Dornish marriage

[Vaedys Targaryen]

Something has been on my mind now for a few days regarding the Dornish and marriage:

Dorne is rather different than the other Seven Kingdoms in that they are still ruled by a prince or princess, but culturally-wise they stand out by not really concerning themselves with whether or not a woman is a virgin and they do not look down opon bastards. Many married high-born lords, and even ladies, have paramours, which is not at all like a mistress who is looked down on, but is instead a rather respected individual.

The thing that I have been thinking about is, with a mindset that a sexually active woman and bastards are no big deal and individuals known as paramours are not at all looked down upon and are often rather respected, do the common people in Dorne feel the need to marry?

I mean really, marriages in Westeros are almost purely for alliances and the unification of two houses. The common people have no lands or armies to unite, which kind of goes against the purpose of marriage. The common people in the other kingdoms marry for religious reasons, because bastards are seen as a sin and what not and the mother will be subjected to social scorn, but Dorne does not think this, which gives the impression that Dorne as a whole is not a particularily religious place.

Also, bastards of nobles can't inherit whatever their noble parents own, that is a stated fact, but a bastard of commoners can't inherit anything because there is nothing to inherit, i.e. the bastard's parents have no lands or castles to give to their bastard.

So with all this, I ask again: Do the Dornish commoners feel the need to marry?

[Ralphis Baratheon]

Why do common people in the real world feel the need to marry? 

[SeaWitch]

There's probably something very similar to the poor of medieval Europe, where marriage was more of a common law affair.  Church vows were originally a blessing in the porch on an already accepted union.  Celtic parts of the country had handfastings of pre-agreed periods. (Year and a day) Without property or titles, marriage was still probably a community affair, the families getting involved, maybe a little more in the way of choice.  Two people might have some kind of public ceremony, but more civil, maybe a blessing of their choice afterwards.  Or they could just set up home together and the community would regard them as married.

[NorthGirl]

OP, if we think of marriage as what people would call common law married in the US, then it still makes sense, besides there might be a religious component to it as well. And I don't think virginity is a prerequisite for marriage anywhere in the 7K among the small folk, even outside of Dorne. 

And while they might inherit lands or titles, they still have a right to a house, plot of land to cultivate or an inn or whatever shop they have.

[The Mountain That Flies]

Peasants can still own property, so there is logic behind the legal institution of marriage for them. Remember, a wealthy merchant who is not from a landed family would technically be a commoner, but they would have a lot of assets that need a clear line of control should anything happen to them.

Also, weddings are just fun and people like to have a reason to celebrate, especially in a society where life for a commoner suck as badly as Westeros does.

[snow is the man]

I don't think that the people of dorne are less religous then the rest of westeros they just live there life differently. Also while bastards are treated better they still don't inherit land and titles like the trueborn children do.