Who is Praskovya Fedorovna from Great Short Works of Leo Tolstoy and what is their importance?

Praskovya Fedorovna is Ivan Ilych's wife who bears him children and goes with him to various judicial posts throughout Russia as he climbs the ladder of success. She is a chronic malcontent who blames her husband for everything that she thinks is wrong with her life.They become estranged so that by the time he becomes ill, she shows no sympathy or concern for him and he hates her.