Goblin Market: A Tale of Two Sisters

1. Consider the poem’s theme of Self-Determination. How does the poem represent both Laura and Lizzie’s actions? How do their choices characterize their respective relationships to the concepts of temptation and redemption?

2. Many different readings have been applied to “Goblin Market.” Its fantastical elements and use of the supernatural may characterize it as a fairy tale, while others argue that its moral lesson and meditation over the nature of temptation, sin, and redemption alternatively characterize it as an allegory. Do you think “Goblin Market” is better classified as an allegory, fairy tale, or something else? What specific characteristics or themes in the text led you to your decision?

3. One reading of “Goblin Market” is that the goblins represent non-British outsiders who threaten the integrity of the British empire. Do you think this theme of Xenophobia and Fear of the Other shows Rossetti’s own beliefs, or was the poet holding a mirror to her Victorian society?