Happily Married / Literature

---

• Della and Jim from "The Gift of the Magi" clearly love each other very much. In fact, the whole twist of the story happens because of their desire to give each other a Christmas present.
• Charles Dickens gives us a few:
  • Charles and Lucie Darnay from A Tale of Two Cities are devoted to each other, having two children during the events of the book (one of whom dies in infancy) and one in the future foreseen by Sydney Carton (after whom the child will be named). Lucie remains loyal to Charles despite his family having caused her father's long imprisonment, and after he is put on trial and sentenced to death upon his return to France, she follows him in a bid to have him freed. Seeing how happy they are together is what motivates Sydney Carton to take Charles' place for his execution.
  • Joe and Biddy from Great Expectations find true happiness with each other when Pip turns his back on both of them for different reasons (Joe because he reminds him of the humble origins he wants to rise above, Biddy because she is not Estella), and by the book's final chapter they have two children together (one named for Pip) for whom they are both adoring parents.
• J. R. R. Tolkien seems to have had a very strong conviction that this was how relationships are supposed to work out, and so his works provied a lot of examples. Almost all requited love in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion ends in happy marriages: Aragorn and Arwen, Faramir and Éowyn, Sam and Rosie, Celeborn and Galadriel, Beren and Lúthien, Idril and Tuor, Bombadil and Goldberry, etc. etc. There is one couple that does not marry (Andreth and Aegnor) but were very happy. It helps of course that elves don't have any reason to rush things (when your biological clock is 10,000 years long it might as well not exist at all) and teach their human friends not to rush it either (and not to pressure young people of either gender to marry, something which causes a large number of divorces in real life). However, there are some unhappy relationships in his writings: notably the marriage of Ar-Pharazon and Tar-Míriel, and the marriage of Brodda and Aerin. In both of these cases, the woman did not consent: and the marriages are unhappy from the very beginning. Ar-Pharazon and Brodda are both working, wittingly or unwittingly, for the bad guys.
  • There are two relationships which begin happy but turn sour: Fëanor and Nerdanel, Eöl and Aredhel. Fëanor of course is being sneakily corrupted by the literal devil Morgoth, and starts to view her supportive criticisms as disloyal. Oh, yes, and he hits on his own niece (or at least, the very astute Galadriel, seems to think this is what he was doing): then has the gall to accuse Nerdanel of being the unfaithful partner (because she refuses to accompany him on what is obviously a suicide mission). Fëanor and Nerdanel were very much Happily Married before Morgoth entered the picture: with her being the only person he truly listened to. That being said, the fact that they are happily married does NOT imply that they are good parents: at best it seems they were distant and ineffectual, and at worst Fëanor actively manipulates his sons into participating in his ridiculous feud with his half-brother. Maedhros, the eldest, all but actually disowns the rest of the family because of this.
  • Eöl and Aredhel seem to get along reasonably well, if only because they are both loners content to basically be alone together. However, when Aredhel gets homesick and tries to go back to Gondolin, her brother's kingdom, Eöl freaks out and pursues her with a poisoned spear. It's here that his less than savory side shows up: he accuses Turgon of having no legitimate right to rule Gondolin (Turgon built the city on uninhabited land), and then tries to choose his son's fate as well as his own (with the aforementioned poisoned spear). Aredhel takes the blow meant for her son, not realizing the spear is poisoned because elves don't generally use poisons: and Eöl's use of it certainly seems to suggest he was at one point mixed up with the bad guys. Aredhel dies, and Turgon is enraged by the unjust death of his sister. As Eöl is executed, he curses his son to die in exactly the same way he does: by being thrown off the wall of the city. This ends up coming to pass, when Maeglin is killed by Tuor after attempting to rape Turgon's daughter and kill her son.
  • The number of happy relationships are probably due to the fact that Tolkien himself was Happily Married.
  • It's worth noting that the story of Túrin and Niënor explicitly states that their curses were part of the most heinous act of the source of all evil in the universe, and even then, they manage to be quite happy for a while, before the curse catches up with them.
  • However, unusually for this trope, Happily Married couples are not necessarily Good Parents. In addition to Fëanor above, there is the abysmal example of his son Curufin: who neglects his son Celebrimbor in pursuit of a ridiculous scheme to take over Nargothrond. Celebrimbor promptly disavows his father as soon as the latter's coup attempt is overthrown: but Curufin's neglect causes him to be naive, and thus open to Sauron's manipulations. Then there's the neglectful Thingol and Melian, and the downright abusive Morwen who tells her seven year old son not to mourn his baby sister's death. There's also Dior, who puts his three children at risk in a fight over a really shiny rock. Even though Celegorm did try to kidnap Dior's mother, this is still inexcusably irresponsible. Also in the irresponsible category, is Rían who is perhaps a little bit overly attached to her husband Huor: such that when she learns he has died she goes to kill herself on the same battlefield even though she has an infant son and is living in a dangerous country. Tuor is raised by some elves, but they aren't truly capable of protecting him and he ends up suffering seven years of slavery before finally escaping: and only manages to truly escape captivity because the Vala Ulmo happens to need him for a quest to save the world. Thankfully, Tuor does finally find some people who actually care about him in Gondolin. Literally everyone in Gondolin, apparently: except Maeglin.
