Like Laura, Lizzie becomes physically aroused by the sound of the goblin fruit sellers. Lizzie similarly recognizes the fruit as an object of desire, but she perceives its dangerous qualities and tries to warn her sister against eating it. Laura’s eating of the goblin men’s fruit is a similar example of her giving into temptation, and her actions strip her of her innocence: Laura’s desire for more fruit is so strong that without it, she pines away and begins to weaken and age. In this way, the fruit also echoes the forbidden fruit in the biblical Garden of Eden: in the Bible, human beings fell from grace when Eve ate this fruit and introduced sin into the world. To eat it, then, is to metaphorically transgress past the boundaries of women’s acceptable behavior. There is clearly a sexual dimension to Laura’s desire for the fruit, especially evident in the descriptions of her eating it: she “sucked and sucked and sucked the more,” and “sucked until her lips were sore.” Laura also speculates, at first slightly fearfully but later eagerly, about the exotic place where the fruit must have grown, wondering, “Who knows upon what soil they fed / Their hungry thirsty roots?” This suggests that for Laura, the fruit is further representative of life beyond the confines of her role as a typical Victorian woman.
The goblins present the fruit to Laura on golden plates and describe it using sensuous language, emphasizing its taste, color, and juiciness. For Laura specifically, the fruit represent a desire for things that are forbidden, exotic, and sensual.
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