Line #66 Main/MarriageTropes


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Richter_BridalProcession.JPG]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:''Bridal Procession in a Spring Landscape'' by Ludwig Richter]]
3
4	->''"It is a distinctly human act to marry. Animals require no contracts or dowries. The hen and the rooster make no vows. Leave it to people to complicate matters with their ceremonies and their cakes. Is it not a wonder that anyone marries at all?"''
5	-->-- '''Lady Whistledown''', ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}''
6
7	''Tropes having to do with that venerable institution. This is for the marriage after the wedding. For tropes dealing with Weddings, see WeddingAndEngagementTropes. For tropes dealing with romance itself, see LoveTropes.''
8
9	Marriage. [[Film/ThePrincessBride Marriage is what brings us together today]]. What happens when the newlyweds come home from the honeymoon and start living with each other. It's simultaneously a milestone, a building block for a family, a way to join two older families, a social institution, a public declaration and a very private affair. Many of these tropes are meant to play out over years; others are about the social clout that married status confers; others are about power and in/equality, such as who holds the purse strings.
10	----
11	[[index]]
12	!![[SisterTrope Related]]:
13	+ TheExIndex
14	+ FlirtingAndCourtship
15	+ FamilyTropes
16	+ InfidelityIndex
17	+ LoveTropes
18	+ MarriageOfConvenience
19	+ SexTropes
20	+ WeddingAndEngagementTropes
21
22	!!Tropes
23	* AccidentalDeclarationOfLove: A moment of confession that may or may not lead to marriage.
24	* AccidentalMarriage: An innocent action results in a character being married.
25	* AffairHair: A piece of hair not belonging to a spouse found on one's clothing, which makes their spouse believe they're cheating on them.
26	* AltarDiplomacy: A marriage set up to form alliances and end feuds.
27	* AmicableExes: Former spouses who have remained friends with each other.
28	* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Forcing someone to marry you.
29	* ArrangedMarriage: A marriage set up between two people who may or may not love each other, often due to political or financial reasons.
30	* AuthoritativeInPublicDocileInPrivate: Someone with a domineering personality/high rank in society is markedly submissive in family life.
31	* AwfulWeddedLife: An unhappy and dreary marriage.
32	* BattleCouple: Spouses who battle together.
33	* BestFriendsInLaw: Best friends become in-laws when one marries the other's relative.
34	* BreachOfPromiseOfMarriage: A potential marriage is broken off after the man doesn't pay up his end of the bargain.
35	* BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage: A government or religiously mandated marriage.
36	* CareerVersusMan: A woman must give up her career if she gets married.
37	* ChastityCouple: A couple abstain from sex and are fine with it.
38	* ChildMarriageVeto: A character refuses an ArrangedMarriage set up by their parents.
39	* ChildhoodMarriagePromise: Two kids promise to marry each other when they grow up.
40	* CitizenshipMarriage: A character gets married in order to avoid being deported out of the country.
41	* ComingOutToSpouse: An LGBTQ+ character comes out to their spouse or partner.
42	* CommonLawMarriage: A couple are married in every sense of the word but legal.
43	* CompeteForTheMaidensHand: Two suitors duel, with the winner getting to marry their love.
44	* ConfirmedBachelor: A character who foregoes ever getting married.
45	* ConsummationCounterfeit: Blood is placed on the sheets of a couple's bed in order to fool people into believing they consummated their marriage or that the bride was a virgin on her wedding night.
46	* ConvertingForLove: You must convert to your lover's religious beliefs before you can marry them.
47	* CreatorCouple: A married couple who work in the media together.
48	* CrusadingWidow: A widow goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against those responsible for their spouse's death.
49	* CustodyBattle: Conflict ensues when a couple gets divorced and can't agree who should get custody of the children.
50	* ADayInHerApron: A man tries his hand at doing his wife's housework, but fails miserably.
51	* DeconfirmedBachelor: A ConfirmedBachelor meets the right person and changes their mind about being single.
52	* DivorceAssetsConflict: A divorcing couple demand they split up their possessions between each other, which leads to them going at each other's throats.
