Goblin Market

 This poem reminded me so much of growing up in Germany and being read the Brothers Grimm version of Snow White. While Disney turned the story into a “fairytale ending”, the Brothers Grimm had a much different, more eerie tone to it. Like the Grimm Brothers, Rossetti included people of evil that brought tempting fruits which caused their main characters to grow ill. 

Rosetti's main characters, Laura and Lizzie shared a very similar story to Snow White. While in Rossetti's poem, a witch didn’t come to poison the young girls out of jealousy, instead “Goblin Men” came to sell them fruits which would eventually cause them to grow weak and die. The “Goblin Men” were compared to  animals that have a negative connotation such as rats, snails, and wombats- all nuisances to mankind. This reminded me of the witch that came to Snow Whites house that poisoned her. While she was not described as animal-like, she had characteristics that turned her into an outcast of society. The main characters also share similar depictions. In Snow White, she is gentle and caring yet naive. If we combined the girls of Rossetti's poem, we would get a similar character. Laura represents Snow Whites naive aspect since she fell victim to the “Goblin Men’s” fruit. Instead of listening to her sister, she fell to temptation which would evidently cause her to grow ill, depressed, and almost caused her to die. Lizzie, on the contrary, would represent Snow Whites caring nature. Although she was afraid of the “Goblin men”, she went to buy their fruits in order to save her sister. Lizzie never fell to their temptation and stayed rather strong throughout their harassment. 

Overall, I enjoyed this poem. It reminded me a lot of one of my favorite childhood fairytales.