How Christina Rossetti Addresses Sexual Issues In Her Poetry

In the late twentieth century, after the rise of feminist and gender studies, there was a great interest in the literary works of women from the previous centuries, which was somewhat forgotten before. This increased intrest saved poets such as Christina Rossetti from neglect and forgetfulness, and on the other hand changed our way to understand Rossetti's poetry and the way she reflected the idea of being a 19th-century poet.

There is no doubt that the poem 'Goblin Market' is one of the most poems that have been analyzed and studied by feminist critics because of the huge amount of interrelated meanings and views that this poem carry. Therefore, when reviewing feminist critiques related to the poem 'Goblin Market', we find that all types of these studies tend to show the poem 'Goblin Market' as an effective women's world, in which a sister(Lizzy) save another sister(Loura) in a heroic manner and then they live in eternal happiness.

In spite of all this diversity in the gender and feminist's studies of the 'Goblin Market', most critics went on to focus on Christina Rosetti's methods of dealing with sexual issues, but these studies ignored - consciously or unconsciously - the 19th century ideology and the nature of religious society. Such a religious nature influences the extent to which women and female poets were accepting the role of women within this ideology. In other words, in the nineteenth century (Victorian era), women's acceptance of gender roles was linked to their religious thinking and the instructions of the Bible. And what we see today as a kind of persecution or siege was not considered as such for women in the Victorian era. Her brother says in his memoirs that Christina insists that she does not intend to put a deep meaning in the poem, but this poem is a detailed fairy tale ( qutd in letter)

Even with the large number of these studies, however, they shared many quotations from this poem as evidences for their discussions. The irony that I noticed, after studying a number of these studies, that the quotations which were used to prove the validity of their claims are the same quotations that prove the exact opposite. This paper will discuss a small number of these quotations which I think they are the most important to prove my claim

I will foucse on the scene in which Lizzie confronts the goblins as she tries to save her sister and bring some for her fruit as a kind of treatment. This scene has been analyzed in feminist studies as a fight against patriarchal society to demand the right to freedom and female autonomy as in the study of Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar. “The Madwoman in the Attic” by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar's is one of the earliest studies that indicated that the fruits of goblins are not only sexual symbols, but they are symbols of the fruit of art which was difficult for women at that time. The study suggests that Laura's strong desire for the fruits of Goblins - which are usually understood to be sexual especially from Post-Freudian critics –is indeed a desire for creativity and writing. According to the study, they said that the “goblins glen” is the world of composition, which was forbidden to the names of women who had to write under male pseudonyms to be acceptable.

Other critics, such as, Dolores Rosenblum in her article 'Christina Rossetti: The Poetry of Endurance. Carbondale and Edwardsville' goes on to say that the 'Goblin market' is a way that expresses the frustration that Rosetti feels as a poetess who shut out of the writing sphere in a patriarchal society. And 'goblin glen' is the world of literature that was forbidden on the names of women so they had to give up their names to publish their work. The question that coms to mind here, did Cristina Rosetti really deprive of writing or is the socity controlled what she wrote?

This scene itself was analyzed in gender studies as a clear rape scene, as in the M study, which indicates that the actions of the sprites against Lizi, such as hugs, kissing, beatings, etc. are signs that Lizzie is being raped. Even the image of Lizzie while resisting the goblins such as the 'orange tree', which is fertilized by insects. These studies interpreted the poem on the grounds of the sexual needs of women and sexual repression. For example, Roger Wilhe in his study 'Sacred and Profane Gardens: Self-Reflection and Desire in Pre-Raphaelite Painting and the Poetry of the Rossettis' points to that lizzie's mouth is a 'womb-like' and the penny which she scarified is to save her sister is a symbol of virginity because of the phonemic similarity between penny and penis.

