Critical Introduction

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882) was among the leading artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of artists in nineteenth-century England who actively rejected the prevailing styles and themes of the Royal Academy, which set the standards for art of the era. As their name indicates, the Pre-Raphaelites favoured art that predated the High Renaissance, seeking instead to revive the beauty, craft, colours, and themes of late medieval and early Renaissance art. They found support in the English Gothic Revival, which led to the construction of neo-Gothic buildings throughout the country, and to works of art and literature with what were considered “gothic” themes—including monsters. Here, Rossetti illustrates “Goblin Market,” a poem by his sister Christina focused on themes of temptation and the loss of innocence. As in much Pre-Raphaelite work, both the poem and image contain tensions between moral-izing messages and sensual, even erotic, appeals. In Christina's poem, two sisters are lured by the constant calls of the “goblin men,” who beckon them with the ripest fruits, described in overtly sexual and anthropomorphizing terms. In the image, the goblins are presented as humanoids with animal heads. They are the standard animals of English children's literature—cat and mouse, owl and badger, all dressed in tweed suits—but this is a parody of the genre, as the “girls” are clearly grown women. The wise sister flees to safety with a backward glance; the reckless sister stays to bargain with the goblins. Since she has no gold but her golden hair, she cuts off a lock, offering something of her own body to trade for the fruit. Perhaps she is buying the owl's pomegranate, bursting open with vaginal ripeness and filled with seeds. While she seems only to see the glistening fruit, her sister—and the viewer—can see the danger lurking in this forbidden goblin fruit.

Viewing Questions

What do the tension between the fairy-tale characters and the adult theme of sexuality tell you about this image? About the two sisters? What are the various images and techniques that the artist uses to imply that this transaction is really about sex? Does this image discourage or encourage such transactions, and why?