"Goblin Market", by Christina Rossetti, is poem that follows the lives of two young girls, Laura and Lizzie. The sisters are tempted by the goblin merchants to ear of their fruits in exchange for payment. Laura falls prey to the goblins' temptations and trades a piece of her "golden curl" to them. In exchange, she eats of their fruit, which brought extraordinary pleasure to her. However, she loses the ability to hear the goblins' cries and become sickly. Almost on the verge of death, Lizzie (who can still hear them) departs with a silver penny to pay for a cure from the goblins. However, they attempt to force feed the fruits to her but she resists and is covered with the juice and pulp. Lizzie is able to escape home where she meets with Laura. Laura embraces Lizzie and kisses the fruit off of Lizzie, but notices it to be repugnant and distasteful. She's healed and the sisters live happily together.
Trivial messages of avoiding strangers or little girls needing to be careful barely scratch the depth of "Goblin Market" and its portrayal of the female hero. Many females in English literature are "constrained by the gender-roles into which a male-dominated society has placed them" (Phillips). Rossetti creates a female hero in Lizzie, as she maintains her purity yet dives into the murkiness of society. Lizzie demonstrates a self-sacrificial love that is symbolic of Christ's sacrifice for humanity. The connection to Christ is further built upon lines 471-72, which Lizzie states, "Eat me, drink me, love me; Laura make much of me" (Rossetti). There is also an emphasis on sisterly-love and Lizzie's actions demonstrating that love in action. Nevertheless, the female-hero seems to be still restricted as she acts passively against the goblins' ploys.
Other interpretations of the poem lend itself to being an expression of feminence sexuality. Rossetti's sensual descriptions of the sisters and the goblins' forced actions imply that they were sexual encounters, particularly rape or prostitution (Flygare). Furthmore, the interactions between the two sisters imbue a homoerotic interpretation, which would not be a topic of discussion in the Victorian era. However, with the rise of female expression it would be easier to express it in literature and art.
Another interpretation sees this as a portrayal of addiction, especially since opium was the most prominent one in the Victorian era (Tearle).
Flygare, Julie. “Intertwining Themes in ‘Goblin Market.'” The Victorian Web, 20 Oct. 2003, http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/crossetti/flygare6.html.
Phillips, W. Glasgow. “Theme in Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market.'” The Victorian Web, 1990, http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/crossetti/gm2.html.
Tearle, Oliver. "A Short Analysis of Christina Rossetti's 'Goblin Market.'" Interesting Literature, 2017, https://interestingliterature.com/2017/06/a-short-analysis-of-christina-rossettis-goblin-market/