The Role Of Sisterhood In Goblin Market By Christina Rossetti

The Role of Sisterhood in “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti “Goblin Market” is a compelling and complex 19th century poem written by Christina Rossetti. Rossetti, a deeply pious Anglo-Catholic woman with firmly held morals and opinions; she uses “Goblin Market" as a tool with which to extend these views to the reading public. Rossetti lived in an age in which the roles of women were very limited because of the doctrine of separate spheres, which dictated that men would go out into the world but women must remain domestic. Rossetti addresses two of these female roles in “Goblin Market”, namely fallen women and sisters. Fallen women were prostitutes and as a result, immoral; they embodied none of the traditional female virtues. Sisters …show more content…
The terms sister and sisterhood carry strong religious connotations both in the poem and in the real world. One should note that Rossetti was part of this category as she spent many years working in a penitentiary for fallen women. Because Rossetti chooses to confront these contentious issues in “Goblin Market” the poem is also about the overarching role of sisterhood- both in the religious and secular sense- in Victorian society. Many critics have interpreted Rossetti’s message in many different ways. Consider the opinions of Janet Casey as expressed in her critique “The Potential of Sisterhood: Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market””. Casey does not think that gender defines sisterhood in “Goblin Market”. Casey also thinks that Rossetti tries to break down gender barriers by implying that men can also play the traditional role of women as nurturers. I disagree with Casey’s argument entirely; rather, I think Rossetti believes sisterhood is strictly defined by gender and that the natural and divine role of women specifically is to nurture. If Rossetti believed that men could also play the role of nurturers she would challenge the doctrine of separate spheres in the poem.