Goblin Market Rossetti critic quotes

Welch

the Victorian 1800s God was a distant symbol of power and a looming threat to scare man into living a pure life; not the unconditionally loving father we learn about today

Welch

the religious aspects of 'Goblin Market' are not a spiritual redemption of a sinner, but a sign for society's need to accept sinners where they are and not be so quick to judge

Welch

There is a great power in names and only our women are privileged to be named in the poem

Scholl

The forbidden fruit undoubtedly refers to female sexuality

Scholl

it is easy to see the produce of the goblins as the corruptible, temporal rewards of earthly life.

Scholl

She seems to encourage an ideology of acceptance rather than judgment

Scholl

She clearly argues that although the fruits of pleasure - whether they are sexual, intellectual, or otherwise - may seem sweet, they can, in fact, be destructive

Scholl

This rejection of intellectual discovery also relates to women not being able to exceed the boundaries of the private sphere

Scholl

they [Laura and Lizzie] both go beyond society's imposed limitations

Scholl

in telling their children of the goblins, the moral of the story is not a warning against approaching strange men or sampling forbidden fruits, but a valorisation of female solidarity.

Scholl

She is redeemed because she seems to outwardly fall into line with what society expects of her: she appears passionless, and seeks no pleasure for herself

Scholl

Rossetti puts her unswerving hope in Christ and heaven for the restoration of society

Yeh

Rossetti acknowledges the two extreme perceptions of women as passionate angels and whores

Yeh

It is different for each woman, each person. The temptation does not necessarily have to be sexual

Yeh

Rossetti reconciles the two by finding a middle ground. She proposes through her poem that the 'pure' women should help the fallen ones because they have the bond of sisterhood

Nevin

Rossetti converts the story into a feminist commentary through the gendering of her characters

Nevin

Rossetti realises she must not let it appear that the men have simply deceived Laura, as Eve was deceived by Satan. To allow Laura to be deceived would portray her as gullible and incompetent, reaffirming the mindsets feminism seeks to reform

Nevin

Lizzie is unmistakably a Christ-figure

Galt

as a children's fairytale would be completely plausible

Galt

a possibility... a kind of depiction of the devastating effects of addiction... Rossetti experienced firsthand the consequences... for both her brother and his wife developed fatal drug dependencies

Galt

an extreme instance of Victorian sexual repression

Galt

The main reason why Lizzie is thought to be a Christ figure is the fact that she makes a huge sacrifice for her sister in order to save her life

Hed

Laura's ethics and virtues are corrupted by the goblin men in the marketplace... much like how the moral conscience of the Victorian society is transformed by capitalism.