“Win the Fiery Antidote”: a Feminist Approach to
Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market In a time when women did not have major roles in literature or their daily lives, Christina Rossetti’s powerful poem Goblin Market is published to empower women of the Victorian Era. This poem is about two sisters, Lizzie and Laura, who live alone in the middle of the woods. They go into the woods every day to get water from the river, where they encounter goblin men selling fruits. After Laura tries the fruits and becomes ill, her sister Lizzie does everything in her power to get Lizzie the antidote from the goblin men, and eventually healing her. In Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, Rossetti portrays women as strong and independent, by having female …show more content…
Throughout the poem, both sisters empower and support each other until they get the happy ending they worked hard for. The two sisters are given a very strong personality characterized by resilience. When Rossetti writes “White and golden Lizzie stood, /like a lily in a flood” (Rossetti, 10), she describes how Lizzie stood strong in front of the goblins, like a lily in a flood much bigger than itself. In “At last the evil people, /worn out by her resistance” (Rossetti, 11), the author shows how Lizzie was resistant until the goblin men gave up and left her alone. However, men on the other hand are portrayed as goblins, who are trying to destroy women. They are given minor roles, and barely have a voice in the poem. The absence of men is also strengthened by the fact that the two sisters live …show more content…
They do all their chores for themselves, and do not wait for anyone to do things for them. By writing “We must not look at goblin men, /we must not by their fruits” (Rossetti, 2) and “Fetched in honey, milked the cows, /aired and set to rights their house” (Rossetti, 5), the author shows how the two sisters refuse to buy their goods from the goblins, and they prefer to work for them. The two quotes go smoothly together in visualizing how independent and self-sufficient the two sisters are. Lizzie and Laura also go through the woods every day to get their water, “They drew the gurgling water from its deep” (Rossetti, 5), which also shows how strong and independent they
Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market In a time when women did not have major roles in literature or their daily lives, Christina Rossetti’s powerful poem Goblin Market is published to empower women of the Victorian Era. This poem is about two sisters, Lizzie and Laura, who live alone in the middle of the woods. They go into the woods every day to get water from the river, where they encounter goblin men selling fruits. After Laura tries the fruits and becomes ill, her sister Lizzie does everything in her power to get Lizzie the antidote from the goblin men, and eventually healing her. In Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, Rossetti portrays women as strong and independent, by having female …show more content…
Throughout the poem, both sisters empower and support each other until they get the happy ending they worked hard for. The two sisters are given a very strong personality characterized by resilience. When Rossetti writes “White and golden Lizzie stood, /like a lily in a flood” (Rossetti, 10), she describes how Lizzie stood strong in front of the goblins, like a lily in a flood much bigger than itself. In “At last the evil people, /worn out by her resistance” (Rossetti, 11), the author shows how Lizzie was resistant until the goblin men gave up and left her alone. However, men on the other hand are portrayed as goblins, who are trying to destroy women. They are given minor roles, and barely have a voice in the poem. The absence of men is also strengthened by the fact that the two sisters live …show more content…
They do all their chores for themselves, and do not wait for anyone to do things for them. By writing “We must not look at goblin men, /we must not by their fruits” (Rossetti, 2) and “Fetched in honey, milked the cows, /aired and set to rights their house” (Rossetti, 5), the author shows how the two sisters refuse to buy their goods from the goblins, and they prefer to work for them. The two quotes go smoothly together in visualizing how independent and self-sufficient the two sisters are. Lizzie and Laura also go through the woods every day to get their water, “They drew the gurgling water from its deep” (Rossetti, 5), which also shows how strong and independent they