Patricia Andrews in her study 'Latent Meaning in 'Goblin Market'', adopts this idea too. She argues that It is not natural to us not feeling, seeing or noting Laura's sensual temptation in the words and descriptions of Rossetti. Also, Jonathan cotte in his study Beyond the Looking-Glass suggests that 'Goblin market ' is ' the most extreme and most beautifully elaborated example of repressed eroticism in children's literature' (cotte introduction). While gender studies have focused on the idea of pent-up Feminist studies focus on the oppression and repression of women in patriarchal societies

”Twitch'd her hair out by the roots,

Stamp'd upon her tender feet,

Held her hands and squeez'd their fruits

Against her mouth to make her eat” 405-406

Psychoanalysis studies that emerged in the early 20th century by Freud had a very significant impact on female literature as they were the basic basis upon which the ideas of sex studies were based. Freud demonstrated through psycho-psychological analysis that pent-up desires are unconsciously reflected in the conscious individual's actions. And based on such results, most of the modern critical studies - especially the post-Freudian studies and gender studies - have explained that the 'Goblin Market', as a poem of sexual repressinon and it is full of sexual references Cora Kaplan ''The Indefinite Disclosed': Christina Rossetti and Emily Dickinson' in her study sees Goblin market as a 'women's sexual fantasy that includes suggestions of masochism, homoeroticism, rape or incest'.

This type of studies are based on the idea that nostalgia must be sexual, especially in the case of Rosetti (Victorian maiden). Those studies also are associated with almost one consequence that these sexual references stem from the pent-up sexual desire of the poet and women of that age (Victorian era). The most striking paradox in this type of studies is that they all portrayed the scene of Lizzy while she was fighting the 'Goblins' as a abvious rape scene.

”Twitch'd her hair out by the roots,

Stamp'd upon her tender feet,

Held her hands and squeez'd their fruits

Against her mouth to make her eat” 405-406

To answer the question that presented before whether Cristina Rosetti really deprive of writing or is the socity controlled what she wrote?

Sylvia Bayley Shurbutt argues that the 'Goblin market' is trying through which Rosetti (()))

'conscious effort to turn biblical and Miltonic myth, with its misogynistic intent, into heroic affirmation of the female Christ-like principle of loving self-sacrifice and creative self-assertion through rebirth and resurrection' (p. 40).

In other words, the 'Goblin market' is a social critique of the moral, economic and political values that dominated the Victorian society. This is what makes the poem a kind of resistance speech. This interpretation is based on the idea that the Victorian Church dominated the composition of the opinion and defined gender roles. The roles which placed women in a state of dependency for men, and created a kind of social repression where there was a thirst for self-expression and creativity. on the other hand, women were forced to silence and submission according to the interpretations of the church.

But such interpretation studied the victorian ideology on one hand and overlooked the other. We can say that such interpretations analyzed the poem from the modern point of view (post-feminist and post- fruedian view). the poem 'Goblin market' proves the opposite of this. The poem adopts Christian beliefs and is supported by an attempt to establish them in society (we must not forget that this poem was classified as a childrens' literature).

When reviewing the history of Christina Rosetti's life, such suggestions are inappropriate and irrational for several reasons: first, the early beginning of her literary life, where she wrote her first poem at the age of six and published her first work at the age of fifteen. Second, her brother presented her as a member of the group Pre-Raphaelite and she refused it,’according to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, it was his sister'sown choice not to join them, for she allegedly 'object[ed] to' his proposition (Doughty and Wahl 1965: I. 45 qtd in... ... ... ... . )'. Finally and most importantly, Rosetti was never forced to write under a nickname for a man to be accepted and able to publish. So, Rosetti not only did not prevent from writing but she had been supported and encouraged.

From the above we conclude that Rosetti was not oppressed but she was a believer and applied church instructions. Such a conclusion may lead us to wonder whether Rosetti's work 'Goblin market' was a review of the Christian myth of fall and redemption?

The poem, that consisting of nearly six hundred lines, mentioned the names of only three women: Lizzei, Laura and Jane. Let's start with Jane, who once ate the goblins' fruit and then she was punished by death. She' fell with the first snow'157. According to feminist interpretations such death is a kind of masculine repression or of women who try to get their sexual desires. But we can not forget that Rosetti lives in a conservative Victorian society that follows the instructions of the Church. Thus according to Christian instructions the crime of adultery is punished by stoning to death. This to disclose its doer from the socity. Jane got out of control and wanted to get her wishes illegally, which necessitated her death and her being removed from society

'While to this day no grass will grow

Where she lies low:

I planted daisies there a year ago

That never blow.

