History Main / UnwantedSpouse

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=1508 Slick argues that all wives are the "ball and chain" and this trope.]]

* Seems to be almost SOP among High Lords in [[Literature/CodexAlera Alera]]. Plot significant examples are Gaius Caria, the ignored and unwanted wife of the First Lord; and Antillus Dorotea the downright despised wife of High Lord Antillus. Rejection turns both women into scheming, murdering bi--es.
* [[Literature/PavilionOfWomen Wu Fengmo]] accedes willingly to an arranged marriage with Kang Linyi only to find they have nothing in common. He goes to America to study and falls seriously in love with an American girl but chooses to return to China - and Linyi. Luckily for this unwanted spouse her husband feels strongly obligated to her - having after all chosen to marry her - and works hard to make her feel needed and happy.
* The ''Literature/CormoranStrikeNovels'' - with great reluctance, Robin married Matthew at the end of ''Literature/CareerOfEvil'', but finds absolutely no joy in the marriage. She finally finds it in her to dump him towards the end of ''Literature/LethalWhite'' after about a year of marriage after discovering that he is [[spoiler:again cheating on her with Sarah Shadlock.]]

-->"If only I had been kinder then, things might be different, he might have come to Fennywolde and I might be his wife instead. I wish Twit had let me hang."
* ''Literature/SpinningSilver'': Miryem and the [[TheFairFolk Staryk]] King become this to each other, thanks to the Staryk's BlueAndOrangeMorality. To the Staryk, Miryem's careless boast is a claim to High Magic that demands a challenge and, when she completes the challenge, no less a reward than the King's hand -- never mind that they despise each other. [[spoiler:They still end up HappilyMarried.]]

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* ''Manga/BrokenBlade'': King Hodr to Sigy. Unlike most examples, Sigyn doesn't hate her husband, but married in order to make his best friend, Rygart, the one she actually loves, [[OperationJealousy to do something about it]]. She tried to love her husband at one point, but [[NoSparks failed to]]. Hodr, despite clearly being in love with her, knows full well she thinks of him as [[JustFriends nothing more than a friend]], which is what helps him agree [[spoiler:to a divorce]].

* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul[=:Re=]'', Matsuri Washuu is unhappily married to a woman that he describes as "dull" and completely uninteresting. It was an ArrangedMarriage that he actively tried to avoid, spending a decade living in Germany and only writing to his fiancee when forced to do so. The lack of interest seems to be mutual, since she admits she doesn't really understand what he does for a living and doesn't really care to learn. Their marriage was purely a political matter, solidifying ties between the [[TheClan Washuu Clan]] and another influential family. The fact that he's [[spoiler:[[IncompatibleOrientation only interested in men]]]] probably has a large amount to do with it as well.

* ''Film/CarryOnHenry'' posits that King Henry VIII (Creator/SidJames) had another wife (Creator/JoanSims), a garlic loving wife he alternately wanted and unwanted as the political climate changed around him.

* ''Film/FromBeyondTheGrave'': In "An Act of Kindness", Christopher and his wife Mabel are trapped in a desperately unhappy marriage. She nags and belittles him every chance she gets, while he he's a classic HenpeckedHusband who responds passive-aggressively or with tantrums. From the few clues dropped, it appears to have been a WartimeWedding that did not work out as either of them expected, but divorce in middle class 60s/70s Britain would have been social death.

* Abusive, controlling, big baby of a husband Earl in ''Film/{{Waitress}}''. The whole movie is about the protagonist trying to get away from him.

*** Interestingly, both are historical trufax ([[HeirClubForMen though there was a bit more to Catherine's story then just being unwanted]])
* Prince Dolph in the Literature/{{Xanth}} novel ''Isle of View'' has two fiancées. He is under an obligation to marry them, but he can't marry both, and the one he wants to marry isn't in love with him. The girl he doesn't love will ''die'' if he doesn't marry her. Fortunately Dolph and his fiancées are under-age so there's time to sort the mess out.

* Sarima and Fiyero in ''Literatre/{{Wicked}}: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West''. This one works both ways. They were promised to each other as children without even meeting each other, so she doesn't really want Fiyero either.

* In the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' series, the main character marries Maria, a girl he considers a bit silly and overly emotional, out of guilt, because he can't bear to hurt her feelings by turning down her largely unwanted affections. He spends as much time at sea avoiding her as possible and sets himself up for misery at home by never once correcting her on any of her habits that annoy him, such as calling him "Horry" or cooking food he doesn't like.

