In Sense and Sensibility, the family system seemed to be patriarchal. The men made all the decisions around the house and they were the ones who went out and made the money. Although the mothers had a big say in what who their son married. If the mother did not approve of the match, she did not give any dowery to their child. Also, there is the patrilineal system. Land is passed down from father to son. Although some of the land was given to the daughter as a dowery. The majority of the land did go to the son. Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters had to leave Norland Park and go live in Barton College because Mr. Dashwood died and left everything to his son. Because he died and it was a patrilineal society, Mrs. Dashwood and her family did not have any money or land.
The Dashwood family lived in a consanguineal family system. Mrs. Dashwood had to run the household, the kids, and had everyone in the family had to go out and help support the family. Living in Norland Park, each person in the family got their own room, had plenty of servants to do their work, owned plenty of material possessions, have a fire in each room of the house including their bedrooms, a great library to read and look at atlases, and were able to have whatever they wanted and whenever they wanted it. After Mr. Dashwood died, they had to move to Barton College and reduce their possessions and servants. The daughters had to share beds, they didn't have fires in each room, and they had to go out and try to find husbands with good money to support them.
The marriages are arranged by how much money the female or male has. If either one are wealthy, then the two got married. If one is poor and the other one is rich, the marriage is frowned upon because both didn't have money. With both having money, then they were able to be financially secure. With one being poor, then the couple weren't financially secure. Free mate selection was rarely practiced unless both were financially rich.
