It is still a puzzle to me, reading about the Bertrams, how they (with the exception of Edmund) seem so devoid of affection for their parents and so selfish. It does go back to a nurture v. nature question. And why is Edmund such an exception as well? I noted in another post that it seems the omniscient narrator treats Sir Thomas with the same gravity as his character actually has, and so many of his thoughts and opinions seems sensible and right. Yet, in execution those ideas turn completely arry. And even when Sir Thomas seems to even be making amends for conscious or unconscious neglect, such as when he talks with Maria and does give her an out with her engagement to Mr. Rushworth, Maria does not see the olive branch. They do not even see their father as a human being, it seems. Just a lawgiver, law enforcer, and constricter of freedom. I don't think MP does a very good job of making sense of the nurture v. nature question, especially comparing Edmund to the others.