As wonderlanded said, it seems very normal parenting to me. Also, I think it's the parenting that the children want. In The Marlows and the Traitor there's a little bit about how Mrs Marlow has her heart in her mouth a lot of the time, but tries very hard to be an un-neurotic parent. Can you really see Nick wanting a mother who's always into her personal feelings? They've been brought up very independently
With the Court of Honour, I can't see Mrs Marlow having beena guide, so very likely she'll have idea what they're like, or why they should be so awful. For the secondhand clothes thing, I don't think that it's really horrible for them having them all the time. There are eight children, and Nick herself says that that wasn't the reason they went to Changear - it's just nice to have one new dress for a change.
I don't think there's any "fault" here at all. The Marlows don't hold up well when they are compared to the more stylised parents of children's literature, where people are either good OR bad, and we are comfortingly told which, but compared to real life parents, they're very good, I think.
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With the Court of Honour, I can't see Mrs Marlow having beena guide, so very likely she'll have idea what they're like, or why they should be so awful. For the secondhand clothes thing, I don't think that it's really horrible for them having them all the time. There are eight children, and Nick herself says that that wasn't the reason they went to Changear - it's just nice to have one new dress for a change.
I don't think there's any "fault" here at all. The Marlows don't hold up well when they are compared to the more stylised parents of children's literature, where people are either good OR bad, and we are comfortingly told which, but compared to real life parents, they're very good, I think.