Matilda's parents and Matilda

Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood, look upon their daughter Matilda as "nothing more than a scab," even though they dote on their elder son, Michael. This is especially bad because Matilda is a genius, and most parents would have been in awe of her mind. She could speak perfectly, even better than most grown ups, by the age of one and a half. When she was three she had taught herself to read, but her parents would never buy her a book because they believed that television is much more important.