The Satirical Marriage Proposal in Goblin Market Jamie Leung College

Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, disguised as a children’s allegory to sinful pleasures, is a warning about the false promises and perils of marriage. Comparisons to the divorce laws close to that time period and the metaphors of the injustice and misogyny throughout the poem drew conclusions that Rossetti could be arguing for change in how women were perceived—as seen in these marriage expectations.

Also, this poem exemplifies the problems with expectations of finding happiness upon fulfilling societal conventions, such as marriage. For instance, Jeanie’s waiting on the goblin men’s return until she aged is a metaphor to fidelity and its consequences when applied in the wrong circumstances. Goblin Market is rebellious in how the poem defies traditionally acclaimed qualities in the social and political climate of that time, when women were expected to appear and act according to certain rules without fair treatment.

During the Victorian period, a movement towards reasonable marriage and divorce laws was in progress; for instance, Parliament considered allowing divorce in the 1850s, but upon strict rules, primarily for women to suggest the separation (Wood, “Marriage and Divorce 19th Century Style). However, heavily sexist...