Parenting: Lady Catherine out of line?

"'Has your governess left you?' 'We never had any governess.' 'No governess! How was that possible? Five daughters brought up at home without a governess! - I never heard of such a thing. You mother must have been quite a slave to your education'" (161).

As Lady Catherine bluntly expresses her astonishment with the way in which the Bennet girls were raised, her remarks not only reflect poorly on her manners but also highlight the parenting style that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet provided for their daughters. No, they did not have any help in raising their daughters to be prim and proper in the eyes of society, but Elizabeth assures Lady Catherine that they were never neglected or never given every opportunity that they could want simply because their parents decided to raise them without paid help. In contrast, Lady Catherine's daughter, the quiet and sickly one who is seen as a disappointment to her mother, surely was raised in an environment surrounded by governesses, and yet she could not live up to her demanding mother's expectations.