Rising from the Fall : Experience and Grace in Goblin Market and

Stories regarding the Fall of humanity can be found in almost every culture. In general, such stories depict three major characters: the fallen, the tempter, and the savior. There are, however, nearly as many interpretations as to the significance of each character as there are accounts of the story itself. Likewise, there is a well-documented disagreement in classic thought as to whether the Fall was, in fact, a bane to human existence, or perhaps the only path to obtaining Grace. Here, I analyze manifestations of the three characters in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market and John Milton’s Comus by presenting the two poems in dialogue to illustrate competing interpretations regarding the significance of the Fall.