凌叔華、張愛玲、呂大明、蘇童等作家，都曾在小說中藉刺繡寓含女子處境之象徵。本文以蘇童〈刺繡〉為探討核心，援題材近似的凌叔華〈繡枕〉為參照，兩位不同世代流派的作家，筆下女主角從溫婉的閨秀到陰鬱的瘋婦，都禁錮在閉鎖空間，壓抑情慾任憑青春流逝。凌叔華〈繡枕〉中已至民國仍幽閉於閨房的大小姐，藉刺繡寄託對婚姻的憧憬，繡枕的命運卻象徵大小姐的際遇，少女情懷如棄枕般轉為殘敗寥落。蘇童〈刺繡〉裡共產社會的簡氏姊妹自囿於閨閣空間終日刺繡，最終姊妹倆從貞女變為瘋婦和庸婦。小說藉刺繡表達女主角們對婚姻的期待或生命的詰問，對時代變遷中仍受制於傳統禮教的女性，賦予不同的結局與深沈的省思。

Ling Shu-Hua, Eileen Chang, Lu Ta-Ming, Su Tong and other writers all have taking embroidery as a symbol of a woman's situation in their novels. Su Tong's "Embroidery" will be the core discussion of this paper, and Ling Shu-Hua's "Embroidered Pillow" which has similar theme will be cited as a reference. These two writers were born in different generations and belong to different writing schools. However the leading actresses of their writings, from gentle noble young ladies to gloomy crazy women, are all detained in closed spaces, forced to repress their sexual passions and let the youth pass no matter what happens. In Ling Shu-Hua's "Embroidered Pillow", the eldest young lady is placed in confinement to her boudoir even when it has come to the time of Republic of China. She commits her marital expectations to embroidery, but the fate of embroidered pillow is actually a symbol of what happens to her. A young girl's feeling is like a discarded pillow, being defeated and sparse. In Su Tong's "Embroidery" the Jians sisters who live in the communist society restrain themselves to their boudoirs and do embroidery all day. At last the Jians sisters change from virgins to a crazy woman and a vulgar woman. In the novel, embroidery is taken as a symbol of expressing the leading actress' expectations of marriage or inquiries about life. For those women, who are restrained by traditional Confucian ethics during the change of time, the symbol of embroidery presents a different outcome and reflection.