]... say he does take over Longbourn, if he and Charlotte fail to have a son and he passes, will Charlotte and any daughters they have had be in the same position as the Bennet ladies? What would happen to Longbourn then?

If Mr Collins and Charlotte fail to produce a son,what happened to Longbourne?

Frankly, it all rather depends on the terms of the settelement in which the ential was created.

If Mr Collins is the residuary benficiary,and the ential is to end with him,he does not need a son.He owns the property outright and can dispose of it as he wishes.So, even if he is blessed with 5 daughters , he can hopefully provide for them financially from the estate ;-)

However, if the ential continues for another generation,then a son will be required to inherit.If there is a Collins son he could agree, as the final beneficiary of the settelment to bar ,or break the ential being the direct heir apparrent,and then any daughter Mr Collins had could be provided for as the entail would not longer be in existance.Such a re-settlement could have provided for all Mr Collins loved ones, including Charlotte.

If there is no son...then the Collins family would be in the exact situation in which the Bennets found thenselves to be.Well not quite ;-)

The Collinses are not in such precarious financial straights as the Bennets.We know that amlost all of Mr Bennets income is from the Longbourne estate.( Some income is from Mrs Bennet's portion , which was invested)

Before Mr Collins inherits he will receive his income from teh Hundsford living-that is, the tihes and the income from any glebe land he could farm.And he could retain that money(see Kathleen's post below)once he inherited Longbourn, while employing a curate to take services at Hunsford.

I am sure he and Charlotte were careful managers of money and they would set aside savings before the increase in their income when they inherited the Longbourne estate.;-)

Indeed ,in his proposal to Elizabeth in Chapter 19 ,Mr Collins shows himself to be scrupulously aware of finacnial matters even if he is rather tactless( and I do beleive he lies...with regard to money I do not beleive him to be indifferent );

"To fortune I am perfectly indifferent, and shall make no demand of that nature on your father, since I am well aware that it could not be complied with; and that one thousand pounds in the four per cents., which will not be yours till after your mother's decease, is all that you may ever be entitled to. On that head, therefore, I shall be uniformly silent; and you may assure youself that no ungenerous reproach shall ever pass my lips when we are married."

I hope this helps.