion
and Christiansalvation.This salvationalso renders"GoblinMarket" as an unlikely(although much improvedfroma Christian
perspective)variationof the Genesis story,foronly in the New
Testamentdo we finallyreach the possibilityof Christiansalva-
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ROSSETTI
S "GOBLIN
MARKET"
375
tion. Lizzie has finallyand ultimatelyturned the varietyof the
goblin fruitsinto a physicalmode of salvationforher ailing sister,forLizzie is morallyastute enough to understandwhat can
be taken awayfromnature to provide meaning for her sister's
experiences.
Aftertastingthe juices of the goblin fruitsagain, in the
formof communion fromher sister,Laura undergoes a spirithatis described in imageryhighlysuggestual transformation
tiveof a rendingof the soul, followedby a resurrectionfroma
state indistinguishablefrom death. Once again, as occurred
with her decline into spiritualdesolation, Laura's recoveryis
dramatizedby a correspondingchange in physicalappearance
and behavior.Aftershe regains consciousness,we are told:
Laura awokeas froma dream,
Laughedin theinnocentold way,
HuggedLizziebutnottwiceor thrice;
Her gleaminglocksshowednotone threadofgrey,
Her breathwassweetas May
Andlightdancedin hereyes.
(11.537-42)
For Rossettia returnto spiritualwholeness and a stateof Christian grace seems necessarilyto require a harmony and unity
among the sisters.Throughout "Goblin Market,"in fact,such a
stateofharmonyand unityhas alwaysprovidedthe surestmeans
of happiness and the starkestcontrastto the ambiguityand varietyof the mysteriousgoblin men who threatento upset both
domestic tranquilityand the moraljudgment thatprovidesfor
Christiansalvation.
In this context the concluding lines of Rossetti's poem
seem to offera more than satisfactory
resolution to the experiences of Laura and Lizzie:
"Forthereis no friendlikea sister
In calmor stormy
weather;
To cheerone on thetediousway,
To fetchone ifone goes astray,
To liftone ifone totters
down,
To strengthen
whilstone stands."
(11.562-67)
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376
NINETEENTH-
CENTURY
LITERATURE
By arrivingat this conclusion herselfin her own storytelling,
Laura makes clear thatshe has learned the lesson exemplified
the message contained in Laura's
byLizzie. But more significant,
final speech is not merelyan affirmationof biological sisterhood; rather,having a sistercan be the means of achieving a
human harmonythatallows one to stand,fortifiedratherthan
forlorn,uprightamid the bewilderingarrayof human experience fromwhich one may be unable, alone, to make moral
sense. In "Goblin Market"the bewildermentcomes specifically
fromnature,and it is in unearthingthe secretsof Christiansalvation in nature thata sistercan lightthe wayas a spiritualbeacon.'8 Understandingthiscrucial conflictthatlies at the center
of "Goblin Market"requires a reconsiderationof Rossetti'suse
of the listto presentin quite real and literaltermsthe fearshe
feltof the seductiveand multifariousnaturalworld.
Pennsylvania
StateUniversity
18
Bentley,too, argues thatthe culminationof the poem lies in the "right-thinking
Laura who drawsupon her own past experiences, as well as Lizzie's, to emphasize the
importanceof communityand mutuality"(p. 79).
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