In English we have been split up into groups to analyse the poem the "Goblin Market". My group has been given the title "erotic", which seems to be far too exciting for the boys, but I shall analyse anyway.
Basically, every other line throughout the poem COULD be thought of in an erotic way, intentionally or not, but I will only be analysing a few, otherwise it'll get crazy.
There is a link between the theme of eroticism and Christina Rossetti, because she was very religious and believed that erotic behaviour was a sin and that people would suffer from such things.
A quote from the text is "unplucked cherries", which could be interpreted in various ways. The way my group has to interpret it though, is the erotic way, and so we saw that line to be symbolising a girls virginity, and because of the context it was in- the taking of a girls virginity. That quote was paired with another ("come buy, come buy") and we get the sense of temptation.
Temptation is a very key thing throughout this poem, because it's showing how the temptation of these "fruits" are persistent and have bad side effects.
"Maids" is what the two girls in the poem are referred to as, which to us, symbolised innocence and purity. That is coupled with the "cutting of a gold lock", which seems to be of some value to the girls, and a vital piece of information. We interpret this as the cutting off from innocence and childhood, and the entering of the adult world.
These Goblin men which are frequently discussed between the two characters in the poem, seem to be representing men in the real world. Men who will try and tempt young women into bed or into buying things from them. We found that Christina Rossetti's poem seemed to be teaching the audience a lesson, and that is that if you fall into the trap of temptation, you will be punished. This was obviously what she was taught as a child, which gives the poem a more religious feel, but I think that's another groups title (:
So, is it a poem for kiddies or adults?
ReplyDeleteLove what you've done with the blog, by the way.
To a certain extent it's a poem for children, as it teaches them the good moral of not giving in to temptation, but it is also a poem directed at adults, as I feel that the content is too erotic for kiddies (: maybe it's a message for both the adult and the child (whilst reading the poem to their child at bed time), as it is a subtle 'lesson' for the child, and a warning of what happens to people who son, for the adults.
ReplyDeleteMysterious... 0.o