Sisterhood Endures Temptation

Sisterhood Endures Temptation

I thought “Goblin Market”, by Christina Rossetti, was a good poem because the plot was simple enough to understand and I could relate the heroics of Lizzie to that of my sister. I liked the themes of sisterhood and temptation, especially the relation to the story of the Garden of Eden. However, I would say that I was confused with some of the archaic diction and the cultural context of the time.

I admired the character Lizzie because throughout the poem she was always looking out for her sister, even when her sister became ill. I also liked her resilient nature when dealing with the goblin men. The quotation, “They trod and hustled her, /
Elbow’d and jostled her,
/ Claw’d with their nails…”(lines 399-401), I felt portrayed Lizzie’s resilience the best. The goblins are trying to sway her and force the fruit down her throat, but Lizzie would not nudge. Lizzie's resilience reminded me of my older sister.

My sister, having been constantly sick throughout her life, seemed similar to Lizzie in that when the goblins tried to break her down, she would not budge. Over the years, sicknesses have tried to break my sister down, but she would not budge. My sister would continue her daily life despite the illness goblins grabbing at her. I was surprised by the goblins trying so hard to feed Lizzie the fruits. I was slightly confused with how exactly the fruits made Laura sick. However, often times the things that should provide health to my sister, often sickened her more. I really appreciated Rossetti's use of creative syntax to allude to the sickening of Laura when she used “Her tree of life droop'd from the root”(260). I was caught off guard by how quickly the fruit sucked the life out of Laura, but luckily she found “life out of death”(524). Unfortunately, I can relate to seeing the life sucked out of my sister during her sicknesses. Despite their struggles, Lizzie and my sister have the will to carry on.

I really liked the inclusion of the theme of temptation throughout the poem. I thought that the girls’ innocent nature set a viable context of the temptation. The creation of the “innocent” women was created through the use of “maids” and “maidens.” The use of those words because it put in perspective the girls' naïve nature. I first noticed the temptation theme was when Lizzie said, “Their offers should not charm us, /
Their evil gifts would harm us" (65-66). Those two lines helped to connect the poem to the story of the Garden of Eden. Lizzie and Laura seemed to represent Adam and Eve, for Laura was tempted by the goblins as Adam was tempted by the snake. The Garden of Eden is a story, in my opinion, of the ultimate temptation. The poem provides that allusion. I was surprised that there was another allusion to the Garden of Eden, “For my sake the fruit is forbidden”(479). I knew