Nichole's Research Report
From English 194 Wiki
Abstract
Sean C. Grass’ “Nature’s Perilous Variety in Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market’” takes a close look into the facts in Christina Rossetti’s life that may have influenced her to write “Goblin Market.” Such an extraordinary poem with a mixture of fantasy, temptation, and nature needed a closer look to find out what moved her to write the poem this way. Grass’ article discusses the meter and sound of the poem to the goblin men and their fruit.
Description
Grass points out in the beginning of his article that most interpretations of Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” focus on a single aspect of her life. But there are so many different interpretations of “Goblin Market” that it is hard to narrow down to any one interpretation. Grass explores what combination of influences led up to the writing of “Goblin Market.” Citing Christina Rossetti’s biographers, Grass notes that throughout her life she and her siblings would often visit the Regents Park Zoological Gardens. There is a letter in particular in which she writes to her brother describing her visit to the zoo. As she is describing the animals, she mentions “The weasel-headed armadillo” and “The blind wombat,” which are strikingly similar to the goblin men described in the poem. Grass states that in her descriptions “we see not only the interest (and good humor) with which she surveyed the animals during her visits, but also, in the ‘weasel-headed armadillo,’ we glimpse perhaps the beginnings of her goblin men with their humanoid forms and animal components.” (358-359) Grass also brings up the fact that the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which was similar to the Romantics, had an effect on her writing. He states that “’Goblin Market’ with its lavish attention to the cataloging of natural phenomena and with its highly irregular but melodic rhythms, would seem to be an archetypical example of both these characteristics.” (359) Christina Rossetti loved nature, but was also divided by it by religion. Religious influences upon her included the Tractarian writings of John Keble and John Newman. Grass also states that Rossetti “probably came under the influence of the Oxford Movent as early as 1840.” (360) Because of her religion, she saw nature not just as nature but saw in it spiritual signs. “The collision between her own affinity for nature and her religiously imposed moral doctrine produced Rossetti the poet: a poet who worried that reveling in nature could confuse moral judgment, thereby imperiling salvation.” (361) With this as preface Grass gives a close reading of some of the verses in “Goblin Market” that reflect Rossettie's familiarity with nature and also her religion. He also points out that although this poem is often associated with the story of Eve and the forbidden fruit, there are any different kinds of fruit in Rossetti’s poem, and there are many different goblin men, none of who are singled out to represent Satan. Although there are obvious underlying religious references, Grass’ interpretation of selected verses shows Rossetti’s potential struggle between her love of nature and the thought having to be cautious of nature because of the religious signs thought to have been seen in nature. Another difference Grass brings up between the Adam and Eve story and “Goblin Market is that unlike Adam and Eve, Laura feels no guilt or shame after eating the fruit. In fact, she wants more, and it is all she can think about. Instead of feeling immense guilt for what she has done, she returns to her life at home unexcited, which Grass states is reflective of what Rossetti experienced around that period of her life. “We should not be surprised, then, to see Rossetti struggling with the same sort of conflict – between a life of self-indulgent excitement and one of ascetic simplicity – within the verse of “Goblin Market.” (371) Towards the end of the article Grass addresses the possibly homoerotic lines of the poem in which Lizzie tells her sister Laura to lick the juices off her skin. Although the words would suggest a homoerotic moment, Grass suggests otherwise. “Rossetti’s intense sacramentalism and devout Christianity render rather hollow any strictly sexual or homoerotic interpretation.” “The more likely interpretation of this scene is a Christian one in which Lizzie becomes a representative of Christ, offering communion and Christian salvation.” (374) He also states that this interpretation of “Goblin Market” is not a variation of the Adam and Eve story because the possibility of Christian salvation does not come until the New Testament. (374)
Evaluation of Opportunities/Limitations
I agree with Grass’ interpretation of Rossetti’s “Goblin Market,” especially the interpretation of Laura licking the fruit juices off of Lizzie. That is how I had originally read the poem, although with the wording being suggestive of homoeroticism, I also thought that it could merely signify the closeness of the sisters. Because Grass' article narrows down the interpretation of the poem, we can then use that one interpretation to incorporate into our game, however, this would also limit how the player would interpret the literary work. While literature, especially poetry, is normally open to interpretation and there almost seems to be no wrong answer, we as a group must decide for this particular project what interpretation to use. Otherwise the project would be endless. I think that this interpretation works well with what we are trying to accomplish. It also strays from the sexual connotations that some people might find offensive. Although a lot of interpretations discuss the poem's homoeroticism and sexual connotations, I believe that Grass provided enough evidence to prove that his interpretation of the poem is completely valid. But as I said earlier, I think the main problem we will run into is that choosing one interpretation to represent the poem will limit how the player interprets the poem.
Resources for Further Study:
1. Grass, Sean C. Natures Perilous Variety in Rossetti’s “Goblin Market”. Nineteenth- Century Literature, Vol. 51, No. 3. Dec., 1996, pp. 356-376 <http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0891-9356%28199612%2951%3A3%3C356%3ANPVIR%22%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0>
2. Packer, Lona Mosk. Symbol and Reality in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market. PMLA, Vol. 73, No. 4. Sep, 1958, pp 375-385.<http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0030-8129%28195809%2973%3A4%3C375%3ASARICR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K>
3. Christina Rossetti The Victorian Web May 2007 <http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/crossetti/crov.html>