* ''Literature/IClaudius'' presents Claudius' marriage to his first wife Urgulanilla as this, with neither being thrilled when they're paired off as a favor to Urgulanilla's grandmother, who's a friend of Claudius' grandmother [[EvilMatriarch Livia]], and the two women mock them both for their unusual appearances (Claudius is crippled while Urgulanilla is a very tall BrawnHilda-- heck, her ''name'' is a feminized form of "Hercules"!). They stay together just long enough to have a child and then pretty much go on to live separate lives. Claudius actually says that there's so little emotion between them that he can't even say they were unhappy, and when he divorces her out of suspicion she was part of a murder plot and because she had a child with a slave she doesn't contest the charge. Claudius in turn goes out of his way to spare the baby by swapping it out with a stillborn child instead of exposing it as is his right as a cuckolded husband, showing he doesn't feel any ill will towards her either. Ironically of all of Claudius' wives she's the only one who's never openly cruel or manipulative to him, and writes in her will after they're divorced that she knows he's not the idiot everyone thinks he is.
* ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' has [[spoiler: Jerin]] as the sort-of unwanted husband to Trini. She only agreed to marry him to prevent him from getting married into a family she [[AristocratsAreEvil is convinced is evil]]. His sweet personality eventually convinces her that he was a good choice for a husband, after all.

* In the ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' trilogy, Audrey agrees to marry Twit solely because doing so will prevent her from being wrongfully hanged as a witch. While she does care for him as a friend, she has no romantic interest in him, and soon regrets the marriage because it prevents her from pursuing her true love, Piccadilly.

* In ''Literature/TheCrownerJohnMysteries'', the marriage between John and Matilda is a bitter and loveless one. It was a political marriage arranged by their parents that neither really wanted. John deals with it by being away from home as much as possible, first by going soldiering in Europe and then joining the Crusade, and later by spending as much time out in the field doing his job as coroner as he can, and by taking mistresses. Matilda focuses her energy and ambition into relentless social climbing.

** Robert has never loved Cersei, and has no problem saying it to her face. It's to the point where it's a bitter joke for the both of them when Cersei quips that their loveless marriage is the only thing holding the kingdoms together.
** Like Robert, Stannis is unhappily married for political reasons. (As he returns to his keep after burning the idols of the Seven, Stannis nearly forgets his wife Selyse, and then ends up walking off without her anyway. He is never seen with her again in Season 2.) Melisandre claims this while seducing Stannis and he doesn't dispute it, but it's ultimately subverted. When Selyse appears again, Stannis seems to genuinely love her (though they're still unhappy and distant) and his daughter, and is quite guilty about having had sex with Melisandre. However, she's seemingly fine with it. In the books, arranged marriages are very common among the high nobility of the Seven Kingdoms, usually made as politically motivated decisions to secure marriage-alliances. Even Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully were in an arranged marriage, though they later grew to love each other. Stannis's marriage to Selyse was also arranged, per the course. Stannis doesn't really seem to "love" Selyse, but his firm sense of duty means that he wants to behave as a devoted husband, unlike his whore-mongering older brother Robert.

* Played for drama in ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. Ra's al Ghul has a his daughter Nyssa marry the supposedly BrainwashedAndCrazy Oliver. Nyssa, being a lesbian who openly dislikes Oliver, is completely opposed to it, but Ra's doesn't care. Oliver (though clearly uncomfortable with the idea) goes through it as part of a gambit to learn what Ra's master plan is. Oliver doesn't seem to consider it valid marriage, possibly explaining why he never bothered to end it...or apologize.

* Discussed in the ''Series/{{Friends}}'' episodes "The One with the Lesbian Wedding," and "The One with the Two Parties." Rachel's mom comes to visit in the first episode, and casually announces that she and her husband are getting a divorce. When Rachel calls her out on being so casual about it, her mom responds that she knew she didn't love her husband when [[RunawayBride Rachel left Barry at the altar]], and that she (Rachel's mom) married her own "Barry." In the second episode, the gang sets up two birthday parties for Rachel to keep her parents away from one another, since the divorce was recently finalized. When she goes back and forth between the parties, all her parents do is voice their frustration on how they stayed married to someone they didn't love for such a long time.

* Music/MeatLoaf's song "Paradise by the Dashboard Light". Long story short, he swears to a girl that he'll love her till the end of time so he can get some. Fast forward, and now he's praying for the end of time to hurry up and get here, because he can't stand her but he won't break his word.

