During our discussion of Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market we touched upon the possibility of interpreting Lizzie and Laura’s tale as one of incest and homosexuality. I found this to be somewhat reminiscent of the ménage à trois found between Robert Audley, George Talboys, and Clara Talboys from Lady Audley’s Secret. In the novel, we frequently noticed a homoerotic subtext between the two men. To be more specific, we frequently noted Robert’s use of the word “brother” in his descriptions of George. This was particularly strange in the scene where he asked Clara, his supposed romantic interest, to go with him to find George in order “to bring our brother back between us” (LAS 431). This foreshadowed the end of the novel where the three of them lived happily ever after, brother and brother and brother and wife, making up one semi-incestuous family. This dynamic is of course easily seen as well in the aforementioned case of Lizzie and Laura. The two sisters live together in a domestic relationship, and in fact one of them is literally saved by a bizarre and taboo sex simulation. After this, the poem concludes with an explanation of the virtue of sisterly love. Thus, in the end, both tales take an interesting take on the intersection of familial and romantic love. There is of course one important difference, however. In Lady Audley’s Secret the trio is able to openly live together without fear. In Goblin Market, we get the implication of their connection but are not explicitly shown them living together. I would argue that this is because males at the time were accorded additional freedoms to live as they saw fit while women were heavily confined in their choices. This would explain why Laura and Lizzie still end up marrying instead of living together while Robert could have what he wanted. Even in homosexuality, then, women were still suppressed.