Biblical Allusions In Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market

The average children 's story usually one of fantastical creatures, simple plots, and innocence. Christina Rossetti 's “Goblin Market”, however, is not the average children 's story. It is filled to the brim with sexual innuendos and religious allusions that make it hard to believe it is a popular children 's poem. Without explicitly mentioning sexual acts or referring Paradise, Rossetti is able to paint images in the reader 's mind through the use of two girls, Laura and Lizzie. Through her use of allusions, Rossetti is able to draw parallels between Laura and Eve and Lizzie and Jesus to elevate “Goblin Market” into a retelling of temptation, fall, and redemption. On its surface, “Goblin Market” tells a fairly simple story. Laura and her sister, Lizzie, are sitting on the bank of a brook when they hear the call of the goblins to “Come …show more content…
Living in Eden, Adam and Eve are surrounded by a flourishing forest and luscious fruits. God allowed them to eat any fruit they desired, except those from the tree of knowledge. It is understood in “Goblin Market” that the sisters have been told they should avoid the goblins as much as possible. This is evident in Lizzie 's warning of “We must not look at goblin men, We must not buy their fruits” (42-43). Yet when a person is told they can not do something, in this case eat fruit, it often inspires them to do just that. Both Laura and Eve fall to temptation and partake of the fruit. A difference in the allusion, however, is that there is redemption for Laura, while Eve is cast out of Eden and can not return. The second comparison between “Goblin Market” and the Adam and Eve story is the use of fruit and some form of tempting creature. Forbidden fruit makes an appearance in both stories, and in both there are consequences to eating this forbidden fruit. As stated in the section “Goblin Market” in the book Poetry for