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Author
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Comment
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Lizzi
Unregistered User
(1/13/03 3:10:32 am)
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goblin market by Christine Rossetti
Is it as rude as it implies?
I've read 2 versions of it - both the same text but one illustrated (arthur rackham) and the other not, and laid out differently. One way seems to get my eyebrows raised (the illustrated one) and the other seems more innocent. What is a more English literary way of saying this please?
Also, does anyone have any useful information on how the poem was written etc please.
(Hoping this will make some sense)
Thank you
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(1/13/03 1:40:13 pm)
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GM
Are there sexual meanings in Goblin Market? Oh yes!
Can it be read innocently? If you are 7 or 8, maybe.
It was meant for adults, not kids originally.
And yes--I am sure Rosesetti knew what she was doing.
Jane
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Helen
Registered User
(1/13/03 5:29:50 pm)
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Re: GM
Dear Lizzi:
We just had a discussion about the "Goblin Market" back in summer which might help a bit: you can find it at
www.surlalunefairytales.c...t_pg1.html
You might also want to take a look at a book entitled _Ventures Into Childland: Victorians, Fairy Tales, and Femininity_, by U.C. Knoepflmacher. The nature of the poem, and its complexity, have challenged critics from the beginning; as Rossetti’s brother, William Michael Rossetti, put it while editing a collected edition of her poetry, "I have more than once heard Christina say that she did not mean anything profound by this fairy tale." The statement, judging from the critiques of the time, was as unconvincing then as it is now. In a contemporary review, Mrs. Charles Eliot Norton plaintively asked, "Is it a fable - or a mere fairy story - or an allegory against the pleasure of sinful love - or what is it?" Mrs. Norton came to the conclusion that it was an amalgamation of sorts, saying that the poem was a "ballad which children will con with delight, and which riper minds may ponder over." Knoepflmacher notes that she "became the first to argue that ‘Goblin Market’ might, in fact, equally appeal to two segregated audiences, the sexually innocent and the sexually mature." I hope that this helps a bit!
Best,
Helen
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Lizzi
Unregistered User
(1/14/03 1:42:26 am)
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Thank you
I think I fluctuate between the two when reading it. Part of my
mind wants to maintain an innocence whilst reading it
I see a middle area, whereby it's not about sexual pleasures or literal goblins but about the courtship gifts which could lead to marriage. Being courted could result in a woman of the time leading a life of nothingness - a religious and intellectual blandness by being married and therefore being owned by the gifts bestowed by prospective suitors.
Thank you for the thread link and advice everyone.
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