  • In Smith of Wootton Major, Smith also has a happy marriage — not central to the story, to be sure.
  • Also Farmer Giles of Ham, Giles and Agatha bicker a bit, but it is obvious that they care about one another.
• Touchstone and Sabriel in the Old Kingdom series, and considering their day jobs are ruling and making sure magic runs steady in the land, and fighting the Living Dead, it's a good thing they've got each other.
• Jane Austen: She managed to create a handful of happy marriages. It seems like she puts in at least one stable couple in each book, if only to serve as a subconscious suggestion to her assorted heroines. Her heroines end up Happily Married themselves with whichever men they wind up marrying. It is the trademark of Jane Austen's 'verse and somewhat of a Foregone Conclusion for her novels.
  • Admiral Croft and his wife Sophia from Persuasion absolutely adore each other. They cannot bear to be separated and spend most of their time being together. Mrs Croft is one tough lady who used to sail with her husband on his ships, and she's a sensible and independent woman; the Admiral has a unique sense of humour, which saves them from falling into Sickening Sweethearts.
  • Mary and Charles Musgrove from Persuasion. They sometimes bicker and Charles could have been happier had he married someone more intelligent and less whiny, but the readers are assured that they can pass for a happy couple with flying colours.
  • The Westons in Emma. Miss Anne Taylor, Emma's former governess is a gentle and intelligent woman, and she marries Mr Weston at the beginning of the novel. Mr Weston has never been unhappy in his life, but his Second Love has truly brought him bliss. Their baby girl is born at the end of the novel.
  • Emma: Mr John Knightley and his wife Isabella, Emma's sister. They have five children and live comfortably in London. She adores her family and is blind to all their faults. He loves his wife, too, and enjoys quiet and domestic life more than anything, though he sometimes sneers at her for being too anxious about everybody's health and less intelligent than him.
  • The Gardiners in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth's aunt and uncle. They are both sensible and affectionate, and they have four lovely children. They sometimes act as parental substitutes for the Bennet girls.
  • Elinor and Marianne's parents the Dashwoods in Sense and Sensibility until the father's death, and it's suggested that he was also happily married to his first wife, their half-brother John's mother. Mr Dashwood took an exemplary care of his family, and his wife and daughters loved him. They were all taking care of Mr Dashwood's uncle.
  • John Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility seems to be extremely happy with his wife Fanny; she's a Jerkass to almost everyone else, but he nevertheless loves her to bits and thinks her perfectly lovely. To Fanny's credit, she does treat John well and she dotes on their small son.
  • Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram from Mansfield Park, even though Lady is somewhat of a stupid Lazy Bum and Sir Thomas is highly intelligent. But she's a beauty, affectionate and kind in a very passive way, and he can deal with her very well and actually cares about her. He manages to guide her in important issues, and they are never shown to be dissatisfied with each other.
• Perhaps to balance out the many difficulties in their lives, many characters live this trope in the Deryni works:
  • Rhys and Evaine Thuryn are depicted as an affectionate couple and arcane partners throughout The Legends of Camber trilogy and in the short story "Healer's Song". Their Deryni powers add additional levels to their flirtations and marital bliss.
  • Lady Alyce de Corwyn and Sir Kenneth Morgan in In the King's Service and Childe Morgan, until her Death by Childbirth. Despite King Donal's sustained efforts to keep Kenneth occupied with business early in their marriage, Kenneth manages to get back to Alyce so they conceive their son Alaric, and Kenneth tells his king this is the reason for it. While Kenneth lacks Alyce's powers, she nevertheless enters his mind for deep communication with him from time to time.
  • Nigel Haldane and his wife Meraude. In The Quest for Saint Camber, Meraude speaks of being in love with Nigel since she saw him receive his knightly accolade some twenty years previously, and in King Kelson's Bride Nigel says of her, "...once I set eyes on Meraude, there were no other contenders, so far as I was concerned." After Nigel is reconciled to his granddaughter (Conall's illegitimate daughter Conalline Amelia), the two go into Meraude's private apartments, and Jehana describes them thus: "They looked like a pair of newlyweds." Their marriage also follows the Babies Ever After trope; in addition to their three sons and a daughter, Meraude tells Jehana she thinks she's pregnant again in King Kelson's Bride.
