What a delicious recipe! I was looking for something to make when Lizzie comes over in a few days. She used to beg me to make desserts like this when we lived together. I miss how simple things used to be before that dark moment in our lives when I gave up everything for the Goblin Market. We would rise together at sun up, milk the cows, churn butter, knead cakes, and fill the gaps in between each chore with our chatter. Completing each little chore used to bother me, I yearned for something more exciting in life. Although, now that I’ve been through something so barbaric, I find myself wishing for something simple. I was so naive to think that what those goblin men had could possibly be better than what God had already offered me. I am at ease with the simple, domestic life I have now taking care of my family. I spend many hours of the day in the kitchen, like the way things used to be. Every now and again when I am cooking with fruit, an ever-sweet smell wafts into my nose and I feel a mixture of emotions so intense that my knees weaken. Terror, longing, anticipation, and dread all swirl around in my head like they did that night. It is a feeling I can never forget, pray as I might. So, I surround myself with the comfort of simplicity, and nothing can compare to the feeling of love in my heart when surrounded by familiar recipes and my sweet family.
Editorial Commentary: Victorian England saw a huge increase in the quantity and type of apples being grown. However, the globalization of fruit was nowhere near it is today, and the lack of preservation and GMOS also made fruit a rare commodity ("A Brief History"). In the poem “Goblin Market,” Laura expresses the rarity of fruit as an analogy for the rarity of sexual pleasure for women. She is amazed at the variety, sweetness, and juiciness of the fruit, and she cannot help but indulge herself. Women in Victorian England were prohibited from openly indulging their sexual desires. Women had grown used to fulfilling societal expectations before their desires, so the rare exception could be related to the rarity of fruit. The typical role of a housewife was also important to Victorian society. The cult of domesticity posited that women belonged at home, cooking for their families (Abrams). This mainly manifested through specifically middle class women who were not forced to work for money but were also not wealthy enough to have a chef. Cookbooks such as Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management aided middle class housewives, like Laura, in increasing variety into their mealtime. Towards the end of “Goblin Market,” Laura shifts from a young naive girl into the ideal Victorian woman, who refrains from temptation and takes care of her husband and children. The idea behind a “Book of Household Management” represents the specific role a young Victorian woman must fill. There was no room for individuality or selfishness in the cult of domesticity, that idea only showed up later with the notion of the “new woman.” Thus, “Goblin Market” tells the familiar tale of a girl who strays from traditional values, is faced with immense repercussions, and must reconcile her relationship with society and God.
Citations:
Abrams, Lynn. “History - Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain.” BBC, 9 Aug 2001, bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_home/ideals_womanhood_01.shtml.
"A Brief History of Apples in the UK" , British Apples & Pears Ltd, 2020, britishapplesandpears.co.uk/about/a-brief-history-of-apples-in-the-uk/.
Beeton, Isabella. Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management. Samuel Orchart Beeton, 1861.
"Christmas Deserts: Apple Snowballs". Victorian Christmastide, 26 Sept. 2011, victorianchristmastide.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/apple-snowballs/.
Picture of the Title Page of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management. Wellcome Collection, wellcomecollection.org/images?query=household+management.