The Victorian Age can be characterized in part by the shifting attitudes surrounding the roles of men and women in society. This changing ideology can especially be seen in John Ruskin’s “Of Queen’s Gardens,” in which Ruskin goes into detail about the importance of preserving the sanctity of the empire while also giving women a more powerful, but ultimately limited, voice. During this time, gender roles were commonly associated with the public and private “spheres” of society. Women were expected to stay in the home and maintain a sense of absolute morality and control, while men were given more freedom and were thus more susceptible to the harsh realities of the open world. In the narrative poem “Goblin Market” by Christina Rosetti, these gender roles were called into question. The story itself follows two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, as they struggle with feelings of temptation after a close encounter with a group of goblin men selling enticing fruit. In this poem, the two main characters represent two entirely different takes on Ruskin’s definition of a woman’s power and her role in society. The use of indirect characterization to illustrate the contrasting nature of the sisters in Christina Rosetti’s “Goblin Market” inevitably helps to challenge and reinforce the ideas on gender roles as described in John Ruskin’s “Of Queen’s Gardens.”
Throughout the poem, Laura’s character, in particular, was able to challenge the conventional ideas of a woman’s role in society. Unlike her sister, Laura had a very curious nature and was very interested in the fruit of the goblin men. Despite every clear warning, Laura ultimately acted on those feelings without any regard for the consequences. “She clipp’d a precious golden lock, / She dropp’d a tear more rare than pearl, / Then suck’d their fruit globes fair or red” (lines 126-128). This is the moment where Laura finally gave in to temptation and had to give up a piece of herself to satisfy the goblin men. These lines show how she simply became an object to the goblin men, and this was hard for her to accept. After Laura returned home, the two sisters, “Talk’d as modest maidens should: / Lizzie with an open heart, / Laura in an absent dream” (209-211). In these lines, it becomes clear that Laura was preoccupied with thoughts of the forbidden fruit. The poem seems to suggest that women were expected to engage in idle conversation, but Laura was too withdrawn after her encounter with the goblin men that she could not even focus on such simple tasks. “She no more swept the house, / Tended the fowl or cows, / Fetch’d honey, kneaded cakes of wheat, / Brought water from the brook” (293-296). These lines show that Laura has ignored her domestic duties, and by doing so, she has ignored the established roles of a woman in Victorian society. After eating the forbidden fruit with no remorse, Laura essentially loses her purity and innocence, and this behavior challenges what Ruskin believed to be the ideal woman.
For the majority of the poem, Lizzie’s character was used to reinforce the traditional ideas of a woman’s role in society. In stark contrast with her sister, Lizzie was very adamant about staying close to home and avoiding temptation. “‘We must not look at goblin men, / We must not buy their fruits: / Who knows upon what soil they fed / Their hungry thirsty roots?’” (42-45). In these lines, Lizzie is telling her sister that even a mere glance at the goblin men could be dangerous. Lizzie is very skeptical of their motives and thinks it would be in their best interest as young, impressionable women to ignore their seductive cries. At one point, Lizzie says, “‘Dear, you should not stay so late, / Twilight is not good for maidens; / Should not loiter in the glen / In the haunts of goblin men.’” (143-146). Again, Lizzie warns her sister that she is vulnerable to danger and temptation if she stays out too long after dark. This attitude directly relates to Ruskin’s take on gender roles in Victorian society. The author recounts, “Though the goblins cuff’d and caught her, / Coax’d and fought her, / Bullied and besought her, / Scratch’d her, pinch’d her black as ink, / Kick’d and knock’d her, / Maul’d and mock’d her, / Lizzie utter’d not a word” (424-430). Of course, these lines exemplify the resilience and power of women, but there is a sense of passivity and submission in the way that this interaction is portrayed. Lizzie had to sit back and let all these things happen to her if she really wanted to save her sister. This sentiment of being unassertive was expected of young women of that time.
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Throughout the poem “Goblin Market,” Christina Rossetti perfectly utilizes indirect characterization to comment on the established gender roles in Victorian society. Through careful analysis of the characters, the reader is able to identify the distinct interpretations of the roles of women in society. With respect to “Of Queen’s Gardens,” this poem presents characters that both follow and challenge the code that John Ruskin proposed. Lizzie is representative of the ideal woman in society, but what solidifies her femininity is that she ultimately uses her own power to save her sister. Laura, on the other hand, actively goes against what was expected of women during that time, but she does not lose in the end. Rossetti takes this opportunity to criticize contemporary society by expressing her belief that “fallen” women can still be redeemed. She makes it a point to suggest that if Laura had been given the freedom to explore on her own terms from the beginning, she might not have fallen for the seductive allure of the goblin men.
