] If she were a modern day parent she would probably be pushing her daughter into early dating or child beauty contests or Brittany Spears-like attire. I had friends who had mothers like Mrs. D. - re-living their youth through their daughters. Elinor is much more of a mother to Marianne than is Mrs. D. I find her behavior totally consistant with her character.

I don't think Mrs. D is reliving her youth through Marianne, she is just simplying indulging Marianne's excessive emotions way too much. But that is because she and Marianne are very alike in this emotional disposition and as the parent, she is doing Marianne a verygrave disservice by not teaching her to control her emotions or at least effectively putting a check on them.

While Elinor is more motherly, it seems that Marianne wouldn't heed her advice much, partly due to the natural willfullness of people Marianne's age and to the headstrongness of Marianne's disposition.

Yes, JA is superb at detailing her characterizations.