  • Alaric Morgan and Richenda of Marley settle into this after a tense start to their marriage (Richenda is the widow of a traitor, and since she has a son by her first husband, some of Morgan's household don't fully trust her until after she's provided Morgan with a male heir of his own). Like Rhys and Evaine, they become arcane partners (with Richenda filling in the gaps in Morgan's education), and their marital intimacies are also enhanced by their powers. Perhaps because his duties separate them from time to time, Morgan is fairly open about expressing his desire to be with his wife.
  • Jehana describes the "laughing, happy court" of Prince Létald (the Hort of Orsal and Prince of Tralia) and his wife Princess Husniyya (known as Niyya). Theirs most definitely includes a case of Babies Ever After: in addition to Cyric, Rezza Elisabet, Rogan, twins Marcel and Marcelline, Aynbeth and Oswin, Niyya is expecting another set of twins in King Kelson's Bride. Jehana's mention of them is a bit of a sore point for Kelson thanks to her expressed wish for grandchildren from her only son and his Cartwright Curse.
  • Kelson and Araxie aspire to this once they decide to marry, and they are determined to build on the friendship and affection that they had for each other as children. Their Official Kiss is the first hint of their success, and the scene at their nuptual bed (which closes King Kelson's Bride) also bodes well.
• Harry Potter
  • While they were still alive, Harry's parents Lily and James counted. James pulled a You Shall Not Pass! on Voldemort to buy time for Lily to escape with their son. Pictures of them show them being affectionate and not 'posed for the picture' either because wizard pictures have animated figures.
  • Molly and Arthur Weasley have seven children, and are always portrayed as having built a solid, stable, and very loving home life for them. They provide such a loving, stable, family atmosphere that they become a de facto adoptive family for Harry when he comes to visit.
  • Bill and Fleur. The fact that the latter was not turned off by the former's werewolf scars convinced Molly they could be Happily Married.
  • Vernon and Petunia Dursley, whatever else you can say about them, are content in their marriage.
  • Harry and Ginny and Ron and Hermione end up as happy marriages, too. Word of God has that Luna, Neville, George, Percy, and Dudley all had this as well. However, as this happens off-screen or after the end, it better fits Happily Ever After.
  • Lupin and Tonks had a short marriage, but it was mostly happy.
  • Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Lucius' genuine love for Narcisssa and their son, Draco, served as being his main (if not only) redeeming quality. Their marriage is strained by Lucius' actions leading up to and during the second war, but the two are united by their love for their son, and the family ends the series intact and together.
• Thursday Next and Landen Parke-Laine (although Landen suffers from a case of Ret-Gone-induced existence failure for a while, until Thursday rescues him).
  • In a story-within-a-story that Thursday visits in The Well of Lost Plots, the lead character Jack Spratt laments that as a fictional detective he isn't allowed to have a stable relationship for plot reasons. Thursday advises him to Screw Destiny and live his own life, and sure enough when the novel The Big Over-Easy was published we found Jack happily married with several kids.
• In the short story "The Wedding Present" by Neil Gaiman, due to a mysterious magic letter received as a wedding present, Belinda and Gordon have a very happy and successful marriage. In the alternate universe that the letter describes... not so much. Though in the end, after Gordon dies in an accident that doesn't occur in the alternative universe, Belinda burns the letter as she's willing to sacrifice her happy family life for an estranged one just to be able to see and talk to Gordon again.
• In the webserial "No Need for a Core?", once they have worked the kinks out of their marriage of convenience, the central thruple to the story has a rather happy relationship, though others (especially teenagers) might occasionally roll their eyes at the ongoing flirtations. Disagreements are rare and fights non-existent thanks to the use of communication, a rare skill in some relationships. And because trust is high, jealousy is also a rare and fleeting thing.
• In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Han and Leia are very happily married. Then the New Jedi Order happened. (Granted, there were good reasons for the unpleasantness and they got better.) Also, Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade... Until Jacen killed her, but overall, both couples share affectionate Snark-to-Snark Combat, form highly effective Battle Couples, and genuinely care for each other.
  • Corran and Mirax Horn are very Happily Married, to the extent that Mirax's kidnapping is the catalyst for Corran becoming a Jedi, and despite their jobs taking them all over the galaxy, they still maintain a happy, stable family.
• A Song of Ice and Fire
  • Edward "Ned" Stark and Catelyn Tully. An Arranged Marriage forged for political reasons, the two grow into deep love and affection, though Ned's rather more reserved about it than Catelyn. In fact, theirs is the only marriage in the series that doesn't directly lead to bloodshed in some way. Probably. Shame what happens to them (though it's a nice way to cram in another trope.).
  • Daenerys Targaryen and Drogo. It doesn't start out happy; Dany is essentially sold off as payment for her brother to gain Drogo's support to reclaim the Seven Kingdoms, and is raped for the first several weeks of the marriage. However, after a while, Dany begins to assert her independence with the help of her handmaidens, and her relationship with Drogo becomes more equal. It quickly turns into a case of Perfectly Arranged Marriage, as Dany develops genuine love for her "sun-and-stars", and genuinely mourns when she has to Mercy Kill him.
