CONSUMPTION OF THE FEMALE BODY IN ILLUSTRATED EDITIONS OF CHRISTINA ROSSETTI’S “GOBLIN MARKET”

Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” (1862) places a great emphasis on the female body, where ravenous consumption of the forbidden fruit is associated with loss of purity. The poem has haunted the imagination of numerous artists, several of them representing the female body in a sexualised manner for voyeuristic purposes, while others refusing to commodify the female body and its experience of suffering. From a feminist perspective and through close reading, this article aims to explore how artists have portrayed the sexual connotations of Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” and their choices when depicting voracious appetite, (sexual) violence and the decaying of the female body.