Rosetti was a woman who did not marry nor have children. She was proposed to twice, but later cancelled because she would find something wrong with the man; whether it was revering to Catholicism, or other religious reasons. At the age of 14, she suffered a nervous breakdown and left school. She also was a huge supporter of ending slavery, having women's right and suffrage. Goblin Market is said to have been written about sin, redemption and sexuality. This may have all been due to the charity work that she did in the St. mary Magdalene church. It was said to be a place where former prostitutes could stay and eat. Goblin Market may have been inspired from this because of the "fallen women."
Goblin Market is about 2 women who are sisters and are doing household chores together. One of the sisters, Laura, hear the sounds of goblins screaming to buy their fruits. her sister, Lizzie says no, because you are never to be tempted by such creatures. Laura sneaks away to see the fruits and offers a lock of her hair to give for the fruit. When she eats the fruit, she describes it as "Sweeter than honey from the rock, Stronger than man-rejoicing wine, Clearer than water flow'd that juice;" (129-131). She eats her fill then picks up a seed from the fruit. As time goes by, she can no longer hear the goblins crying out and she begins to become weak and brittle, like she is aging rapidly. Lizzie sees this and tries to plant the seed but it doesn't grow. She then takes a silver penny to buy the fruit from the goblins, and to take home to eat, but the goblins become mad. The begin to beat her and try to force her to eat the fruit, but Lizzie doesn't open her mouth for anything. Inside, she smiles because she knows it will all be for a good cause, and that she will be ok as long as she doesn't open up. Finally, the goblins stop beating her, and run off. Dirty, bruised, scratched, and sticky from the juices of the fruit, she runs home to Laura and tells her to lick the juices from her face to help. laura reacts so violently, that Lizzie believes that she is to be dead. The next morning, Laura is rejuvenated and all is well again.
There were many symbols, such as the fruit that literally poisoned Laura. It can be described as being "forbidden" or being sinful. By eating the fruit, she signed her own death wish. Temptation is especially key. Hearing the sound of the goblin's I think Rossetti was trying to show how sinning and temptation can get you in trouble, and the only way to overcome it is to suffer the way out. I believe she thought it was the only way to become "pure" again.
I think the Goblin archetype woud be the destroyer, because they try to kill Laura with the fruit and knowing she would go through a "withdrawal" without it, she would die. Laura would be the fool and the virgin, because she honestly thought there was no harm in trusting the goblins and eating their fruit even when her sister warned her. She would also be considered the virgin because clipping a lock of her hair and a teardrop more precious than a pearl can be looked at as losing her virginity. Since virginity was always considered as something precious, losing it would make you impure. Lizzie would be described as the wise-(wo)man because she knew what to do to make it home to Laura, and save her life. She was wise to keep her mouth closed when the goblins forced her to eat, and she was smart to just keep strong until they decided to stop.