  • Amusingly Roose Bolton, of all people, married Fat Walda Frey early in the series (on the basis that she was the best choice given that he was offered "his bride's weight in silver" as a dowry) completely without event and to the apparent contentment of both.
  • Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey is another case of a Perfectly Arranged Marriage. They are betrothed by Robb Stark as a way to make amends regarding his spurning the Freys' preferred choice of wife for him, but quickly grow to love each other genuinely, to the point that Roslin cries during the wedding because she knows that her family will massacre the Tullys, and later on, quietly prays for her child to be a daughter so her family will not have an excuse to execute Edmure after he's done fathering an heir for them.
  • Kevan Lannister and his wife Dorna Swyft, who met when her father, Harys, didn't pay off debts to his brother Tywin. They fell in love and remained so years after the fact, with four children over their marriage. While Dorna herself did not appear, this was because Kevan was well aware she would not live well in the politics of the series.
  • Tywin Lannister chose a love marriage to his cousin Joanna over any possibly more strategic political marriage, and truly mourned her when she died in childbirth prior to the events of the series. Though it doesn't prevent him from trying (with varying degrees of success) to push his offspring into loveless political marriages.
  • In history, there was the relationship between Jaehaerys I and Alysanne Targaryen, which is set as the standard on how royal marriages are supposed to be. They did have a couple of quarrels (because what couple doesn't), but remained together for 51 years. Their children Baelon and Alyssa had an even happier and more passionate marriage (bordering on Sickeningly Sweethearts, if Maester Gyldayn is to be believed) that was sadly cut short by Alyssa's Death by Childbirth at age 24.
• Aral and Cordelia Vorkosigan in Lois McMaster Bujold's books have a rock-solid relationship, managing to combine the best of their two wildly different cultural backgrounds. Witness this conversation from A Civil Campaign, where Cordelia, her best friends the Koudelkas (Kou and Drou, who are also Happily Married), and the relevant parties are discussing the romance between (and possible marriage of) her son Mark and their daughter Kareen.
  Kareen: Not... not yet, anyway. It's like I've just started to find myself, to figure out who I really am, to grow. I don't want to stop.
  Cordelia: Is that how you see marriage? As the end and abolition of yourself?
  Kareen: It is for some people. Why else do all the stories end when the Count's daughter gets married? Hasn't that ever struck you as a bit sinister? I mean, have you ever read a folk tale where the Princess's mother gets to do anything but die young? I've never been able to figure out if that's supposed to be a warning, or an instruction.
  Drou: You grow in different ways, afterward. Not like a fairy tale. Happily ever after doesn't cover it.
• Despite the author having a penchant for putting his characters through various other kinds of war-induced hell, this is par for the course in David Weber's Honor Harrington novels.
  • Hamish and Emily Alexander and later Honor too from the Honor Harrington series. After sixty years of marriage, Emily's injury and whatever else they're still quite lovey-dovey around each other. It also helps that Emily is Hamish's chief political advisor and confidant, so they know how to work together too.
  • Aivars and Sinead Terekhov, from the Saganami Island sub-series — though she rarely appears onscreen, she is often in Aivars' thoughts and regularly gives him strength to do what he must despite being light-years away. She does get some actual screentime in the later novels, and it becomes rapidly apparent that she and her husband are not just besotted with each other, but an excellent team.
  • Honor's parents, Alfred and Allison Harrington. The short story "Beauty and the Beast" shows how (and why) they got that way.
  • Benjamin Mayhew and his two wives, Katherine and Elaine, who provide a model of how Grayson polygyny works. Katherine, his senior wife, is the more outgoing, politically-minded type, which makes her the official hostess and general First Lady of Grayson. This suits quieter, more soft-spoken Elaine perfectly.
  • Queen Elizabeth III and her consort, Justin Zyrr-Winton, who is a rock for his wife throughout her turbulent early reign and, later, the first and second Havenite wars. This takes center stage in the short story "Queen's Gambit".
  • Eloise Pritchart and Javier Giscard, in fact if not in name, on the Havenite side; despite first having to hide from State Sec and then being separated for months on end as Javier served on the front lines while Eloise remained in Nouveau Paris, their relationship is rock-solid from when it begins in the backstory until Javier is tragically killed at the Battle of Lovat. Eloise hides her intense grief and carries on, but never stops mourning him.
• The In Death series has the main couple and it's rather common among the first- and second-tier characters.
  • Eve Dallas and Roarke. They become more stable after marrying. Roarke winds up going (mostly) legit to avoid upsetting Eve, he tempers her tendencies, and each provides the other with understanding and support in dealing with their respective traumatic backgrounds.
• Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quartet books:
  • The Drs. Murry. Mrs. Murry remained faithful to her husband for the five years he was vanished without a single word as to where he'd gone, with any man in town ready to throw himself at her.
  • Following her parents' example, Meg Murry and her husband, Calvin O'Keefe. Their marriage is stable, as noted by characters in later books, but it's more realistic than the Drs. Murray. Meg assists Calvin in his work as a marine biologist, but feels "restless" as her children grow older and are less dependent on her. She toys with the idea of going back to school. Her teenage insecurities come back when she wonders if the rumors of Calvin having relationships with female colleagues might be true.
• Jane Eyre:
  • Jane marries Edward Rochester by the end of the book. She's his care-taker, and she's the only one who can be that to him because their natures suit each other perfectly, and he wouldn't want anybody else's meddling. Both are passionate and intelligent. They have children together, and also Rochester's ward Adele is a valid member of their family.
  • Jane the narrator says that her cousins Diana and Mary Rivers ended up Happily Married, Diana to a Captain of the Navy and Mary to a clergyman. They visit themselves frequently and all are very happy, and occasionally treated by letters from their brother/cousin St. John from India.
• In Sandy Mitchell's Warhammer 40,000 novel Scourge the Heretic, Lord and Lady Tonis. They give each other a look that makes Horst quite envious of them. Of course, this is Warhammer 40,000; this was just before they jump to their deaths together; Horst still envies them.
• Tamora Pierce:
  • Alanna and George in Tamora Pierce's Tortall Universe novels count, although their daughter seems to view them as Sickeningly Sweethearts in Trickster's Choice. It took them a bit of time to get together, but they eventually form a very sweet and effective Battle Couple.
  • Kel's parents are happily married; they've had something like ten kids, and are probably Tamora Pierce's most well adjusted couple.
  • Tunstall and Lady Sabine were also unmarried as of the second book, but they did have a domestic, stable relationship. Tunstall and Lady Sabine's happy relationship ends in the third book when Tunstall engages in Face–Heel Turn in exchange for power and status when the bad guys take over, because even though Sabine doesn't mind, he doesn't think it's right that a noble lady is shacking up with a lowly Dog, and wants to make a better future for them both.
• Pel and Ursula from Mil Millington's Things My Girlfriend And I Have Argued About. Though not married, they are in a stable relationship with two children. The whole point of the story is that though they fight like cat and dog, it's all just surface noise and their relationship is completely solid. The same might be said of Mil himself and his girlfriend Margret.
• Michael and Charity Carpenter from The Dresden Files. Very happily and solidly married and given that their oldest child is eighteen and their youngest (of seven) is two or three, they have a full married life. In their case, it helps that Michael Carpenter is in some ways quite literally as close to being an ideal Man (in the very best sense of that word) that it is possible to be in a Fallen race and world. He is the best person in Harry Dresden's world, and the marriage of Michael and Charity exemplifies what marriage is meant to be. Charity is not as good being good as her husband but she's getting there.
• In Codex Alera Placidus Sandos and High Lady Aria are a rare High Lord and Lady who follow this trope. In one of the books, he says "Many High Lords marry for wealth or politics. I married for love. Loved her, still do" By the end of the series, Octavian and Kitai become one of these.
• Chris and Cathy Sheffield in Seeds of Yesterday and If There Be Thorns by V. C. Andrews. Brother–Sister Incest, so best not to think about that one too much.
• The Mists of Avalon has Morgause and King Lot as an interesting example because they aren't in love at all. Theirs was a political marriage when Morgause was 14 and Lot was around 30, and they regularly cheat on each other (although both of them know about the other's affairs). However, they are still very close. When Lot dies, Morgause spends a lot of time mourning for her 'husband and best friend'. It's actually the best marriage in the book, which is curious because of Morgause's being evil.
• Nuala Anne McGrail and her loving "spear-carrier" husband Dermot Michael Coyne from Andrew M. Greeley's novels. The first three, "Irish Gold", "Irish Lace" and "Irish Whiskey" covered their courtship, and there were a couple of moments where the relationship was threatened (usually by one or the other's sense of unworthiness), but from "Irish Mist" on, it's been pretty much smooth sailing, despite assorted conventional pitfalls (Homeland Security tried to have the Irish-born Nuala deported for no good reason, their third child was born premature, etc.). Not to mention that Nuala's a bit fey, leading to her and Dermot investigating crimes both in the past and the present. In "Irish Gold" the story involves uncovering who killed IRA founder Michael Collins.
• C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia:
  • Talking Animals Mr. and Mrs. Beaver from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe who support each other and help the children a lot. Real-world beavers pair for life as well.
• The Wheel of Time:
  • The relationship of Perrin and Faile is a bizarre variant of The Masochism Tango. It lessens later in the books, and they claim they are a happy couple.
