Needlework and female character, or what does Natasha Rostova need yarn and knitting needles for?

Abstract

There is something in common that unites well-known female characters created by Russian writers - craving for needlework. Writers invest their heroines with this feature not by accident: avocation with embroidery, knitting and other kinds of useful arts shows the sacramentality of woman, her aesthetic delicacy, personality and richness of the inner world. What piece of works do use this literary device and how the nature of the heroines are revealed with it- this is what this article tells about.