The illustrated quarterly that is The Yellow Book can be perceived as a literary periodical that characterized the nineteenth century Victorian Era. The books were published in London, England by John Lane and Elkin Mathews, and were highly popular. The quarterly lasted between the years of 1894 to 1897. It contained a vast variety of genres, short stories, poetry, art and essays, and was edited by Aubrey Beardsley. The selected text from The Yellow Book that will be discussed in this exhibit is “The Bohemian Girl” by Henry Harland. It is situated in volume four and was published in January of 1895. The story can be categorized under the genre of fiction, short story and periodical. It is about the growth of a young girl into adulthood who is raised with the mentality and upbringing that is no different than that of a male, and the implications that this carries with it. The selected image from The Yellow Book that will be analyzed in this exhibit is “The Renaissance of Venus” illustrated by Walter Crane. It is situated in volume two of the periodical, painted in 1877 and was published in July of 1894. The medium of the image is tempera on canvas and can be classified under the genres of visual art, reproduction of painting and periodical. The reproduction method is halftone engraving. These two works coincide well together in regards to this exhibit’s cultural context of feminism and the ‘New’ Woman focusing on sexual female autonomy. This is because the works both critically analyze the way that women were treated and portrayed in the nineteenth century Victorian era. The two works are linked as they represent the submissive role that women were expected to have in all aspects of life, and the effects that the emerging independent woman had on the society.

I will establish my critical approach and claim about the ways in which The Yellow Book helped to shape and was shaped by the cultural context: feminism and the ‘New Woman’ through female sexual autonomy. I contend that female autonomy and sexual autonomy in the 1890s was negatively perceived and frowned upon and that the emergence of it greatly impacted and advanced the society. This was expressed in the production of artwork and literary works that further drove this idea. I will draw on primary sources and secondary sources to show how my chosen image of the "Renaissance of Venus" and text of "The Bohemian Girl" connect to the Victorian Era’s rise of female sexual liberation through feminism and the ‘New Woman’, and relate these to the production and reception of The Yellow Book volumes being researched.