What are the motifs in The Art of the Novel by Natasha Saje?

Role of women is a recurring idea. In the opening statements of “The Art of the Novel,” women seem fragile and vulnerable to the consequences of their emotions. Sajé tells the reader that in 1790 a woman could actually die just from falling in love with the wrong man. This is a startling opening that makes the reader wonder if the speaker will elaborate on how fragile women are or will continue to explain how women today are much stronger. In line 3, Sajé clarifies that her opening statement is, in fact, a brief plot summary of A Simple Story, a novel by Elizabeth Inchbald.