53	* DivorceInReno: Reno, Nevada is the best place for couples to get divorced.
54	* DivorceIsTemporary: When a couple gets divorced, it never sticks.
55	* DivorceRequiresDeath: One half of a married couple must be put to death if they want to divorce.
56	* DomesticAbuse: One spouse horribly mistreats the other.
57	* DoubleInLawMarriage: A pair of siblings marries another pair of siblings.
58	* DowryDilemma: The bride's family has trouble putting together the dowry needed for her marriage.
59	* ExiledToTheCouch: A married couple fights, which results in one of them being banished away from the bed.
60	* ExoticExtendedMarriage: Polygamous marriages are the norm in this culture as a way of showing how alien it is.
61	* FallbackMarriagePact: Two good friends decide to marry each other if they're still single by a certain age.
62	* FalseWidow: A woman lies about being a widow to explain why she has no husband.
63	* FamilyMan: A man who's a dedicated husband and father.
64	* FidelityTest: A character tests their spouse's faithfulness to them.
65	* FoolishHusbandResponsibleWife: Wives act as the voice of reason to their husbands.
66	* FootDraggingDivorcee: A couple is in the process of getting a divorce, but one of them is reluctant to go through with it.
67	* ForgottenAnniversary: A character forgets their wedding anniversary.
68	* FourthDateMarriage: Two people marry shortly after meeting.
69	* FriendshipAsCourtship: Two people who knew each other for a long time marry without dating.
70	* GiveGeeksAChance: A nerd is HappilyMarried.
71	* GodCouple: Married deities.
72	* HappilyEverAfter: The story ends with a happy couple getting married and going off into the sunset.
73	* HappilyMarried: A married couple who are happily in love.
74	* HappyMarriageCharade: A couple who can't get divorced pretends to be HappilyMarried.
75	* HenpeckedHusband: A man who is dominated by his wife.
76	* HisAndHers: Spouses have matching items labeled as "his" or "hers".
77	* HistoricalRelationshipOverhaul: Two historical characters are married even though they weren't in RealLife. The opposite may also be true.
78	* HotConsort: A ruler has an attractive spouse.
79	* HotGuyUglyWife: An attractive man marries an unattractive woman.
80	* {{Househusband}}: A man stays home and cares for the house while the wife works.
81	* {{Housewife}}: The wife who stays home and cares for the house while her husband is the breadwinner.
82	* InLoveWithLooks: A character who wants to marry someone because of their looks.
83	* InsatiableNewlyweds: Once a couple marries, they can't resist getting it on whenever they can.
84	* LastWishMarriage: Someone is dying or expects to die shortly, so they say "I do" before they kick the can.
85	* LazyHusband: A man who leeches off his wife.
86	* LoveFatherLoveSon: Marrying a former crush's offspring.
87	* MagicalDivorce: A marriage is terminated supernaturally.
88	* MailOrderBride: A man "purchases" a wife through an agency.
89	* MalMariee: A young woman is unhappily married to a much older, abusive man, and is often unfaithful to him.
90	* MalignedMixedMarriage: Intermarriage between people of different races and religions are looked on with contempt.
91	* MaritalRapeLicense: The crime of rape is excused if it happens between spouses.
92	* MarriageBeforeRomance: A couple don't fall in love for real until after they're married.
93	* MarriageToAGod: A character devotes themself to a deity as though they were married to them.
94	* MarriedAnimals: Non-anthropomorphic or minimally anthropomorphic animals are referred to as married.
95	* MarriedAtSea: A sea captain legally marries a couple.
96	* MarriedInTheFuture: Child characters are shown to have gotten married as adults.
97	* MarriedTooYoung: A young couple marries in their teens or twenties, only to later realize that it wasn't the best decision to marry at that age.
98	* MarriedToTheJob: A character pays more attention to their career than to their spouse.
99	* MarryingTheMark: Entering a relationship with someone to con or commit a crime against them.
100	* MarryForLove: Marrying someone out of genuine love rather than for money or status.
101	* MarryTheNanny: A single parent marries a household employee.