You should not loiter so'

Here, Rosetti discribed what happend after the death of Jean and the consequnces that took place because she left the Christian instructions and lost her puritance (not only sexual purtance but it might be moral puritance).

Then comes the role of Laura, who is 'an absent dream' (211) she is weak for temptation and out of control which leads to her corruption, but this type of women can be retrieved and guide them on the right path. As we see in the begining of the poem, Laura is warning her sister

'We must not look at goblin men,

We must not buy thier fruits:

Who knows upon what soil they fed

Thier hungry thirsty roots'

But the irony is that she is the one who fall in their trap and their 'glen'. Feminists, and psychologists explained that this falling is due to the fact that Laura has a negative personality, so she fills impressed with the capabilities and properties of goblins. Since goblins show great physical force in dragging and pulling things, the response of Laura and Lizzie to such a thing is normal. So, We see ' Laura bow'd her head' and Lizzie 'veil'd her blushes' (35)

Psychoanalysis would explain what happen here as a desire to dicover the unknown place building their discussion upon plato views (leaving the cave) but to analyse Laura's warrning to her sister this way is unlogical because Laura knows that they must not dealing with goblins anyway means that she got a previous learning about them, and she knows what may happen if she deals with them. So, here, her fall is sometype of curiosity which is the first sin according to christianty.

Finally, Lizzie, the true hero of this story. Most feminist analyzes revolve around Lizzie's heroic position. This position has been coded as a form of successful female resistance against a patriarchal society. Lizzie is the image of future women who can confront men and claim their rights in their own way. on the other hand, Lizzie subverts the image of 'Victorian angel' who is subjected to the laws and desires of men. But, I think, because of Rossetti's education and her beliefes as a catholic, the image of Lizzie here who comes out of the house not to satisfy her wishes but sacrifices herself to help others. just like Christ who sacrificed himself to save humanity.

Lizzie's success in rescuing her sister and the wonderful image that emerges during the poem is a kind of encouragement for women readers to be like Lizziie (Victorian Angels). Lizzie resists the 'Goblins' and does not utter any word for fear that they will cram their fruits into her mouth ' Lizzie utter'd not a word; Would not open lip from lip' 413- 431. This indicates that Rosetti is trying to emphasize the importance of pre-determined female standards, so, Lizziy refuses to allow her body Innocence pollution

'Sore beset by wasp and bee, -

Like a royal virgin town

Topp'd with gilded dome and spire

Close beleaguer'd by a fleet

Mad to tug her standard down.’ 417 -421

The appearance of Lizziy and Laura at the end of the poem telling the story of their children bears more than a sign that Rosetti does not object to the status of the female in Victorian society. First, the telling story, in which a mother tells a story to her children, is directly related to the role of women in raising children. On the other hand, in addition to the fact that the placement of the sisters as narrators of the stories emphasizes the legitimacy of the female literary discourse, the narrators appears as a spiritual guide that warns the children of such experiments. On the other hand, according to gender studies, Lizzie sacrificed her virginity to rescue her sister ” Toss'd them her penny” 367. If we considered this interpretion is true, this logic brings to the reader's mind some questions like: Why does Laura heal after getting the juice from her sister's face and clothes?

'Laura awoke as from a dream,

Laugh'd in the innocent old way,

Hugg'd Lizzie but not twice or thrice;

Her gleaming locks show'd not one thread of grey,

Her breath was sweet as May

And light danced in her eyes.’

