During the Victorian period, women’s roles were a source of much contention. The so-called “Woman Question” concerned women and marriage, domesticity, and their moral roles (Victorian Debates about Women, Gender, and Sexuality). Many Victorians idealized middle-class women as naturally pure and “sequestered from political issues and economic competition”, as moral guides to men who faced the rough world of the marketplace (Victorian Debates about Women, Gender, and Sexuality). Within this idealization, female appetite in any sphere of sexuality, emotion, or consumer desire was considered dangerous and needed to be controlled. Christina Rossetti’s 1862 poem "Goblin Market" depicts two sisters, Laura and Lizie, who encounter a group of goblins selling forbidden fruit (Rossetti). Laura gives in to temptation, paying with a lock of her golden hair, and subsequently declines physically and emotionally (Rossetti). Lizie later confronts the goblins and, after fending off their assault, brings home a “fiery antidote” to restore her sister (Rossetti).
Diese wissenschaftliche Arbeit analysiert Christina Rossettis Gedicht "Goblin Market" im Kontext viktorianischer Geschlechtervorstellungen und der sogenannten „Woman Question“. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Darstellung weiblicher Begierde, moralischer Stärke und gesellschaftlicher Kontrolle über Frauen im viktorianischen Zeitalter. Anhand der Figuren Laura und Lizzie zeigt die Arbeit, wie Rossetti traditionelle Vorstellungen weiblicher Tugend hinterfragt: Während Lauras verbotener Konsum der Goblin-Früchte die gesellschaftliche Angst vor weiblichem Verlangen offenlegt, verkörpert Lizzie eine neue Form weiblicher Stärke, die auf Mut, Widerstandskraft und Solidarität basiert. Die Analyse argumentiert, dass "Goblin Market" viktorianische Ideale weiblicher Passivität kritisiert und stattdessen ein alternatives Verständnis von Tugend und weiblicher Selbstbestimmung entwickelt.
Table of Contents
1. Consuming Virtue: Female Appetite and Moral Strength in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market
Objectives and Themes
This paper examines how Christina Rossetti’s poem Goblin Market critiques Victorian gender ideologies by exploring the tension between female appetite, moral agency, and economic dependence. It investigates how the poem subverts the traditional domestic ideal by redefining virtue as active, embodied strength rather than passive submission.
- The Victorian "Woman Question" and social expectations of domesticity.
- Female appetite as a transgressive and dangerous act in the eyes of Victorian culture.
- Economic dependence and the metaphor of the body as a commodity.
- Lizzie’s resistance as an alternative, empowering model of female virtue.
- The importance of female bonding and mutual protection in the face of temptation.
Excerpt from the Book
Laura’s fall is even more profoundly economic.
When Laura states to the goblins, “I have no copper in my purse, / I have no silver either”, she reveals her lack of independent financial power (Rossetti 118-119). Laura actually offers her hair as payment, a representation of youth and beauty, as well as a symbol of womanhood. By transforming this symbol into a form of currency, the poem points out that a woman’s body becomes a source of economic exchange. The law in the Victorian period often worked to curtail women’s economic independence through the concept of coverture (Victorian Debates about Women, Gender, and Sexuality 2). While the poem does not explicitly reference this structure, Laura’s lack of independent income serves as a reminder of the legal structures that kept women financially dependent on men (Victorian Debates about Women, Gender, and Sexuality 1-2). In this instance, Rossetti indicates that women’s lack of economic power allows their bodies to be used as sources of economic exchange.
Summary of Chapters
1. Consuming Virtue: Female Appetite and Moral Strength in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market: This section analyzes how the poem portrays the cultural fear of female desire and argues that Rossetti redefines virtue through the contrasting fates and actions of the two sisters, Laura and Lizzie.
Keywords
Christina Rossetti, Goblin Market, Victorian period, Woman Question, female appetite, domesticity, virtue, moral agency, economic independence, coverture, resistance, female bonding, gender ideology, temptation, symbolism
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this academic paper?
The paper explores how Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market addresses Victorian concerns regarding women, specifically focusing on the intersection of female appetite, moral integrity, and economic status.
What are the core thematic areas discussed in the work?
The core themes include the Victorian "Woman Question," the pathologization of female desire, the connection between economic power and bodily autonomy, and the transition from passive feminine ideals to active moral resistance.
What is the central argument or research objective?
The paper argues that while Victorian culture sought to discipline female appetite, Rossetti uses the poem to redefine female virtue as an active, embodied strength found in mutual protection and bonding, rather than passive domestic submission.
Which methodology is applied in the research?
The author employs a literary analysis of Goblin Market, contextualizing the poem within Victorian societal debates regarding gender, sexuality, and legal structures like coverture.
What topics are covered in the main body of the text?
The main body addresses the initial breach of restraint, the economic implications of Laura’s fall, the societal pathologization of her desire, and Lizzie’s subsequent refusal to yield, which establishes a new model of virtue.
Which keywords best characterize the research?
The study is characterized by keywords such as female appetite, Victorian gender ideology, moral agency, economic dependence, and female bonding.
How does the author interpret the significance of Laura's hair in the poem?
The author interprets Laura’s offer of her hair as a transformation of a symbol of womanhood into currency, highlighting how women's bodies were often treated as sources of economic exchange due to their lack of financial independence.
In what way does the author contrast the fates of Jeanie and Lizzie?
Jeanie serves as a warning of the fatal consequences of female indulgence in a restrictive society, whereas Lizzie’s refusal to give in to the goblins represents a redemptive, active model of integrity that avoids the destructive path of retribution.
- Quote paper
- Felix Konermann (Author), 2026, Consuming Virtue. Female Appetite and Moral Strength in Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1724676
