History Main / SexlessMarriage

* In ''{{Carrie}}'', Carrie's Christian fundamentalist parents wanted to have a marriage like this, because they believed that SexIsEvil. her father once couldn't resist the temptation, and raped her mother; that's how she was concieved.

* In ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'', Krauss and Natsuhi apparently do not share a bed and sleep in separate bedrooms.
* In ''{{Clannad}} After Story'', Nagisa and Tomoya sleep on separate futons, and it was implied that they only started having sex when she wanted to get pregnant. [[CourtlyLove Otherwise they]] ''[[CourtlyLove really, really]]'' [[CourtlyLove love each other, so apparently they are just that chaste.]]
* At the end of TurnAGundam this is how Loran and Dianna end up.

* In ''{{Kaamelott}}'', Arthur hasn't touched Gueneviere since their wedding, which hasn't stopped him from sleeping with just about every other woman in the castle or his in-laws from repeatedly slipping them fertility potions.
* {{Monk}} is a highly germophobic man, and it was implied that he didn't have sex with his wife, though they loved each other.

* Most likely, Basil and Sybil in ''FawltyTowers''. They sleep in [[SleepingSingle separate beds]], and once, when he kisses her on the cheek (to throw her off), she tells him not to. In "The Psychiatrist", Basil claims that they [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean "go for a walk"]] together two or three times per week, but he's probably lying.

-->'''Stewie:''' That's not the point! Don't change the...[[YouFailSexEdForever it's a]] [[IsItSomethingYouEat kind of cake]]?

* KingHenryVIII annulled his marriage to his fourth wife, Ann of Cleves, after six months on the grounds that it had never been consummated. (Which is said to have surprised her, [[InnocenceVirginOnStupidity as she apparently thought his kiss on her forehead each night counted.]])

* HenryVIII annulled his marriage to his fourth wife, Ann of Cleves, after six months on the grounds that it had never been consummated. (Which is said to have surprised her, [[InnocenceVirginOnStupidity as she apparently thought his kiss on her forehead each night counted]]).

* HenryXIII annulled his marriage to his fourth wife, Ann of Cleves, after six months on the grounds that it had never been consummated. (Which is said to have surprised her, [[InnocenceVirginOnStupidity as she apparently thought his kiss on her forehead each night counted]]).

* This is the norm in NineteenEightyFour's Oceania. Sex in this {{Dystopia}}n society is only acceptable if it's for procreation. Sex for pleasure is one of the many things the Party is quite interested in stamping out.

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* John [=McClane=] is separated from his wife, and thus not sleeping with her, in ''DieHard'' and ''DieHardWithAVengeance''.

* Lester and Carolyn Burnham in ''AmericanBeauty'', hence Lester's [[ADateWithRosiePalms morning habit]] (and [[YourCheatingHeart Carolyn's afternoon habit]]). They ''do'' attempt to get it on once, but Carolyn's desire to keep the sofa clean puts the kibosh on that.

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* ''AChristmasStory'' does this, but it's not really emphasized.

* Implied to be the case in Laura's ArrangedMarriage in ''TheWomanInWhite'' -- her GoldDigger of a husband assures his friend there's no chance of his wife limiting his access to her money by producing heirs.

** Count and Lady Fenring, and he was a Eunuch (which in real life does not necessarily mean one is unable to have sex, but does put a damper on it). In the few passages which feature them, they appear to genuinely ''like'' each other; a rather refreshing change from the majority of dysfunctional marriage relationships in the series, which tend to be either "controlled breeding" or "alliance via matrimony" type marriages where the partners at best '''tolerate''' each other.

* Lester and Carolyn Burnham in ''AmericanBeauty''.

* In ''TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', Esmeralda marries Pierre Gringoire only to save his life, and doesn't let him touch her. He accepts that pretty easily.

* Scarlett in ''GoneWithTheWind'' decides that she doesn't want any more children, and tells Rhett that their marriage should become this. [[spoiler: It does...mostly.]] Melanie has a delivery go ''very'' badly, and is warned not to have more children; consequently, she and her husband sleep apart. [[spoiler: We discover--[[DeathByChildbirth tragically]]--that Melanie and Ashley weren't entirely sexless either.]]

There are a few times where this trope can be in play for other reasons. Sometimes there are uncomfortable sleep issues involved (snoring, etc.) and one side will be [[ExiledToTheCouch banished from the bed]]. The trope will also occur with either a CitizenshipMarriage or someone who has SettledForGay, although in those cases this may be the default state of the marriage. In neither case does this trope suggest the romantic problems that it will under the more stereotypical circumstances. In one case because the romance is fine - it's just the sleeping patterns that are bad, and in the other because there wasn't supposed to be any romance to begin with. Another possibility is that one or both of the couple are having medical or other problems that interfere with having a sex life.

* ''AFishCalledWanda''

* This is seen as an ideal in [[NineteenEightyFour Oceanian]] society, with sex for pleasure being strictly forbidden by the Party.

* This was the case with Louis XVI and MarieAntoinette for the first seven years of their marriage.
** Louis XVI actually had a disorder where arousal was painful so that probably hurt his sex life. After eventually having an operation to fix this they ended up having four children.

** Count and Lady Fenring, and he was a Eunuch. In the few passages which feature them, they appear to genuinely ''like'' each other; a rather refreshing change from the majority of dysfunctional marriage relationships in the series, which tend to be either "controlled breeding" or "alliance via matrimony" type marriages where the partners at best '''tolerate''' each other.