Goblin Market Themes

“Goblin Market” is a complex poetic allegory about sexual temptation. Writing in the mid-nineteenth century, at a time of strict societal expectations regarding women’s behavior, Christina Rossetti was intensely interested in the plight of fallen women—those women who, by society’s standards, were perceived to have given in to the temptation of engaging in sex outside of marriage and who were subsequently shunned. Rossetti’s fairytale-like poem focuses on two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, one of…

In “Goblin Market,” Rossetti reflects on the role of women in Victorian society. Victorian men had more freedom, education, opportunity, and leeway to express themselves sexually, but women were expected to remain sexually innocent or face serious consequences. The poem critiques the unfairness of society’s double standards, showing how they put women at a disadvantage, and then challenges them by allowing Laura to achieve a happy ending despite her transgression. However, both Lizzie and Laura’s…