In Christina Rossetti’s, “Goblin Market,” the poem speaks about addiction and temptation. We get an overview of a person named Laura and her process of becoming addicted to dangerous fruits. The author uses the imagery of food to further explore the temptation of Laura going for the goblins’ fruits. The way goblins are described in the poem are shown as good creatures with beautiful voices but of course, they have evil intentions and basically could be called two-faced creatures. Laura gives in to the temptations of the goblins and becomes sick with addiction and it’s up to her partner Lizzie to save her. Lizzie goes to the goblins to get some more fruit from them to help her suffering Laura and they don’t like the fact that she’s taking it for someone else and not for herself so she deals with the goblins’ brutality and comes out victorious and saves Laura at the end. What I liked the most is how the author went in depth with addiction for Laura. How Laura’s daily activities became worse and the fact that she thought she was going blind and deaf because she couldn’t hear the goblin’s calls but Lizzie could. It helped a lot to know how these fruits were affecting her and what she was going through.

The poem “Goblin Market” by Chistina Rossetti is about the impact of food addiction. People try to warn them not to eat the fruit and talk about what happens if they eat it. They utilize the organic product to entice her like they would with drugs. they may appear to be good on the outside, but that does not necessarily imply that they are good on the inside. The goblins were portrayed in this manner. However, they have other ideas. Therefore, they attempt to profit from that. They describe the fruits in terms that give you an idea of how good they are. The structure of the poem is as follows: first, they talk about how delicious fruits and berries are, but then they say that you shouldn’t eat them because eating them would cause bad things. The connection between pleasure and food as a substance. Laura succumbs to the temptation and experiences withdrawal in the poem. Lizzy endeavors to acquire more fruit. The Goblins get upset since she would not eat it, so they attempt to compel it. However, they were unsuccessful. She returns home and informs Laura that she can consume the juice. Lizzy puts herself at risk. Similar to an antidote.

It seems pretty clear after reading the poem “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti, that it’s theme has to do with some sort of addiction. The poem uses fruit as the symbol for the addiction.

Some suggest that it is sexual addiction, which is possible given the way the goblins treat Lizzie when she goes to get fruit for her sister. It also sounds like it is some other sort of addiction like a drug because the poem mentions that another friend died from it, and it talks about Laura being listless around the house, which sounds like withdrawal of some sort.

Most likely, the poem is talking about addiction in general, and references multiple sorts of addiction.

After reading the “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti, I found the main themes to be about evil vs. innocence and sacrifice. For starters, Laura and Lizzie represent the innocence and purity you may find in young women or children. The goblin men represent the evil for their tantalizing ways to get the girls to buy their fruit. Despite Laura’s sister, Lizzie, warning her to not go near or even look at the goblin men, Lauras lack of experience and judgement choose otherwise. Laura find herself being enchanted by the goblin merchant men and their fruit that is “Sweeter than honey from the rock, Stronger than man-rejoicing wine”. This decision nearly leads Laura to her demise as she could not find pleasure or joy in anything after that. In order to prevent Lauras passing, Lizzie sacrifices herself to get Laura the fruit she longed for, in hopes to bring life back to her. When she approaches the goblin men everything seems normal as they chant “Look at our apples Russet and dun, Bob at our cherries, Bite at our peaches”. However, when Lizzie’s fierce demeanor refuses to eat a bit of the fruit, the goblin men quickly change their behavior. “Their looks were evil. Lashing their tails They trod and hustled her”. Lizzie is able to grapple her way out and return home to Laura. Because Lizzie won the battle with the goblin men, it was as if Laura’s life and joy was restored. “Swift fire spread through her veins, knock’d at her heart. Lizzie demonstrates the theme of sacrafice and that good or “innocence” can beat evil.