Marked with a distinct yellow cover, The Yellow Book was influential to many writers and painters as a source of bizarre modern artistic aesthetic. The collection was not a conventional publication because it targeted a highly respected and audience. After the departure of Aubrey Beardsley, many critics noted the diminishing quality of works in later volumes. In a review of the twelfth volume, Ella D’Arcy’s At Twickenham was criticized as having realistic female characters, but lackluster male characters.

The Yellow Book’s demise can be traced to the arrest of contemporary writer Oscar Wilde, whom was arrested carrying a French novel mistakenly identified by the media as a volume of The Yellow Book. This scandal carried over to Beardsley, whose public image and artistic merit were challenged by many (Weintraub 146-47). As a result, The Yellow Book lost most of its writers and readers, but provided the opportunity for new artists to emerge (Weintraub 147). However, the ninth volume presented a thinner list of contributors, relying upon the regular roster of talent such as William Watson and Ella D’Arcy to sustain itself (Weintraub 149-50). There was lack of any new talent for the magazine and this troublesome trend would continue to the Yellow Book’s final volume.

Ella D’Arcy led a tumultuous career at The Bodley Head publication house. Although she gained the position as sub-editor for The Yellow Book, she found herself in rebellious conflicts with Beardsley and Harland (Windholz 121). Anne Windholz suggests that her editorial roles were limited and dependent upon the male governed relations at the office (118-19). Her role as sub-editor was in name only because she could not overrule Beardsley and Harland's decisions regarding content. Frederic Chapman, the magazine’s business manager, refused to give D’Arcy higher status and both were at a stalemate (Windholz 118). Literary history did not focus on female writers like D'Arcy and her bibliography and reputation as a writer have become lost through time (Windholz 116-17). The decision to subjugate women’s voices reflects the helpless feelings of passivity D’Arcy despised and often saw in “damsels-in-distress” archetype characters. It increased her desire to further her status as an editor of respectable art (Windholz 122). Her career ultimately ended the same time The Yellow Book was facing heavy criticism, but she would be remembered as one of its proponents during its golden years.

The 12th volume of The Yellow Book features her short story At Twickenham. The story reads like a naturalistic narrative because it details each character's actions to a specific point. In this scene, D'Arcy describes a character named Letty decorating a typical upper middle class home and mentions the Japanese fan among other foreign objects:

“Letty, dressed the windows of "Braemar," with frilled Madras muslin, draped the mantel-pieces with plush, hung the walls with coloured photographs, Chinese crockery, and Japanese fans” (314).

D'Arcy represents the Japanese fan as an effeminate item in this scene. This is prevalent when Letty and her sister Minnie are cleaning and decorating the room for the day. In this context, women are given the responsibility to distinguish their house from the rest by placing a Japanese fan among other exotic items.

According to Cynthia Brandimarte, Japanese fans would often be purchased for personal use and then placed in nooks and corners of the households to display along with other fans (18). These fans were constructed out of cheap paper and palm and mass produced by Japanese novelty shops as promotional materials to pin on walls. Along with umbrellas, fans were also branded as sacred items and symbols of royal authority (Brandimarte 18).

In connection to Brandimarte’s obervations, Japanese fans made for attractive items to keep in any household. Much like Japanese woodblock prints, they were items that were small, intimate, and easy to place in any setting. Ella D’Arcy added an exotic element to her stories which reflected a market of Oriental items in middle class homes. D’Arcy’s role as sub-editor, in later volumes of The Yellow Book, pressured to revitalize the magazine’s reputation. Although D’Arcy may have little to do with diversifying the Yellow Book’s readership, this scene signifies the Oriental imagery used to supplement her work. It provides the reader with a brief exotic image that distinguishes itself from the European mentality present in past Yellow Book volumes.