Love and pain
The main characters in the short stories are all women and at some point or another experience romantic love for themselves. This type of love always ends up being tragic and causing a lot of pain for the women, but never for the men. The idea that love is painful and a source of suffering is commonly found in the stories and is one of the main themes that can be found. Love is seen as something which a woman should stay away from since it will never help her have a better life and because no matter how hard she tries, things will never work in her favor.
Poor people
None of the main characters come from a particularly privileged background and they all suffer because of poverty. Because the main characters are women, poverty affects them in a more profound way since this means their families are unable to pay a good dowry and make sure their daughters find good husbands. This pushes the female characters into a vicious circle from which they cannot escape. The female characters are unable to find a better life for themselves and instead are forced to make harsh decisions in order to survive and live a decent life. The connection between poverty and a harsh life is another main theme that can be found in the stories. The way in which poverty affects the life of a person is analyzed at length and the author tries to show how this situation can affect a person's life in the short run as well as in the long one.
The importance of marriage
Another major theme that can be found in the stories is the importance of marriage. Since the characters are all female and live in a society and time in which women do not have much of a value, the only way through which these characters can make sure they will survive is to depend on a man, be it a male member from their own family or a husband. This makes the characters sometimes take drastic measures just to ensure they will secure a good marriage and have a relatively secure future. For the female characters who cannot secure a good husband, the situation is dire. These women find themselves alone and depending on strangers to survive from one day to another. This makes the women lose their faith in the future and even the will to live.
