The Goblin Market

I recently read the poem Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti and was immediately struck by the relevance of it to our class. The poem seems to be the antithesis to romance, describing the pitfalls of caving in to desires of the flesh. It involves a sacrifice (in a very christ-like figure fashion) of one sister for another, as well as a vivid abuse scene, but the poem concludes with the happy ending so often utilized in romance stories. One has to ask himself why such a seemingly morose poem falls in to one of the mainstays of the romantic genre, the happy ending. The answer, as many do, lie in the pages of Frye.

Fry  comments on happy ending at an instance in his book. "The story proceeds toward and end which echoes the beginning, but echoes it in a different world. The beginning is a demonic parody of the end, and the action takes place on two levels of experience," he writes (pg 49). This demonic echoing can be identified rather clearly in the Goblin Market. The beginning of the poem find the two sisters Lizzie and Laura intricately tied, and attempting to repel the alluring cries of the goblins. Laura eventually succumbs to their offerings, symbolically giving in to the pleasures of the flesh, whilst Lizzie continues to  deny them. Laura is drained of her vitality and becomes dangerously ill due to her indulgence in lust. When her state has become nearly fatal, Lizzie voluntarily seeks the goblins in order to glean from them the antidote for Laura's illness. She rejects their offerings of "fruit", is beaten and bruised as a result, but overcomes the desires of the flesh in order to gain the antidote. Laura is revitalized from her weakened state, and the two sister's bond is ultimately reforged. The conclusion of the poem finds the two sister just as close as they were before the encounter with the goblins, except both have, in their own way, overcome the desire of the flesh. The innocence and naivety in the beginning of the poem are replaced by wisdom at the end, yet the sister's relationship is stronger than ever. Thus, the conclusion of the poem echoes its initiation, albeit in a fashion that reflects the significance of the sister's journey. Perhaps there is some interesting significance to be found in each of the happy endings so frustratingly repeated in the romantic genre.
(For those not familiar with the poem, I've attached a link to it below).

Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti