The Goblin Market: A Look Into Our World

                                              The Goblin Market: A Look Into Our World
     On the surface level, Christina Rosetti’s “Goblin Market” tells a story of two sisters who live in a world where goblin merchants sell fruits to unsuspecting young maids. Their enticing call and intoxicating fruit, when eaten, break down the very essence of the person; the physical body shows signs of aging, and the inward spirit withers away into nothing. Laura gives in to the goblin’s call and partakes in the voluntary eating of their fruit, and she begins to wither away. Lizzie, her sister, cannot bear to see her beloved sister in such agony, and she goes to the goblins to find a cure for her sister. While she’s with the goblins, they torture her because she will not voluntarily eat the fruit, but eventually, they give up and she runs home and saves her sister. On a deeper level, however, the story parallels Christ and the sacrifices he made for us, and the fruit symbolizes the sin we partake in every day.
     The goblins cry “Come buy, come buy” (1), and this call is enough to persuade Laura. She goes against Lizzie saying “We must not look at the goblin men / We must not buy their fruit” (2) and “Their offers should not charm us, / Their evil gifts would harm us” (2). Laura cannot reason that the goblins’ fruit is bad for her, but Lizzie can. Laura gives in to the decadent fruit (1), thereby giving in to temptation and sin. Lizzie withstands the temptation and we can tie this to Matthew 4:1-11 when Jesus was tempted. Both Lizzie and Jesus withstood the temptation thrust their way unlike those around them.
     When Laura goes to the goblins to eat their fruit, they demand some form of payment, but she has nothing to give. Instead of a gold or silver coin, Laura voluntarily gives up “a golden curl” (4) from her hair. This symbolizes Laura giving up her innocence; once she gives it up, she can never have it back. By voluntarily giving up a part of herself, she can now partake in the eating of the fruit. The voluntary nature of the act suggests that the goblins will only take want is given, not taken; they will not take anything by force because there is no enjoyment in brutishly taking something, but there is revelry in taking something that is freely given. A person cannot be forced to sin; sinning is always done voluntarily.
     After Laura eats the fruit, her body and spirit begin to decay. Her hair grew “thin and grey” (8), and she “dwindled… / to swift decay and burn / her fire away” (8). Laura loses everything lively about her; her spark dies. The fruit has an evil essence and it destroys whatever it consumes. This also happened to another maid, Jeanie when she ate the fruit, and she eventually died.
     Laura can no longer hear the goblins’ cry, but Lizzie can, and the fact that Lizzie hears the cry angers Laura (7). Laura dreams of the goblins and their fruit; she can think of nothing else. She goes through withdrawals (8) even though she only ate the fruit once, and this demonstrates how powerfully evil the fruit is. It can corrupt after one use just like sin can. After committing any sin for the first time, not only do we lose our innocence, but we also get intoxicated by the feeling of pleasure from the sin like Laura does with the fruit.
     After watching Laura suffer in agony and “knocking at Death’s door” (9), Lizzie decides to take action and go to the goblins to get some fruit for Laura to ease her pain. When she gets there, however, it is not easy. She tosses her penny at the goblins and asks them to “Give me much and many” (10), but they tell her “Nay, take a seat with us, / Honour and eat with us” (11). Lizzie knows this is what Laura did, and she refuses to end up like Laura. After her refusal, the goblins become angry and “Their looks were evil” (11). They “tore her gown” (11), “soiled her stocking” (11), “twitched her hair out by the roots” (12), and “stamped upon her tender feet” (12); they terrorized Lizzie in their attempt to make her voluntarily eat the fruit. Lizzie refuses to open her mouth and drink the juice that flows down her face.
     The goblins eventually give up and Lizzie runs home to Laura having accomplished her task. When she reunites with Laura, she tells Laura to “Hug me, kiss me, suck my juices” (13) because even the juice of the fruit has the ability to make Laura feel better, and feel better she does. The sacrifice heals Laura.
     Lizzie’s symbolic role in “Goblin Market” functions as a Christ figure. Lizzie does not give in to the temptation of the fruit like Laura does. She is able to withstand the evil of the fruit. When Lizzie goes to the goblins for Laura, she does so out of sacrificial love. Like Christ on the cross, Lizzie endures beatings for the sake of the one she loves, her sister. When she returns home, Laura finds redemption in Lizzie as we do in Christ. Because of Lizzie’s sacrifice, Laura finds hope and restoration; we, as believers, find hope and restoration in Christ. Gone are the old days of suffering and sinning because of a new life found in Christ. Laura finds this in Lizzie.