  • Lan and Nynaeve's love is a strange variant of The Masochism Tango. Though this significantly lessens in later books and the relationship become more affectionate. In-universe, the couple insist that they're this trope.
• The Twilight Saga: All couples seem to be very happy: Carlisle/Esme, Rosalie/Emmet, Alice/Jasper, Sam/Emily, Renee/Phil. The Canon Pairing: Bella/Edward had shown to be very happy the few months they were married in the books and where not in danger of dying. After the conclusion, a return to this is a given. It's also implied that Charlie and Sue are going to become this.
• Richard and Kahlan from Sword of Truth. Even Laser-Guided Amnesia ultimately isn't enough to stop them from being together.
• Ender's Game series: John Paul and Theresa Wiggin, parents of Ender, were most definitely this, despite—nay, because of—their religious differences; just being religious (him Catholic, her Mormon) gave them enough in common to smooth out problems, apparently. To be sure, they have their problems, but how could it be any other way when your children are, respectively, the future savior well, not really, but whatever and the future ruler of humanity? Both Ender and Valentine end up in the same situation (Valentine with kids).
• Amelia Peabody:
  • Amelia Peabody and her husband Radcliffe Emerson, archeologist detectives. They quarrel all the time, partly for the fun of it, but also hold each other in something like awe and devote a considerable part of their considerable will-powers to making the marriage work.
  • Their son Walter "Ramses" Emerson apparently learned from his parents' example and has this relationship with his wife Nefret.
  • Emerson's brother Walter, whom Ramses was named after, has a very happy marriage with his wife Evelyn. Despite a rough patch after their sixth & youngest child dies.
• In the Anne of Green Gables series, Anne and Gilbert are happily married from book five on, and they have seven children (six living). To think, it all started with a slate smashed over Gilbert's head.
• Eric Flint has a number of Happily Married couples in the Belisarius Series. Justinan and Theodora in the latter, however, are an odd variant. They are not a happy couple per se, but they love each other deeply and are obviously meant for each other. They would probably be closer to A Shared Suffering. That is their unhappiness comes not from each other but from their reaction to The Chains of Commanding, and they are among the few things that make each other less unhappy.
• Flint has a fair few in 1632 and its various sequels:
  • Jeff and Gretchen Higgins. Boy Meets Girl, boy protects girl from army, boy helps girl kill her rapist, boy asks girl to marry him using a bilingual dictionary, marriage is a roaring success.
  • Mike Stearns and Rebecca Abrabanel. Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl become the best political minds of the age, marriage is a roaring success.
  • Dr. James Nichols and Melissa Mailey, who are husband and wife in everything but name — and quite surprised to discover love at their age. Man meets woman, man finds woman very interesting (and also attractive), woman finds man very attractive (and also interesting), romance ensues. Non-marriage is a roaring success.
  • Julie Sims and Alexander Mackay. Boy meets girl, boy watches girl drop enemy soldiers like flies from five hundred yards, boy proposes to girl, marriage is (again) a roaring success.
  • Don Fernando and Maria Anna of Austria. Boy finds portrait of girl very interesting (also attractive), girl runs away from her awful Arranged Marriage, boy makes daring rescue in primitive airplane, marriage is a roaring success.
  • Ruy Sanchez de Casador y Ortiz and Sharon Nichols. Boy (or rather man) meets woman, man finds woman very attractive, woman is not interested, man is very persuasive, woman grieves her killed-in-battle fiancé properly, man proposes, marriage is a roaring success.
• Howl and Sophie from the sequels to Howl's Moving Castle. They bicker and argue a lot, but that's because they want to. It helps keep them on their toes.
• Popular trope in Betsy-Tacy. All of the married couples seem very happy, with a lot of discussion in later books being about how these loving, healthy marriages form and continue to work.
• Leonard and Griselda Clement from The Murder at the Vicarage. That's despite the fact that Leonard did just about the opposite of what he considered conventionally right when he married Griselda.
• P. G. Wodehouse tended to depict couples as being happy once they get married, though reaching the state of matrimony was often a tortuous (if comedic) ordeal. One specific example is Bertie Wooster's Aunt Dalia and her husband Tom Travers. Dahlia comments at one point that the reason their marriage works so well is that she makes absolutely no effort to mold or shape Tom's behavior, something that cannot be said of most of the girls whom her nephew finds himself entangled with.
• The Hunger Games:
  • Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen. When he died she became so grief stricken she couldn't even look after their children for a long time.
  • Though it's never mentioned explicitly that they got married, Katniss and Peeta spend their entire adult lives together in a loving relationship and eventually start a family.
• In A Brother's Price, the marriage between Jerin's father and his mothers. The Whistlers are more progressive about their men than most women in this world, and Tullen was good at preventing jealousy. Unfortunately, he's dead by the time the book starts, but at least he left Mother Eldest with Someone to Remember Him By.
