Fallen Woman and Cousin Kate

I'm just going to start by saying I signed into YouTube and for some reason it also signed onto blogger with that account so when I published my post I wasn't logged on so it didn't save. I'm now completely re-writing this, and I'm irritated, so please excuse any spelling mistakes this may cause.

In our last lesson, we began by discussing the idea of a fallen women. Our ideas seemed to focus on the idea of a 'fallen woman' being a woman taken out of her prime, usually by a man. He would seduce her, resulting in her being cast out of society or negatively viewed. This led onto a discussion that women had many derogatory terms for sleeping around, such as 'whore' and 'slag', yet men have very few, if any. It may even be seen as a positive for a man to sleep around, and he may be praised for it.

With this idea fresh in our mind, we began to read the poem 'Cousin Kate'. It discussed a 'fallen woman', the narrator, who had been cast out by society due to having sex before marriage. The man she had sex with, however, had no consequences for his actions. He went on to marry the narrator's Cousin Kate. The narrator and Kate were in the exact same position with the man, except Kate got married before having sex. As a result, Kate was seen as 'good and pure' and the narrator was an 'outcast'. However, the narrator believes her love 'was true', whereas Kate's was merely 'writ in sand', only temporary, yet the narrator is still the one negatively seen by society, showing the unfair views of the time.

Despite the narrator seeming like the average 'fallen woman', we learn in the final few stanzas that she is in fact stronger than that. This is due her having a son from her pre-marital sex. This has resulted in her being an outcast and her son is her 'shame', yet he is also her 'pride'. Because of him, she has someone to look after her and someone who makes her proud. This is something Kate doesn't have. Maybe Kate can't have children, as the narrator says that she has 'little doubt you fret', referring to having a child. This shows that despite being an outcast, she has something as a result of it, a child who makes her proud and makes her stronger than the average 'fallen woman'.

Discussing Ideas in Goblin Market

In our lesson, each of the five groups discussed an idea associated with Goblin Market. They were eroticism, feminism, marxism, retribution and moral. Some ideas were stronger than others, and I personally believed feminism to be the strongest. There are many sections in the poem backing feminist ideas. On the poem as a whole, you could use the fact that the hero is a woman and that women triumph over men to support feminism ideas. You could also delve deeper and notice facts that even though the two women are both married at the end of the poem, men are never once mentioned, possibly showing that men are not deemed necessary and not needed in love. The love between the two sisters, the two women, is broken up by the Goblin Men, showing that men actually ruin love, not partake in it.

Even though I believe feminism to be the strongest idea in Goblin Market, other ideas discussed also had some interesting points. Moral was often linked to religion which I thought added to the argument for moral, as Christina Rossetti was very religious. There is a part in the poem where the Goblin Men beat and abuse Lizzie as she fights for her sister and her sister's well being. This has similarities to Jesus' crucifixion, as he put pain upon himself for the good of others and linked to the moral idea that your actions could directly cause negative reactions to other people.

I thought marxism and retribution to be weaker ideas, however eroticism seemed to have strong arguments for its case. When Laura cut her hair and gave it as payment to the Goblin Men for fruit, she was literally selling herself, maybe a reference to prostitution. This reference is made stronger by the fact that Rossetti volunteered at a 'house of charity', a refuge for former prostitutes. The section where the Goblin Men attack Lizzie uses phrases such as 'Held her hands and squeezed their fruits against her mouth to make her eat'. This line sees the Goblin Men trying to force something of theirs inside Lizzie, which is a possible sexual and erotic reference.

Feminism in Goblin Market

There are many references to feminism in Goblin Market. The two protagonists of the poem, Lizzie and Laura are both female, whereas the antagonists are the evil Goblin Men. There is strong emphasis on women prevailing over men and sisterly love, particularly when Lizzie succeeds in resisting the Goblin Men, resulting in her saving her sister Laura.

However, what I find particularly interesting is how, despite all these prominent feminism ideas, Rossetti repeats 'Men sell not such in any town', referencing the fruit the Goblins sell. This fruit is what makes Laura ill, what Lizzie has to resist the Goblin Men for and what tempt women of their purity. By saying 'Men sell not such in any town', it seems as if Rossetti is saying the poem isn't pro feminist and it is not 'men' who are evil, but Goblin Men, who are inhumane and animal like.

Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti's work predominantly focused on themes of death, unhappy love and premature resignation. These can be linked to poems such as Goblin Market, where Laura, who was tempted by the Goblin Men, nearly reached death by quickly aging and getting ill. The unhappy love aspect can be linked to her sister, Lizzie, who faces the Goblin Men later in the poem and may possibly have been subject to sexual contact, against her will. Premature resignation can be linked back to Laura, who it could be said prematurely resigned from life due to her eating of the Goblin Men's fruit and succumbing to temptation.

Rossetti was deeply religious which also affected her writing, with much of her work having references to her views. She is said to have been diagnosed with a 'religious mania', showing her devotion to religion. Many people have identified feminist ideas in her works too. Though her popularity did not match a few other female poets in her lifetime, her works have lived on and continued to be studied, showing her popularity remained high after her death.

Symbolism in Goblin Market

The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti features a large amount of symbolism. For example, swans are mentioned, which are white, often a symbol of purity and goodness. They also have long necks which are exposed. This could represent danger. Swans are as a simile to describe Laura, and swans are often linked to stories of losing purity and virginity. This shows the Goblin Men may take her purity from her.

Fruit is also used, which could represent temptation, going back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Adam was tempted by the Forbidden Fruit, which, nowadays is often linked to temptation in sexuality. This again can be linked to the Goblin Men tempting the two girls and taking away their purity or virginity.

The golden hair could reference youth, as colourful hair shows youth, yet greying hair shows age. When Laura gives her hair to the Goblin Men, she may be giving away her youth and with that her health, as she gets ill and aged after eating their fruit.

Destination in Novels.

The destination of a novel can often be apparent from an early point of the book, or even the first chapter, such as in Pride and Prejudice. The opening sentence, the famous line 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.' instantly gives an insight into the novel's destination and themes, showing that a main focus may be on marriage. This opening sentence is also in its own paragraph, which makes it stand out even more to the reader and increase its impact.

The second paragraph discusses another idea, that such men entering a town are instantly spoken about as if they belong to a family's daughter. This idea is again in a standalone paragraph, increasing its effect to stay in the reader's mind. It also strengthens the idea that marriage and relationships may be prevalent in the novel.

Much of the rest of this opening chapter is devoted to conversation between Mr and Mrs Bennett, who are discussing marriage, and also a man who has just moved into the town, much like the kind of man described in the first two chapters. This makes the reader think that he will be part of a marriage, due to him linking with the first two chapters, further showing that marriage will be a significant part of the book, due to almost the whole first chapter discussing it.

The chapter ends with a very short description of Mr and Mrs Bennett, putting focus on the conversation between them rather than their physical attributes. This puts the reader's mind on the conversation of marriage, which, coupled with the final sentence 'The business of her life was to get her daughter's married; its solace was visiting and news' just strengthens the reader's idea that the destination of the book will be to do with marriage.

Paper on the Floor.

The inclusion of paper being on the floor is important because the writer has specifically chosen to place this in their piece of writing. It would not be included if it was not important or did not have a relevance, as writing needs to be kept engaging and interesting, so unnecessary information is removed to keep the reader's attention.