Victorian Themes in the Imagination: The Goblin Market in Relation to Romanticism There were two main views regarding the imagination, the Victorians and the Romantic, who did not accept each other's ideas about the imagination. But, despite their clashes over status and visions of the imagination, the Romantics and Victorians share similar ideas across different angles of perspective, which we might assume are tied in part to their era. The long poem, titled Goblin Market, written by Christina Rossetti shows the contrast between the ideas of Romanticism and the Victorian image of imagination using the same motifs. Goblin Market centralizes its theme on the Victorian approach to the imagination as a destructive and alien force that leads to grave and fatal consequences. Nature is seen as a demonic force that leads to death, as is the clear distinction of imaginative creatures, consisting of goblins, represented as satanic and evil. Furthermore, throughout this tale we see how imagination is constantly blamed for leading to unfortunate situations, while romantics would consider imagination to do good to the person even if it leads them astray onto a path of death and destruction. Therefore, Rossetti's text demonstrates that Imagination has satanic nature, which portrays imagination as intoxicating and deadly. Furthermore, the author shows her disapproval of nature by demonstrating Laura's rejection of nature as her enlightenment, while romantics would do otherwise. The Romantics had different views of the imagination than the Victorians. They view the imagination as a divine force and a path to higher experience and spiritual truth in any form. Romantics believe that their percentage... middle of the paper... excludes avoiding temptation in the future, so the story shows no signs of enlightenment and no signs of core romantic ideals. In conclusion, Goblin Market supports the Victorian theme regarding the imagination as a dangerous force. Furthermore, Rossetti disapproves of the Romantic ideals about imagination in his text and criticizes them using key Victorian themes. The text shows no signs of nature being divine nor imagination as a constructive learning experience; instead it demonstrates nature as satanic and evil while imagination causes no enlightenment. The imagination reveals signs of destruction and impending death, which is not a characteristic of romantic principles. To summarize, Rossetti's poetry describes the fundamental differences in perspective between Romantics and Victorians using the same motifs. Works cited