538-542

In other words, Laura, who was deprived of sexual interaction again, was not involved in this sexual experience (rape), how to benefit from this rape and how to be cured? Also we see the goblin after they couldn't defeat Lizzie they 'flung back her penny'. How can this explained? The penny which is according to Wiehe is a symbol for virginity and she sacrificed it, now she got it back. Also these studies classified the poem as sexual fantasy, their argument is to says that Laura was seducied by the goblins ( men ) to sex. But if this assumption is true how can she promis her sister to bring some for her in the next time ? another scene in the poem that is used by previous studies espicially femenine studies: Laura and Jane can not hear the goblins after the first experience 'She never caught again the goblin cry: 'Come buy, come buy;' 272-273 Why can not Laura and Jane hear goblins after the first experience? This leads us to think that are sexual practices, rape and sexual repression dependent on single girls? Or do married women have no sexual desires?

Again, the same idea, can we calssified this poem as a sexual fantasy? the goblins ask Laura the lock of her hair as a payment instead of the 'Buy from us with a golden curl' 126 because she does not have money money “I have no copper in my purse, I have no silver either,” 118-120. Although the value of this lock is almost equal nothing, which indicates the ease of becoming a woman to an object, Laura shed rare tears ' She dropp'd a tear more rare than pearl,’ 127 for it. These tears indicate that Laura is difficult to separate from her natural state, which is the religious and moral standards of Victorian society. So, Laura is not bad but she fell for the bad world's temptations and that's what makes her recoverable unlike Jane.

During the poem, Rosetti points out that the two sisters are physically identical

Golden head by golden head,

Like two pigeons in one nest

Folded in each other's wings,

They lay down in their curtain'd bed:

Like two blossoms on one stem,

Like two flakes of new-fall'n snow,

Like two wands of ivory

Tipp'd with gold for awful kings.”

This description focuses on the beauty and innocence of these two sisters. This correspondence shows that all innocent women are the same, but wrong female behavior is capable of destroying this beauty, which is innocence and moral purity. So Laura, like Jane, loses her beauty, which is her normal status, after her wrong behavior and her departure from the moral instructions of religious and society

Her hair grew thin and grey;

She dwindled, as the fair full moon doth turn

To swift decay and burn

Her fire away.

So, why rossitti use this frame (to make the poem seems to be sexual) in that time? And who those goblins are?

To answer this question I will refer to Foucolt ideas in his book history of sexuality. Foucolt argues that people in the victorian age were repressed and not allowed to tallk about sex because of tow reasons: the rise of bourgusei and the role of church who consider talking about sex as a wasting of time and consequncely, poeple started to interst more about sex and they loved talking about it more. For this, I think since rosetti is catholic and intrested to apply the church's instructions, she put the poem in a such frame to attrack readers and to present her ideas, thoughts and belifes (which are the same to those of church).

On the other hand, when people read what they want they will be affected more in it. According to this logic, we can say that the goblins in the poem don't represent men and rosetti her self refer to this abviously '(Men sell not such in any town)'. She put it between prackets to emphesize that those goblins aren't men. İ think they represents the world tempetations around pure people. Since the word 'Maiden' indicates moral purity, Rosetti repeated this word during the poem more than once to emphasize the importance of this purity. This is why Laura and Jane did not hear of the 'Goblin's calling' after the first experiment experiment “not catching The customary cry”. They have lost their moral purity and become part of the bad world so they do not have to hear the temptations again. Rosetti's repetition of such ideas during the poem is a warning that unregulated female behavior can have serious effects on women's innocence and purity.

According to a previous mentioned in this article, Rosetti's 'Goblin market' seems to be a disappointment to modern femenist's movements, which consider this work to be a kind of resistance discourse and a demand for liberation. But it is clear that Rosetti used the Christian discourse and the religious story to reconcile the voice of women with Christian instructions.

So, the question that we should ask now is whether Rosetti feminist or not? This question can be answered in two different ways. First, given the contemporary campaigns of female liberation and the ideas of modern women's movements, Rosetti is in this case far from being pro-feminist. Second, if we consider that the idea of Rosetti in this poem is to reconcile the work of female literature from one hand and religion and ethics on the other hand.

Here, Rosetti is a pioneer of women's work as its goal will be to keep women from the temptations of the bad world, which began to spread during those Period. As we know that during that period was the beginning of the emergence of capitalism that put the God aside and focused on productivity and as a result of the community began to lose its spirituality and faith, which caused a kind of moral decline.