Through an examination of the expressive arts of needlework, painting, and writing, Pens and Needles offers insights into women's lives and, in its final chapters, into literary texts such as Shakespeare's Othello and Cymbeline and Mary Sidney Wroth's Urania.

Through an examination of the expressive arts of needlework, painting, and writing, Pens and Needles offers insights into women's lives and, in its final chapters, into literary texts such as Shakespeare's Othello and Cymbeline and Mary Sidney Wroth's Urania.