  • What little we hear of grandfather Alannon's marriage to Jerin's grandmothers seems to have been happy. It started with a kidnapping, but Alannon's wives did everything in their power to give him a happy life and he apparently found the situation quite acceptable.
• Trapped on Draconica: Gothon and Sophia seemed happy together before she got sick. In truth, he hated her for never providing him with an heir, struck her during a fight, and deluded himself into thinking they were happy while devoting the rest of his life to saving her from an illness he cooked up yet genuinely believes. Then Sophia's ghost appears as he dies, kisses him, and they depart to the afterlife truly happy.
  • The sequel, Legacy of the Dragokin, is also complicated:
    • Rana and Fin have jointly ruled Baalaria for ten years and supported each other all the while. There's this sweet little pillow-talk style scene when they're re-introduced. Also, whenever Fin, formerly The Dragon for an Eviloverlord, wants to convince someone that he's not evil, he points to his loving wife. Third, they're a nice foil for Daniar/Kalak, who are having marital trouble at the time.
    • Kthonia became the first mara to marry because she found a man she couldn't torture to death because he was Too Kinky to Torture. This mellowed her out so much that when her evil daughter tried to convince her to join an Evil Plan of Gendercide, Kthonia was not interested. She even tried to talk her out of it.
• Treasure Island: What little is said about Silver and his wife seems to indicate that they get along well. Silver certainly trusts her more than his shipmates.
• In Courtship Rite, the maran-Kaiel are a happily married fivesome, looking to add a sixth to make their marriage perfect. They admit that the odds were against them—Noe was a spoiled brat when she married the brothers, and Teenae was simply too immature and got married for all the wrong reasons, but once they figured out their best roles in the marriage, the whole thing ended up working out beautifully.
• Song at Dawn: Averted. No one in this story is in love with their spouse. The only exception would be John who claims to have loved his late wife which is why his marriage to Estela is in name only. He married her as a favor to their mutual patron, Emerganda. He didn't even consumate the union. The Court of Love goes further and decrees that marriage is nothing more than "bodily duties" and one should never confuse a "spouse" with a "lover".
• Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town: Jim's marriage to Diane is shown to be much happier in 1977 when Sara was alive.
• In Poul Anderson's "Time Lag", Elva was happily married to Karlavi, and happily returning to him after carrying out the duty of the circuit, when the attack that kills him and captures her comes. In the ending, she is told that her son did survive, and that her grandson is named for her husband.
• In Mistborn, Vin and Elend are a happily married Battle Couple who are realistically shown to love each other while still getting on each other's nerves every once in a while, all while taking on a God of Evil.
• The Baby-Sitters Club:
  • Claudia's parents face no marriage problems throughout the series and treat each other with respect and love, both with similar scholarly interests and jobs.
  • Jessi's parents are happily married, with three children. They faced slight problems when, as a black family, they first moved to an extremely white town and were ostracized. It was mentioned that Jessi's mother wanted to leave, but stayed out of love for her husband and an understanding that his job transfer was important to him.
  • Mallory's parents are presented as happily married, with a family of eight children. Both are a Friend to All Children, and enjoy having such a large family.
• Most marriages in Wody Głębokie jak Niebo are either arranged or forced and ultimately unhappy. There are a few notable exceptions: Duilio and Sirocco (despite the fact that he tried to kill her); Severo and Arachne (also despite the fact that she tried to killed him several times). It's later revealed, however, that Severo forced Arachne to remain by his side as a demon-controlled puppet. He did it to save her, but she still had no say in it.
• Simona Ahrnstedt have very few couples, who are happy together when the story starts. One of the few exceptions is Johan's parents in "Överenskommelser", who are obviously devoted to each other. Gabriel's sister Amelie in "De skandalösa" also seems to be happy with her husband, even if he always seems to have duties somewhere else. In the end though, both the alpha couples and the beta couples will have become happy.
• Annals of the Western Shore
  • Orrec's parents, Canoc and Melle, in Gifts. Even though Canoc went to kidnap a wife from her lowland town, she volunteered because of her family's restrictive views on women, and found Canoc to be a kind husband. Both of them truly love each other, and Canoc is utterly devastated when she dies.
  • Orrec and Gry in the two subsequent books, particularly Voices. They've been traveling together for almost twenty years and each is unwilling to let the other face danger alone, but with a great deal of mutual respect.
• Jonas of The Giver and Kira of Gathering Blue both had to earn their happy ending. They meet in Messenger and when we see them in Son they clearly have a loving, stable relationship. Both of them are very caring and doting towards their two children as well.
• John Scalzi frequently presents happily-married couples.
  • Old Man's War opens with John Perry mourning the death of his wife of many years; The Last Colony and Zoe's Tale portray his second marriage.
  • Unlocked, the prequel novella to Lock In, centers around President Haden's marriage to his wife, Margie, and his devotion to her when she falls victim to the plague.