102	* TheMasochismTango: Spouses who act antagonistic towards each other.
103	* MetaphoricalMarriage: They can't or don't want to get married legally, but consider themselves as good as married and committed for life.
104	* TheMistress: A woman whom a married man cheats on his wife with.
105	* MyOwnPrivateIDo: A couple marries before having a big wedding.
106	* NoAccountingForTaste: Two people are married despite really not having much reason to be.
107	* NobilityMarriesMoney: Rich people marry other rich people, or at least people whose ancestors were rich.
108	* NotReallyMarriedPlot: A couple finds out that they were never legally married.
109	* ObnoxiousInLaws: A character is hated and treated like crap by their in-laws.
110	* OldManMarryingAChild: A young girl is married off to an older man.
111	* OopsIForgotIWasMarried: A character finds out they're in a marriage they were unaware was legal.
112	* ParentalMarriageVeto: A parent is against their child's marriage.
113	* ParentingTheHusband: A marriage where the wife has to mommy the husband.
114	* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: The participants in an ArrangedMarriage genuinely love each other.
115	* QuittingToGetMarried: A character quits their job when they get married.
116	* RemarriedToTheMistress: A character gets remarried to someone they were having an affair with.
117	* RemarryingForYourKids: Getting remarried in order to give your children a parental figure missing from their life.
118	* ReturningTheWeddingRing: If an engagement/wedding ring is returned, that means a marriage is over.
119	* RoboticSpouse: Building/programming your own spouse.
120	* RulingCouple: A married couple who rules over a country together.
121	* SeductionProofMarriage: A marriage where the couple are so faithful to each other that no seducers can steal them away from each other.
122	* SerialSpouse: A character who has been married more than once.
123	* SettleForSibling: Marrying an unrequited crush's sibling.
124	* SexlessMarriage: A marriage where the couple don't have any sex, usually due to problems in the marriage or IncompatibleOrientation.
125	* ShippingBedDeath: A couple being married causes fans to lose interest in them as a couple.
126	* SickeninglySweethearts: A HappilyMarried couple who are in love to a SickeninglySweet level.
127	* SleepingSingle: A married couple is depicted sleeping in separate beds rather than in the same one.
128	* SmithicalMarriage: A couple checks into a hotel posing as a married couple.
129	* SpysSuspiciousSpouse: A spy's civilian partner becomes suspicious of them.
130	* StarterMarriage: A first marriage that doesn't last for very long.
131	* SteppingStoneSpouse: A partner sacrifices for their spouse only to be left behind when fortunes increase.
132	* SuddenlySuitableSuitor: A person of nobility/royalty's commoner LoveInterest is revealed to be of royal background, thus making them suitable to marry them.
133	* TilMurderDoUsPart: A character plots to murder their spouse.
134	* ToiletSeatDivorce: A couple gets divorced over something minuscule.
135	* TookTheWifesName: For a significant reason, a husband takes the surname of his wife instead of the other way around.
136	* TopWife: The favorite wife of a man in a polygamous marriage.
137	* TrophyWife: A spouse who is mostly there to make someone look good.
138	* UglyGuyHotWife: An attractive woman marries an unattractive man.
139	* UnableToSupportAWife: A man can't afford to get married and care for a wife.
140	* UnholyMatrimony: A villainous married couple.
141	* UnwantedSpouse: A character is married to someone that they'd rather not be married to.
142	* WeddingRingDefense: Wearing a wedding ring to fool people into thinking that you're married, often to shoo away unwanted suitors.
143	* WeddingRingRemoval: A character takes off their wedding ring before they cheat on their spouse.
144	* WedlockBlock: A couple can't marry because another couple is required to marry before them.
145	* WetBlanketWife: The wife who nags her husband to not endanger himself too much and to think about his family.
146	* WhyDontYouMarryIt: Character mocking another character liking something too much.
147	* YokoOhNo: A celebrity's spouse is the target of hatred from said celebrity's fanbase.
148	* YouHaveWaitedLongEnough: A character is forced to marry someone else when the one they love doesn't come right back to them.
149	[[/index]]

Context Main / MarriageTropes