During 1890s, John Lane published his quarterly periodical, The Yellow Book, which featured avant-garde material such as texts, stories, poems, art, and advertisements from an assorted mix of obscure and well-known authors and artists. One of its notable qualities was its aesthetic maintained with its font choices, bindings, layouts, and illustrations (Claes and Demoor 134). These design choices were inspired by French fads (136) and chosen to prevent the magazine from being ephemeral. Periodicals were thought to be discarded on a whim but the intent of The Yellow Book was to be preserved for a long period of time. Despite dabbling in avant-garde subject matter, The Yellow Book was aimed at a large audience (136). The main goal was not to be popular, but rather be popular in a new and better way. It was not going to adhere to what people wanted to see; it's goal was to make the general public's taste more refined by bringing avant-garde content to the masses (Denisoff 136).

          Lane used controversy to garner attention from potential readers (143) which resulted in questionable content because it featured subject matters that appealed to lower classes such as music halls and operas for upper classes. An example of the former is Walter Sickert's painting “The Lion Comique”, a portrayal of a music hall scene from Vol. 3 of The Yellow Book, and one for the latter is Charles Willbey's text “The Composer of 'Carmen'”, a biography for the late French composer Georges Bizet from Vol. 2 of The Yellow Book. The question though becomes why Lane has permitted two stark contrasts in subject matters into The Yellow Book. A common tie between the image and text besides their music-related subject are that they are both controversial within the Victorian audience. Music halls were considered lower class entertainment so it is unpopular and loathed by the upper and middle class (ie. The Yellow Book audience). The opera Carmen was initially poorly received because of its complexity that made it difficult to understand. Possible reasons why Lane has situated this image and text is because of the blurring of social classes during the 1890s; the idea that music halls are made up of complex relationships which have artistic and literary value; and Lane's desire to stir controversy to gain attention.

          An important idea to understand is who the audience of The Yellow Book. Periodicals could have been purchased at almost any store (148), but it does not reveal the reading demographic. Lane may have intended for broad appeal, but it does not account for who the reading audience is and who could afford it. The lower classes rejected reading because it required mental stimulation and they preferred sheer and easily digested entertainment (148). On the other hand, the middle and upper class purchased periodicals, newspapers, and other reading formats because they can afford it and were sophisticated enough to be stimulated by it. They were The Yellow Book's main audience so logically, Lane would pander to their tastes.

          The text “The Composer of 'Carmen'” was praised by reviewer Pierre La Rose stating that it was almost good enough for the reader to agree with him. He notes the clever use of “Poor Bizet” because of its positive connotation which would otherwise be negative if applied to any other composer. He may have said Daubet did it better in six words, but he still considers it a noteworthy contribution to The Yellow Book (La Rose 161-165.). Lane's decision to include “The Composer of 'Carmen'” is sensible because it caters to the upper class taste and the Victorian aesthetic because it is about a foreign and well-known composer. This contrasts with the review of Sickert's painting “The Lion Comique”, a painting of a lion comique (parodies of upper class men whom sang songs of womanizing and drinking) in a music hall (Kift 49), which was accused of appealing to people who “earn a few shillings” (ie lower class) and looking like an incomplete sketch. The anonymous reviewer was upset because they did not feel it was appropriate for The Yellow Book to contain “low class” subject matter (Anonymous 23). This reveals that the middle and upper class are Lane's main audience because music halls were looked down upon by the upper and middle class. They are also the reading demographic and could afford The Yellow Book.