Christina Rossetti was an English poet who was born in London on December 5th, 1830. She had volunteered at the St Mary Magdalene house also known as “Magdalene Asylum”  in the Whitechapel district of London, England from 1859 to 1870. During that time she had come to know the women that lived there. Many of the women who lived at this shelter were believed to be prostitutes and lower class. There is speculation that these women were the inspiration for Christina Rossetti’s characters “Laura” and “Lizzie” in Goblin Market. Many of the women living there formed bonds of friendship and sisterhood that led to the Goblin Market’s strong themes of feminism and also helps account for the erotic themes throughout the poem.

Sources

Thor, Jowita. "Religious and Industrial Education in the Nineteenth-Century Magdalene Asylums in Scotland." Studies in Church History, vol. 55, 06/01/2019, pp. 347-362, doi:10.1017/stc.2018.4.