Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market"

EKW

ENGL 204: British Literature II

Rejecting Victorian Feminine Standards

Christina Rossetti's poem, “Goblin Market” invokes several aspects of feminine standards as expectations in the Victorian age. Throughout the poem, the narrator asserts anxieties regarding gender roles and the proper positions to which females should adhere. Alluding to the significance placed on a woman's chastity, the author weaves an unlikely representation of the female fall. In her work, Rossetti explores the inferior characterization of women, while acknowledging the passions within them. The revolutionary construction of a female heroine acting outside of gender expectations, while still able to maintain her honor, suggests that female chastity is a fallacy. The poem ultimately dismisses the strict expectations assigned to women, while simultaneously embodying the prejudices that plague them during this period.

To fully understand the narrator's representation of femininity in the Victorian age, it is imperative to examine the language employed to create the setting and characters. Interestingly, the poem maintains a childlike, innocent tone throughout its stanzas, supporting the historical assumption of a woman's inherent ignorance. This represents the subordinate status of women in the Victorian time period who were seen as less capable than their male counterparts. The poem employs an almost fantasy-like setting in its illustrious descriptions of fruit which “All ripe together / In summer weather” (15-16). Rossetti's choice for such an atmosphere places her female characters in a fantastical world, suggesting their synonymity with their surrounding innocence. As twilight creeps onward and the women continue their journey, they participate in submissive behaviors, as “Laura bowed her head to hear, / Lizzie veiled her blushes” (34-35). Rossetti portrays the sisters as pure creatures, vulnerable to the fearful creatures of the night that threaten their chastity....