His wife was clearly on the side of his daughters. In Chap.10,the Vicar says:"I now begin to find that all my long and painful lectures on temperance,simplicity, and contentment were entirely disregarded...My wife observed that rising too early would hurt her daughters eyes,that working after dinner would redden their noses, and convinced me that the hands never looked so white as when they did nothing."
And so, while Mr.P is trying to direct his daughters in one direction,his wife has something entirely different in mind.