Oscar Wilde and Goblin Market

The two works of the creative minds, Salome by Oscar Wilde and “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossettie depict the theme of sexuality as it is discussed in this documentation. Sexuality is the art of being male or female. It goes further to define and describe the complexity that comes with this art. Sexuality cannot be completely explored without an in depth analysis of the behavior, response and the roles the two different sexes play in different environments. The two works attempt to portray these roles and behavioral responses of both men and women in the rather complex environments with a variety of different factors such as power, politics, family, love, religion and hatred. The two writers have chosen the suitable characters and literal skills. They include first of all the biblical allusion to portray the complex behavior of men and women in a barely ideal environment, and second of all the metaphors’ symbolism. While Christina presents her work in a poetic style, Oscar’s work is presented as a narrative. The two different works poses the amazing similarities especially in their outstanding approach to develop the themes.

Thesis Statement

Both writers effectively convey the theme of sexuality in their lateral works by the proper choice of the characters, styles and figures of speech.

A Comparison of the Two Lateral Works

The two works by Oscar Wilde and Christina Rossettie are rather similar in a variety of ways, namely, in their attempts to depict the art of being male or female. Their imagery, choice of characters, literal styles among others is greatly similar. Wilde and Rossetti must have done their assignments rather satisfactorily to come up with the similar methods of depicting love and hatred among men and women. The two writers expose weaknesses and strengths of the two sexes amidst drama and the unfolding events spiced with humor. These similarities further strengthen the development of the theme to suite to many other environments nowadays.

Choice of the Characters

Both writers have male and female characters which are to expose the various characters’ traits for the two sexes. Christina has chosen the two young sisters, Lizzie and Laura, the goblet men and a third girl named Jeanie to develop her theme of sexuality. In a similar approach, Wilde has chosen the male and female figures as his characters for the same purpose. Herod, a political figure and a symbol of power, Jokanaan a Prophet Salome and her mother take the central stage. The similarity in a choice of male and female figures is amazing among many readers as they help to describe who women and men are and what role they play in a society.

Characters’ Traits

The two works portray men as domineering among the sexes with Wilde’s male character Herod, who is a symbol of authority and power in a society. Christina’s male characters, the goblin men, on the other hand, are portrayed to poses financial authority. The dominant scenario is when the goblin men sell fruits and in the opening stanzas their voices welcoming people to buy from their diverse varieties. Maids could hear the goblin men’s shout: “Come buy our orchard fruits.” The freshness, succulent nature and the diverse variety of these fruits are the riches’ symbolism. The malicious treatment is accorded to Lizzie when she has tried to offer more money to carry the fruits home. It has served as an indication between the two sexes. But Lizzie has managed to outdo the men without being assaulted. This character’s trait that is accorded to men in the two works is demonstrative on the behavior of men amongst many communities and does not come as a surprise because the woman in many societies is regarded as a weaker sex. However, it is interesting to note the ironical twist with which Lizzie manages to outdo the men and the ability of Salome to release the prophet Jokanaan. This helps to expose an inbuilt character in women which is often ignored. As it is depicted by the writers, the woman poses the ability to have her way even in rather hard situations. Lizzie is depicted as a woman with a pity and so is Salome as the two sympathize with the suffering of other characters.

Style and Figures Of Speech

Symbolism and Biblical Allusion

The two writers use biblical allusion as the major literal styles to develop their theme of sexuality. Wilde’s work is a symbolism of a story contained in the gospel of Mathew and Mark. The story tells about the marriage couple of a powerful man Herod, an adagios woman and their daughter – a gorgeous girl Salome. Christina’s work is based on the Old Testament and is a symbolism of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, who believed to have been created by the command of the universe. Salome dances in the play and her father offers her an opportunity to make a request that would be certainly done. This symbolism exposes men’s weakness in their inability to expect the wicked plots from their female allies. However, to his shock and to the delight of her mother the girl asks for Jokanaan’s head as an indication of the extent of vengeance to which the female can go. All these unfolding events were triggered by Jokanaan’s attempts to cast the aspersions in their marriage. The writer uses this symbolism to expose the men’s and women’s different views in their marriages.

Such an effective symbolism is also evident in Christina’s work. The goblin men are exposed as possessing the ability to lure the maidens into tasting their forbidden fruits. The three girls Laura, Lizzie and Jeanie are the victims of the goblin men. Jeanie is the first to taste and dies thereafter; Laura becomes the victim of the luring temptation and in an attempt to save her sister Lizzie also is a victim of the forbidden path. Such a symbolism and style, though an ironical twist and a reversal of roles, exist between the story and the biblical version and depicts the ability of the one sex to greatly influence the other into the paths, the end of which may be devastating or referred to the forbidden and yielding death. This symbolism is demonstrated in the following line: “Lizzie, Lizzie, have you tasted for my sake the fruit forbidden?”

Metaphors are common in the two written works and have been used to describe especially the desire which forms a greater percentage of once sexuality. Salome describes the prophet’s body with the various metaphors at different stages of the unfolding events. When she is happy with the prophet she uses moonlight, cedar of Lebanon among the other metaphors to describe him. These metaphors are a clear indication of the young lady’s desire to identify the prophet. In the other situations and as a way of showing the resentment and unfulfilled desires she describes him as a knot of snakes. The writer successfully uses this style to develop the theme of sexuality as it gives a character an opportunity to openly refer to the opposite sex without feeling awkward. In Christina’s work such metaphor as fire has been used to develop the theme of sexuality. Fire has been used to describe passion and health lust. In the line 27, for example, the barberries have been compared to the fire. The extent of this metaphor and its effectiveness to describe the probable ends of the relationships between the males and females is fascinating. The other metaphors such as rat, snail and cat may be used to describe the features of the goblin men, who are to indicate the beastly nature of men.

A variety of other themes and subthemes have been used to develop the theme of sexuality in the two written arts. The sub-theme of desire comes at the Centre stage with the characters from the both works, which are unable to gratify their desires. Herod’s wife, for example, is depicted as a woman with a strong desire to carry out vengeance on the prophets and stops at nothing less. This desire helps to develop not only her character’s traits but also to illustrate the unwavering nature of a female against a male’s rival. Other themes that develop the theme of sexuality include the religion and culture that help to portray the role of women and men in the propagating cultural practices within the society. The prophet’s Jokanaans role in the society as a man has been further emphasized by this theme. Christina also uses this thematic approach in portraying the art of sexuality with the sub-theme of a desire coming at the Centre stage.

While Oscar Wilde and Christina Rossettie successfully portray the view of women by men as the objects of self-gratification, the two writers are also tend to represent the ability of women to manipulate it to their own advantage. The writers’ depiction is also concentrated on the women with neither political nor financial authority. Furthermore, the women are not portrayed as the losers in the long run. Herod’s wife and Salome, for example, take an advantage of such situations to exercise the vengeance on their enemies. While it is generally accepted that Salome is indeed an object of self-gratification, she ends up being in a control of the situation as a result rewarding her mother. Apart from the use of the characters and figures of speech to develop the theme of sexuality, other themes such as moral decadency, desire religion among others have been used. There are, however, differences in the presentation of the two written arts with the one presented as a narrative and the other in a poetical style.