The Goblin Market is a poem about two sisters Lizzie and
Laura. At night there are little goblin men that sing a song to get people
to buy their fruit. Lizzie is not interested in their fruit and stays away from
them whenever they come out. She warns her sister Laura to stay away from them
too. One of Lizzie’s friends ate their fruit and lived a horrible and died at
an early age. Laura ignores her sister’s warning and trades a lock of her hair
for some of the goblin’s fruit. After Laura eats the fruit she begins to have intense
cravings for the fruit. At night she waits for the goblins to come out again
but she can no longer hear their song, but Lizzie can. The causes Laura to be
depressed and she no longer fulfills her daily responsibilities and prematurely
ages. Lizzie is deeply saddened by her sister’s current state. She creates a
plan to buy fruit from the goblins to bring them back to Laura so she can
return to normal. After Lizzie pays the goblins for the fruit they try to convince
her to stay with them and eat the fruit. When she refuses to eat the fruit the
goblins become angry and attack her. They held her hands and tried to force her
to eat the fruit. They we unable to get her to eat it but managed to cover her
in the juices of the fruit. The goblins then retreat and Lizzie goes home. Once
she sees Laura she tells her to consume the fruit juices that covered her. Laura
does and then she returns to normal. Lizzie and Laura both grow up and become
mothers. At the end of the story Laura tells her children how her sister saved
her. I feel that this story demonstrates how a someone’s family would be willing to do anything to save them ,
even if it includes risking their own
lives .
The story does touch a lot of religious aspects especially considering the time period it is told. I believe that this like many religious stories is more of a tale to make the reader feel guilty or to teach a lesson of not giving in to temptation. The hair is a symbol of femininity. Clearly this was taken away once Laura cut her hair for the apple. The paleness represented purity and her paleness was gone once she ate the apple.The apple symbolizes more of a poison or sexual dirtiness.This story clearly foreshadows many other intriguing renditions that can be similar to this one. Such as the story of Adam&Eve as well as Snow white, ect. I dont necessarily see the lesbian relationship that many acclaimed scholars and authors reacted to as they read the story. I see the angelic tone and description of the two sisters as more of an art form and whimsical fairy tail than more of a relationship.
ReplyDeleteI think that this story does represent a lot about family and values. We can see how distraught Lizzie became after the incident with her sister. She goes to great measures to get her sister back to normal. It makes us think about the time period and the culture of where these sisters were. The extreme level that Lizzie took to save Laura shows her family values and how much she cared for her sister. I agree with Celina about how family should be willing to do anything save each other. The fact that in the end Laura is telling her children about how Lizzie saved her, enables readers to think about the lesson that is taught in the story. There also could be religious connotations in the story, their values could be brought from the religion that they practice.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading the poem, I could see Laura’s indulgence on the fruit juice as a sexual reference as well as some kind of sin. Laura is unable to resist temptation and gives in to the goblins’ influence when she hands over a lock of her hair in exchange for the fruit. Although Laura has conceded to her curiosity, Lizzie stands firm and refuses to give in. Laura's temptation to eat the goblin fruit resembles the temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden. Eve and Laura both eat the fruit and suffer for their actions afterwards. What I also realized was that there are no male characters in this poem. In the second line, "Maids heard the goblins cry", the author is basically saying that either men can’t hear the cry or that they don’t exist in Laura's and Lizzie's world at all. Just like in the story of Adam and Eve, women are more prone to weakness than men and are more likely to give in to temptation which is shown when only Eve, not Adam, eats the apple.
ReplyDeleteI like that this poem has many secret meanings to it. When I read the poem before class, I did not recognize the hidden themes. When we had our class discussion about the possible hidden themes, including rape, drug use, and lesbian encounters, I was surprised. Reading it the second time, I believe that the fruit definitely could have been a drug that Laura became addicted to. I also believe that the Goblins raped Lizzie when they made her "eat the fruit." Overall, the poem confused me but it did keep me interested.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the poem I didnt really get what was going on, but after it was explained in class and i looked over it, I understood it. The goblin men represent temptation. The poem reminded me a lot of Adam & Eve because they were also tempted by the Tree of Knowledge and Eve fell for temptation. The poem talks about staying pure and not falling for temptation. The two main characters were Lizzie and Laura, Laura falls for the temptation and cuts he hair to trade the goblin men for fruit. Hair during this time was a big thing, the girls had long beautiful hair. I think his poem also talks about family and how family will do anything for one another. Lizzie goes to get the fruit for her sister. I think this poem talks more about how a sister was willing to do anything to save her sister.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the poem I didnt really get what was going on, but after it was explained in class and i looked over it, I understood it. The goblin men represent temptation. The poem reminded me a lot of Adam & Eve because they were also tempted by the Tree of Knowledge and Eve fell for temptation. The poem talks about staying pure and not falling for temptation. The two main characters were Lizzie and Laura, Laura falls for the temptation and cuts he hair to trade the goblin men for fruit. Hair during this time was a big thing, the girls had long beautiful hair. I think his poem also talks about family and how family will do anything for one another. Lizzie goes to get the fruit for her sister. I think this poem talks more about how a sister was willing to do anything to save her sister.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the poem I didnt really get what was going on, but after it was explained in class and i looked over it, I understood it. The goblin men represent temptation. The poem reminded me a lot of Adam & Eve because they were also tempted by the Tree of Knowledge and Eve fell for temptation. The poem talks about staying pure and not falling for temptation. The two main characters were Lizzie and Laura, Laura falls for the temptation and cuts he hair to trade the goblin men for fruit. Hair during this time was a big thing, the girls had long beautiful hair. I think his poem also talks about family and how family will do anything for one another. Lizzie goes to get the fruit for her sister. I think this poem talks more about how a sister was willing to do anything to save her sister.
ReplyDeleteThe Goblin market is packed with symbolism and discrete messages. The story exploits the "hush hush " aspects of the period, but at the same times it also displays noble aspects as well. The main message is that family and friends can help overcome all obstacles. Lizzie willingly risks her own life in order to save her sisters. In doing so she saves her and they live on and get married,only question is to who?
ReplyDelete