* Literature/TheBible: How's this for an example? You get a guy named Jacob who is working for his uncle Laban. ([[Literature/TheBible You probably see where this is going, don't you?]]) He notices his daughter Rachel, who is quite beautiful... enough so for Jacob to offer to work seven years for Laban in order to marry Rachel (ItMakesSenseInContext). He does the work, gets married and learns (after the fact) that he just got hitched to [[spoiler:Rachel's decidedly less attractive sister, Leah]]. And then he works seven ''more'' years to get Rachel.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', a major plot arc begins from a dissolute husband seeking his runaway libertine wife. It's quickly apparent that they mutually unwant each other.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Seymour asks Yuna to marry him. She agrees to it, but [[spoiler:only to get close enough to confront him about murdering his father]]. Later in the game, he forces her to marry him while the rest of the party are held at gun point watching. Even stranger and {{squick}}ier is the fact that said wedding and Seymour's planting of a ForcefulKiss takes place while [[spoiler:he is technically ''dead'']]; Yuna's reaction is to [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome angrily wiping her mouth with her sleeve]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'', Clay and Bloberta Puppington are in a completely loveless marriage that is explored in the third season. In the episode that explains the circumstances of them getting married, it's shown that Bloberta was desperate to be with someone and ended up with Clay after driving him to alcoholism by justifying to herself that he would need someone to help him. They cannot get divorced due to the hyper-Conservative environment of their town and in the epilogue it's hinted that they grow old and miserable together.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Quagmire gets drunk and accidentally marries an elderly hooker. He can't divorce her, because legally he could lose his home to her. [[StatusQuoIsGod Of course]], in the end, the hooker consents to divorce when she realizes that Quagmire isn't happy with her.

* Ranma of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' has no unwanted spouse but a [[UnwantedHarem dozen unwanted fiancées]], and several storylines revolve around getting rid of the majority of them. For worse, if he openly rejects any of the girls, [[PillarsOfMoralCharacter there will be SEVERE trouble.]]
** As far as Shampoo and Cologne are concerned, Shampoo ''is'' already married to Ranma per the traditions of her village ([[BestHerToBedHer he defeated her in a fight]]); all they need is to have an official ceremony for him to admit it too. Shampoo even outright states that they're married in her home village's newspaper.
* ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'', another series by Creator/RumikoTakahashi, centers on a young man who accidentally marries an alien princess. He wants someone else. Anyone else.
* The Anime ''VisualNovel/FinalApproach'' goes beyond using this for characters -- it actually uses it as plots.
* In ''Manga/{{Rizelmine}}'', the main character is the one with an unwanted wife. He is 100% positive that, no matter what she says, ''he'' never got married to anyone.
* In ''Anime/{{Gankutsuou}}'', Eugenie warmed up to the idea of being in an ArrangedMarriage with Albert, but her father eventually decided to cancel the engagement and arrange for her to marry Andrea instead, whom Eugenie did ''not'' like at all. [[spoiler:Not to mention that he's her [[BrotherSisterIncest half-brother]].]]

* King Hodr to Sigyn in ''Manga/BrokenBlade''. Unlike most examples, Sigyn doesn't hate her husband, but married in order to make his best friend, Rygart, the one she actually loves, [[OperationJealousy to do something about it]]. She tried to love her husband at one point, but [[NoSparks failed to]]. Hodr, despite clearly being in love with her, knows full well she thinks of him as [[JustFriends nothing more than a friend]], which is what helps him agree [[spoiler:to a divorce]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'', Princess Merida has ''three'' potential unwanted fiancés: [[GentleGiant Young McGuffin]], [[TheAce Young McIntosh]] and [[TheDitz Young Dingwall]]. Being a mix of RebelliousPrincess and {{Celibate Hero}}ine, she isn't thrilled at the idea of having to marry either of them. [[spoiler: It's implied that the three boys thought the same: they didn't hate Merida, but none of them wanted to be in an ArrangedMarriage with her either...]]

* Wyatt Earp's laudanum-addicted wife in ''Film/{{Tombstone}}'' is another heroic example.

* Sita in Deepa Mehta's film ''Fire''. The movie opens with her on the honeymoon of her arranged marriage to Jatin, who remains involved with his girlfriend Julie. The trope also manifests, albeit with a twist, in the character of Radha--[[spoiler: her husband loves her but because she's infertile and he's deeply religious, refuses to have sex with her and pretty much keeps her around to test his devotion. He doesn't want to get rid of her, but she's deeply unhappy that he doesn't want her as a wife.]]

* ''Film/CarryOnHenry'' posits that King Henry VIII (Creator/SidJames) had another wife (Creator/JoanSims), a garlic loving wife he alternately wanted and unwanted as the political climate changed around him.
* Abusive, controlling, big baby of a husband Earl in ''Film/{{Waitress}}''. The whole movie is about the protagonist trying to get away from him.
* Katharine in the film version of ''Theatre/AnneOfTheThousandDays''. (She is mentioned in the play, but does not appear.)

* ''Film/FromBeyondTheGrave'': In "An Act of Kindness", Christopher and his wife Mabel are trapped in a desperately unhappy marriage. She nags and belittles him every chance she gets, while he he's a classic HenpeckedHusband who responds passive-aggressively or with tantrums. From the few clues dropped, it appears to have been a WartimeWedding that did not work out as either of them expected, but divorce in middle class 60s/70s Britain would have been social death.

