Mildred is an unsuitable candidate for this knowledge for various reasons: She lacks emotional maturity. While she cannot comprehend the potential of books and cannot connect intellectually or emotionally to them, she yearns for the stories and "family" depicted in her parlor. She is also lazy and does not want to work at being a good wife. More importantly, she believes that she is doing her husband a favor by staying home and taking care of their children instead of going to work. This idea comes from somewhere within herself; perhaps it is because she has never been given a chance to do anything else. Whatever the case may be, she thinks she's doing her husband a favor by not contributing to the family income and allows him to support them both on his own. She also fails to realize that by refusing to have a career, she is sending a message to him that she doesn't value themselves as worthy of having one themselves. Finally, she neglects her personal appearance, allowing her hair to go gray and her teeth to decay. All in all, she is a bad wife because she puts her needs last and lets her husband take care of her.