The Goblin Men’s Fruit Symbol Analysis

The goblin men’s fruit is a complex symbol that represents different kinds of desire and temptation throughout the poem. For Laura specifically, the fruit represent a desire for things that are forbidden, exotic, and sensual. The goblins present the fruit to Laura on golden plates and describe it using sensuous language, emphasizing its taste, color, and juiciness. There is clearly a sexual dimension to Laura’s desire for the fruit, especially evident in the descriptions of her eating it: she “sucked and sucked and sucked the more,” and “sucked until her lips were sore.” Laura also speculates, at first slightly fearfully but later eagerly, about the exotic place where the fruit must have grown, wondering, “Who knows upon what soil they fed / Their hungry thirsty roots?” This suggests that for Laura, the fruit is further representative of life beyond the confines of her role as a typical Victorian woman. To eat it, then, is to metaphorically transgress past the boundaries of women’s acceptable behavior. In this way, the fruit also echoes the forbidden fruit in the biblical Garden of Eden: in the Bible, human beings fell from grace when Eve ate this fruit and introduced sin into the world. Laura’s eating of the goblin men’s fruit is a similar example of her giving into temptation, and her actions strip her of her innocence: Laura’s desire for more fruit is so strong that without it, she pines away and begins to weaken and age.

Lizzie similarly recognizes the fruit as an object of desire, but she perceives its dangerous qualities and tries to warn her sister against eating it. Like Laura, Lizzie becomes physically aroused by the sound of the goblin fruit sellers. Yet, in contrast to her sister’s overt curiosity, Lizzie is ashamed of her interest in the fruit. Like Eve, who attempts to hide herself from the sight of God after eating the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden, Lizzie crouches low to the ground and tries to “veil[..] her blushes.” When Lizzie thrusts “a dimpled finger/ In each ear,” shuts her eyes and runs away, she shows that she is not only afraid of the goblin men; she is also afraid of herself and the strength of her desire for things that are forbidden. Metaphorically speaking, Lizzie is afraid of sexual appetites that will place her beyond the pale for nineteenth-century women.

When Lizzie finally confronts the goblin men, she still desires the fruit—but importantly not for herself. She wants to purchase the fruit and bring it home to Laura in the hopes that it will work like an antidote and make her well again. In doing so, Lizzie becomes Christlike. Although acutely aware that goblin fruit brings death and misery to the women who eat it, robbing them of their peace of mind and opportunity to become wives and mothers, Lizzie risks her life and transgresses the rules to retrieve the fruit for her sister. Like Christ, who endured humiliation, torture, and death by crucifixion to save the souls of mankind, Lizzie willingly endures torture at the hands of the goblin men, who beat and abuse her when they realize that they cannot make her eat their fruit. There is also a sexual dimension to the attack Lizzie withstands, because their attempt to force fruit into her mouth might be viewed as a sexual assault or an attempt to violate and rape her. When Lizzie returns with the fruit juice dripping down her face, she instructs Laura to “suck my juices” and to “Eat me, drink me, love me,” echoing the words of Christ at the last supper when he instructed his disciples to eat his body and drink his blood. Through Lizzie’s act of sacrifice, the fruit is transformed from a symbol of forbidden and dangerous sexual desires to a symbol of sacrifice and sisterly love.