Essay 2 draft

Joseph McNerney

Essay 2, English 102

Laura Cline, Instructor

09-015-2011

The Selfish v. The Selfless: Goblin Market

            There is an epic contrast in fiction between the selfish and the selfless. This is even more poignant in fairy tales. This is seen quite heavily in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market. I would even venture to say that it is the point of the poem. From the imagery to the story line, the whole tale is one of the differences between those who are egotistical and those who are generous and concerned with others. In the next few pages, I hope to give basis for this argument and show just how vividly it is expressed.

            The tale is of two sisters and their experiences with a group of goblins who peddle fruit. The fruit is enchanted to create a desire in the heart of those who consume it, making them yearn for more until they eventually pine away and die. One sister, Laura, eats and begins the vicious cycle of the enchantment. Her sister Lizzie refuses to eat, but eventually goes back to the goblins in order to obtain fruit that will save her sister’s life. Enduring extreme torture, she obtains the juice and saves her sister. Each then goes on to live well into their old age to tell the next generation of the danger of eating enchanted fruit. This is the extremely shortened version of a five hundred and sixty seven line poem. With all those lines, Christina Rossetti is doubtless very descriptive. I want to look individually at each of the three main characters (The goblins I consider as one factor in the story.) to see how Rossetti portrays them, how they act, and what their message to the reader is.

            Let us look at Laura first, for the first part of the tale focuses on her. Laura is analogous to the egotistical person who hopes to gain things for themselves without cost to others. Laura in no way wanted to harm her sister Lizzie or bring her pain, yet we know by experience that seeking only ones own pleasure does not bring happiness to those around you. Reading the lines where Laura buys and eats the fruit seems to be almost frenzied.

“134 She suck'd and suck'd and suck'd the more
135 Fruits which that unknown orchard bore;
136 She suck'd until her lips were sore;
137 Then flung the emptied rinds away” (Rossetti 134-137)

No thought is given to Lizzie as she consumes one after another, little knowing that it will leave her empty.  Is not that how it is with those who seek gratification only in themselves? They are inwardly longing for something more. This type of character is seen not just in fairy tales, but in History as well. Take the classic example of Francis of Assisi, the popular Franciscan much associated with animals. He lived a life of complete self-gratification, yet only felt truly self-fulfilled serving the lepers and poor in Italy. Laura from Goblin Market learns this the hard way. As she begins to crave the fruit eaten only a night before, she simultaneously begins to waste away. This causes Lizzie unspeakable grief, to see her sister dying quickly before her eyes. It is as if Rossetti wanted to tell us that a life not spent in generosity and care for others is similar to a short and wasted life. We assume from the ending that she lives on to be a changed person, amending her ways to be like Lizzie, a faithful friend and sister. This is the authors hope for all who may be in the same position as Laura, seeking fulfillment in empty gratification. The Goblins, our second cast of characters, also show signs of greed, yet it is one far darker than Laura’s.

            The Goblins are clearly the presence of Evil in Goblin Market. Evil, whether in fairy tale or the real world, only seeks its own interest without thought or care to the welfare of others. This kind of character ought to arouse a sense of disgust in anyone, but just in case that does not happen, Rossetti constructs an army of beastly creatures so inhuman as to make them devoid of compassion, the most human of traits. The goblins have the parts of cats, rats, wombats, and slugs, all irrational and savage creatures who know not generosity or mercy. No beast on earth is known to have true compassion, real emotion for another creature, sometimes even of the same species. The lion will kill the cubs of another male if he succeeds as leader of the pride. This has no vestige of morality or even rationality. And yet this is how Christina Rossetti depicts the goblins. Charming seducers who turn to ugly threats and violence when their will and lust for suffering is not fulfilled. These are representations of people who care not whether their greed and motives cause others pain or misfortune. Examples in recent days could be Adolf Hitler or the not quite so drastic but equally harmful Bernie Madoff. The goblins ply their tortures on Lizzie to get her to eat the fruit, and thus suffer the same fate as Laura. But in Goblin Market, good wins out over evil through the firm will of Lizzie, the stories heroine.

            Lizzie is as aforementioned the heroine. She is the one who in the beginning tries to dissuade Laura from meeting the goblins. She is the one who welcomes back her sister, fully knowing what she had done. She is the one who risks a horrible death to save her sister from that fate. And she it is who triumphs over the evil and selfishness in the story.  She is the personification of selfless giving. Hers is true charity, one that thinks nothing of gain or reward but wholly of the other in need. In keeping with the style of this paper, a historical example might be Mother Teresa of Calcutta or Martin Luther King Jr., both of whom fought against much hatred and injustice to bring help to the discriminated. The style that Rossetti uses to illustrate Lizzie is beautiful, especially in contrast to the goblins and even Laura. She is mentioned relatively little in the poem, yet when she makes an appearance it is always for the good. She is the good person in the background, as most good people are, silently doing what’s right. We notice that good people who do what is right on an ordinary level are rarely headline news. I think that Rossetti is trying to tell us that the good, selfless people are not always going to be world movers or celebrities. Rather, you can and should be great and selfless on an ordinary level, in the background so to speak.

            Goblin Market is then not just a fairy tale. It is a microcosm, a parable even, of a world view. Rossetti demonstrates that the selfish are like a black hole, constantly closing in on themselves in their attempt for fulfillment. In the end, all that they achieve is a greater void. The selfless on the other hand by giving are filled. It is paradoxical but that is the point. Giving of oneself  wholly is what in the end brings true and lasting fulfillment. The selfish versus the selfless, the true victor is the one who surrenders for the sake of other.

Works Cited

Rossetti, Christina. "Goblin Market." n.d. Southern Methodist University Web site. 15 September 2011 <http://faculty.smu.edu/nschwart/2311/Goblin_Market.htm>.