english4

I found it interesting to discuss different themes of the poem. The five themes of the poem are; Erotic, Feminist, Marxist, Redemptive and Moral. These all had a different impact on the poem and gave a different interpretation of the poem. For example the theme of eroticism is undeniable as the poem expresses the idea of innocence and virginity throughout and the way it is taken from Laura. There is also a strong feminist theme as the poem portrays women as being virtuous and good whereas men are seen a no more than violent creatures which are evil and are there to try and corrupt women. As well as this Rossetti describes the pure bond between women and how there is nothing stronger. I found marxist difficult to relate to the poem as it does not seem as if the goblins want money, however it could be argued that innocence is simply and different form of payment and by selling that it is more valuable to them. There is recurring theme of Christianity in the poem and I feel the themes of redemptive and moral are combined as the both relate to the stories from the bible. For example when Lizzie sacrifices herself for Laura it is similar to Christ's sacrifice.