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The dynamic triangle of parents and children in "The Conscious Lovers" highlights a temporary shift in English polite society from marriage contracts executed as business deals to marriage as an act of love between two people, with limited input from the parents.In his book The Family, Sex, and Marriage in England, 1500-1800 Lawrence Stone says that the enhanced dowries which accompanied brides leading into the mid-18th century put the wife in more of a position of power than she had ever had before.And as more marriages deteriorated because of a lack of affection between the husband and wife, many younger people coming of age in mid-18th century England started seeing marriage as a contract between friends where both partners were equals, rather than a business contract which ultimately left the wife as little more than the husband's personal servant.