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* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Marva Psycho is not in love with her husband Dr. Psycho, but her first attempt to leave him only makes things worse, whith him treating her like a slave and brainwashing her using his powers once he's out of prison.

* King Hodr to Sigyn in ''Manga/BreakBlade''. Unlike most examples, Sigyn doesn't hate her husband, but married in order to make his best friend, Rygart, the one she actually loves, [[OperationJealousy to do something about it]]. She tried to love her husband at one point, but [[NoSparks failed to]]. Hodr, despite clearly being in love with her, knows full well she thinks of him as [[JustFriends nothing more than a friend]], which is what helps him agree [[spoiler:to a divorce]].

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', Victor and Cigyun of Velthomer were this to each other, since Victor was by all accounts a nasty piece of work and cheated on her repeatedly, not to mention raping her favorite maid in a drunken stupor, so it's no wonder that Sigyun ended up having an affair with [[spoiler:Prince Kurth]] which produced [[spoiler:Deirdre]].

This character can be heroic--unhappily married to a villain, and made so miserable by the marriage that they turn around and betray them, joining the heroes--or villains (often the case if she's the woman standing between the story's two main lovers).

* In ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' (which provides the page image), Clay and Bloberta Puppington are in a completely loveless marriage that is explored in the third season. In the episode that explains the circumstances of them getting married, it's shown that Bloberta was desperate to be with someone and ended up with Clay after driving him to alcoholism by justifying to herself that he would need someone to help him. They cannot get divorced due to the hyper-Conservative environment of their town and in the epilogue it's hinted that they grow old and miserable together.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'', Clay and Bloberta Puppington are in a completely loveless marriage that is explored in the third season. In the episode that explains the circumstances of them getting married, it's shown that Bloberta was desperate to be with someone and ended up with Clay after driving him to alcoholism by justifying to herself that he would need someone to help him. They cannot get divorced due to the hyper-Conservative environment of their town and in the epilogue it's hinted that they grow old and miserable together.

* ''Literature/SpinningSilver'': Miryem and the [[TheFairFolk Staryk]] King become this to each other, thanks to the Staryk's BlueAndOrangeMorality. To the Staryk, Miryem's careless boast is a claim to High Magic that demands a challenge and, when she completes the challenge, no less a reward than the King's hand in marriage -- never mind that they despise each other.

* Londo Mollari of ''Series/BabylonFive'' is married to 3 women (via ArrangedMarriage). Londo makes jokes about how his work on Babylon 5 keeps him away from his wives is a good thing. He is granted a divorce by the Emperor--two divorces, actually--and two constantly fawn on him to ensure that they won't get the metaphorical axe. They also plot to kill him. His first wife, [[SdrawkcabName Timov]], doesn't participate in the scheming and is openly hostile--and in the end, Londo chooses to keep her, as he prefers her open hostility to their cloying faked affection. Also, she didn't try to kill him (in fact, she saved his life, but she never tells him that).

* Maris on ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' eventually turned into this before the divorce storyline.
** Not sure if this counts, since she was supposed to be [[UltimateEvil pure evil]].

* Another RareMaleExample is from ''Series/RobinHood'': Isabella's [[DomesticAbuser abusive husband]] Thornton is creepily obsessed with his wife. She flees from him, and when he tracks her down [[KarmicDeath she stabs him to death]].

* This is also TruthInTelevision: plenty of royal marriages were like this, the most recent example being Charles and Diana Windsor aka the Princes of Wales. He couldn't marry his long-time lover Camilla Parker-Bowles because she was a married woman ''and'' wasn't a virgin beforehand, she was a viscount's naive daughter who thought she'd become a full-blooded princess by marrying him, they got hitched and things progressively went FromBadToWorse.

** And of course we have UsefulNotes/HenryVIII of England, who is infamous for the extremes he would go to in order to dispose of one unwanted spouse after another -- so far as splitting with the Roman Catholic Church for refusing to grant a divorce and [[StartMyOwn starting his own denomination]] in one case, and having the unlucky woman executed in two others. Ironically enough, the only wife who was unwanted from the beginning, Anne of Cleves, was the only one who didn't suffer much under his disposal of her - she agreed to a divorce/annulment of the marriage right away and had, allegedly, a quite cozy life in her own household after that and remained friendly with him, even swapping their cooks at one point.

* Ragyou is this to her husband in ''Kiryuuin Chronicles'' and he vice versa, for a good reason, considering that A) he's abusive and, B) [[spoiler: due to being pregnant (by someone else) with her daughter, Satsuki, she was forced into this marriage by her family]] and it was either that or be disowned.

* In the ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' trilogy, Audrey agrees to marry Twit solely because doing so will prevent her from being wrongfully [[BurnTheWitch hanged as a witch]]. While she does care for him as a friend, she has no romantic interest in him, and soon regrets the marriage because it prevents her from pursuing her true love, Piccadilly.