In what way does this quote from Samuel Johnson's The Rambler apply to Arabella?

"These books are written chiefly to the young, the ignorant, and the idle, to whom they serve as lectures of conduct, and introductions into life. They are the entertainments of minds unfurnished with ideas, and therefore easily susceptible of impressions; not fixed by principles, and therefore easily following the current of fancy; not informed by experience, and consequently open to every false suggestion and partial account" (The Rambler, 2).

"Yet Fortune was so kind, as to give him the Means of repairing his Fault, and restoring him to some Part of her good Opinion; for, covered with Wounds as he was, and fatigued with fighting, before, yet he undertook, in that Condition, to prevent her Ravishers from carrying her off; and, for several Hours, continued fighting alone with near Two hundred Men, who were not able to overcome him, notwithstanding his extreme Weariness, and the Multitude of Blows which they aimed at him... I can only, like her, wish you may find some Occasion of justifying yourself, from the Crime laid to your Charge" (115).

In Samuel Johnson's The Rambler, he discusses how the novel's role and how authors construct their characters. As seen in the quote above, Johnson believes that author's aim these novels towards the young, uneducated because they are unexperienced in life and are thus susceptible to the displays of characters. While Johnson is speaking about readers of these novels in real life, we too see how this applies to characters in novels that are reading novels, such as Arabella.

Although we never actually see Arabella reading these romantic novels she is so wholly absorbed and obsessed with, we gather from her notions about life and interactions with other characters that she has read them; that is, we see the consequences of her readings. These books act as her "lectures of conduct, and introductions into life." She does not have any ideas of her own, and draws all of her ideas from these books. As seen in the quote above from The Female Quixote, Arabella is speaking to Glanville about the crime he committed against her. She compares him to "the valiant Coriolanus" who, even though he was wounded and tired, continues to fight for Cleopatra. She believes that because Coriolanus does this for Cleopatra, Glanville should do the same for her.

According to Johnson's passage, Arabella is so easily susceptible to these novels and the characters in them because she is so uninformed. She lives in a secluded area, and prior to reading these novels, she only had rare interactions with people outside of her father's service, and any of these interactions were not romantic, so when reading these novels, this was her first impression of what men would and should be like.