Christina Rossetti, author of "Goblin Market", conveys a strong sister relationship between Laura and Lizzie. Lizzie seems to be characterized as the older sister based on her cautious nature, and how she ultimately saves Laura from death by making a large sacrifice. Laura is characterized as the younger sister because she is curious and falls to temptation very easily. Rossetti also has a sister relationship of her own with Maria Rossetti. M. Rossetti, born 1827, is the oldest sister and sibling, while C. Rossetti, born 1830, is the youngest of her parent's four children (Poetry Foundation).
Within C. Rossetti's piece, the sister relationship is characterized very strongly. Laura falls to temptation of the goblin's fruit which results in her becoming very sickly and depressed. Lizzie wants to save her, so that she can survive, so she goes to the goblins. She asks for their fruit, but when she refuses to eat it with them, the goblins attack her. They try everything in their might to get Lizzie to eat the fruit, but she never opens her mouth. When she arrives home to Laura, she has the fruit juice on her, which proves to be the antidote for the goblin's fruit curse. Lizzie sacrificed her life in hopes to get the antidote for Laura's curse. At the end of the piece, Laura and Lizzie describe a sister relationship to their children: "For there is no friend like a sister / In calm or stormy weather; / To cheer one on the tedious way, / To fetch one if one goes astray, / To lift one if one totters down, / To strengthen whilst one stands" (C. Rossetti l. 563-568). This idea of a sister relationship, when they're always there for one another and they support the other without any restrictions, is a very strong relationship that is hard to come across.
Although not much is recorded about M. Rossetti and C. Rossetti's relationship, they were only the two sisters out of the four siblings which warrants a different type of relationship then the one with their brothers. Since C. Rossetti does convey such a strong sister relationship in "Goblin Market", one can infer that their relationship mirrors the one of Laura and Lizzie. C. Rossetti also dedicates this piece to M. Rossetti due to the strong sister relationship present within its lines.
There are also underlying hints of a intimate connection in the sister relationship between Laura and Lizzie. The most obvious example of their intimate connection is when the sisters go to bed, following Laura's falling to temptation of the goblins. The piece reads, "cheek to cheek and breast to breast / Locked together in one rest" (C. Rossetti l. 197-198). This language and imagery of closeness redefines the simple sister relationship that C. Rossetti originally makes it out to be. There is also the very clear scene when Laura takes the goblin's fruit jucies from Lizzie's body. When Lizzie arrives home from getting the goblin's fruit juices, she says, "Hug me, kiss me, suck my juices / ... Eat me, drink me, love me" (C. Rossetti l. 468, 471). As Laura takes the juices, she "kissed and kissed and kissed her / ... After long sultury drouth; / Shaking with angusih fear, and pain, / She kissed and kissed her with a hungry mouth" (C. Roussetti l. 486, 490-492). This scene uses language that could be considered very sexual in nature (Flygare). Especially due to the fact that "sultry " is defined as expressing a passionate or strongly sexual nature or attraction.
Works Cited:
“Christina Rossetti.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/christina-rossetti.
Flygare, Julie. “Intertwining Themes in "Goblin Market".The Victorian Web, The Victorian Web, 20 Oct. 2003, https://victorianweb.org/authors/crossetti/flygare6.html.
Rossetti, Christina. "Goblin Market." 1862. Cove Studios, https://studio.covecollective.org/documents/goblin-market-750a5766-7768…, Accessed 12 March 2023