Summary of Goblin
Market
When passing through ‘Goblin Market’, sisters ‘Lizzie’ and ‘Laura’
have different opinions on how to react to the goblin’s selling techniques. Lizzie is adamant that they should avoid the goblin’s food at all costs and is very
concerned with the dangers that they face to the girls. Laura, however, does
not possess the same restraints as Lizzie and gives into the temptation of
the food that the goblin’s offer. Having no money to spend, ‘Laura’ purchases
the fruit with a “golden curl”.
When Lizzie returns to Laura, she is warned of a girl
named ‘Jeanie’, who met her demise due to dabbling in the market. The next day the
two girls complete their household chores, each demonstrating opposite
attitudes. Rossetti uses mirroring to emphasise how each girl appears to be the
opposite of the other.
Laura is described as being tormented by the memory of the
goblin’s fruit and soon she becomes ill and weak with “passionate yearning” for
their food. Lizzie, concerned for her sister’s welfare, takes it upon
herself to return to the market to get more food in order to cure Laura. She
tells the goblins that she wants to buy some fruit but they will not take her
money, telling her that she must eat the food there and then. When she refuses
they grab her and try to physically force the food into her mouth. She stands
her ground and refuses to open her mouth, despite the goblin’s aggression. Eventually, the goblin’s give up and Lizzie then returns to her sister and tells her to “hug me, kiss me, suck my juices
squeez’d from goblin fruits for you”. Years later, when the sisters are married
and have children of their own, Laura tells her children the story of her
youth, how her sister risked her life to save her and ultimately the importance
of sisterhood.
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