Critical Analysis: Goblin MarketGender/Feminist TheoryMichael DoMany critics consider Goblin Market to be one of Christiana Rossetti's masterpieces. Written in the Victorian era, the fairytale poem portrays two girls, Lizzie and Laura, tempted by goblins selling a variety of delicious fruits in a valley. As the goblins cry "come buy, come buy" (verse 4) day and night, Laura is subjugated by the goblins' temptation despite Lizzie's warning to "don't [look] at the goblin men...don't [buy] their fruits", and then goes mad with nostalgia for the fruit. After falling into temptation, Laura's health deteriorates and she begins to age prematurely. Fearing for her sister's life, Lizzie goes to the goblin market to purchase a cure for Laura. Ultimately, Lizzie's sacrifice and resistance to the goblins' physical abuse and temptation breaks the spell cast on Laura. Rossetti's poetry presents a perfect interpretation of the gender war between men and women and becomes a symbol of women's emancipation. The poem even goes as far as to say that the bond the two sisters share is stronger than that between a man and a woman because "there is no friend like a sister / in calm or stormy weather." Through the lens of a feminist, the characters in the poem represent the two different gender roles during the Victorian era. After reading Goblin Market, the portrayal of women as innocent beings shows a clear representation of the Victorian perspective. The use of the word "maid" to describe Lizzie and Laura suggests that these women are young, innocent, unmarried virgins. On the other hand, the goblins represent the role of men. In the poem, Rossetti provides animal characteristics to the Goblins, for example: “One whipped a tail…One…half of paper…to help with their desire for greed, and the author uses the goblin symbol in the context of the poem to reinforce the male role in Victorian society. Furthermore, the author uses the language of sexual violence while the goblins are attacking Lizzie to indicate that she is actually being violently raped as “They trampled her and pushed her, clawed her with their hands. claws, barking, meowing, hissing, taunting, tearing her". dress and soiled her sock". However, Lizze is able to maintain her dignity and virtue through the shape of a penny, where the penny, in an Elizabethan term, is the representation of female genitalia. Works Cited https://depts.washington.edu/egonline /2010/04/2008-09-winner-christina-rossetti%E2%80%99s-goblin-market-finding-the-middle-ground-by-jasmine- yeh/http://www.gradesaver.com/christina -rossetti-poesie/guida-allo-studio/sezione5/