• In the Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mysteries all of Austen's heroines are still apparently happily married to the heroes. The focus is, of course, on Elizabeth and Darcy but we get to see, in particular: Elinor and Edward Ferrars - who have been married for several years and are still going strong, Emma and George Knightley - blissful newlyweds, Anne and Frederick Wentworth - happy at last.
• This Immortal:
  • Conrad and Cassandra, who are newly married at the beginning of the novel after having fallen in love at first sight.
  • Ellen and George, even though it may not seem like this, what with George having bouts of Guinea Pig Family and Evilutionary Biologist... But whenever danger strikes, they can be seen holding hands, and Ellen is pregnant again at the end of the book.
• Conan the Barbarian had a justified reputation of a great womanizer, and once he became King of Aquilonia proceeded to establish a regular harem - staffed solely by willing partners, of whom there was no lack. All this changed in The Hour Of The Dragon when he was defeated by an evil wizard, dethroned and imprisoned in a dungeon. When the situation seemed hopeless, suddenly a slave girl named Zenobia came up and saved him at great risk to herself. Why? Well, it turned out that she had been in love with him for years, having fallen in Love at First Sight when she saw riding at the head of his knights years earlier. Conan promises to come back for her. At the end of the book, having triumphantly regained his throne, Conan declares: "Zenobia was a slave in Nemedia - I will make her the Queen of Aquilonia!". That is the last which is seen of Conan in the Robert E. Howard Canon. In the sequel The Return Of Conan, written by others, it is noted that before setting out to fetch Zenobia, Conan dismissed his entire harem - taking care to find for all the girls husbands or at least "other protectors". Then he goes ahead with marrying Zenobia. At the Royal Ball of Aquilonia, courtiers can't help noticing that the King and Queen are obviously in love and can hardly keep their hands off each other. And "those who know Conan best are a little bit surprised to see the King, in middle age, turn monogamous and even uxorious"...
• In The Traitor Son Cycle, happy couples abound, even when the circumstances should indicate that the marriage should be a disaster.
  • Michael and Katherine are lovers and get married practically only because her parents are worried that he'll leave her with a child that he'll never own up to. Nevertheless, they're a loving couple who can't even imagine cheating on one another, barely ever argue and are very clearly in love.
  • Blanche and Gabriel, while having a lot of Angst and various "She/He's too good for me" moments, manage to clean up their act before the marriage and are very happy together and supportive of each other.
  • Nita Qwan and his wife get married pretty much by accident and don't even know each other's language for the first few months of the marriage, but are nevertheless devoted to each other and aid one other no matter what.
• Penny and Michael Dunbar in Bridge of Clay. It's his second marriage, his first wife left him and he is very wary of getting into another relationship. But Penny manages to heal his wounds and they are happily married, with five sons until she dies of cancer.
• Most of the married couples in Chance And Choices Adventures are very happy, but especially Ann and Noah, and Eli and Stephanie, both of which have interactions almost sweet enough to cause diabetes. It would almost be easier to list the married couples in the series that aren't happy, such as bridge keeper Minnie and her husband Harry who is always away on business.
• In John Buchan's Richard Hannay novels, Richard and Mary get married between Mr. Standfast and The Three Hostages and remain happily married for the rest of the series.
• Spice and Wolf originally ended with Lawrence and Holo marrying, opening a hot springs inn, and are expecting a child. The "Spring Log" novels show that the married couple are just as much in love as they were when they first tied the knot.
• In Wylder's Hand, the Vicar and his wife have a loving marriage with happy children, in contrast to the relationship troubles of the rest of the main characters.
• City of Bones by Martha Wells: Sagai and Miram love, trust, and look after each other, and have for many years. They're also Good Parents to a large brood of close-knit children, Family of Choice to Khat, and well-regarded figures in their neighbourhood.
• The Essex Serpent:
  • Stella and William Ransome are very happy together and adore their quiet domestic life. They live for each other and their three children, and William also loves and takes seriously his job as a priest in his parish in the village of Aldwinter. They had two other children who died, but despite suffering such tragedy, their marriage remain strong and as loving as ever. Stella was told by her mother about Lie Back and Think of England, about having sex only out of duty and without pleasure. However, she loves her wonderful, open-minded husband and their marriage includes a healthy sex life.
  • Charles and Katherine Ambrose are upper-class wealthy Londoners and happily married without children. Charles is a conservative politician, a member of the Parliament. Katherine and Charles adore each other and they are always happy to interact with their friends. It's them who introduce Cora to the Ransome family. They later take care of the Ransome kids when their mother gets tuberculosis and her illness is infectious. Charles becomes very fond of the kids, especially the youngest James because they share love of good food, and the narrator notes that Charles finds himself hurrying home every day to be with them sooner.
• Commander Sam Vimes and Lady Sybil (neé Ramkin) married relatively late in life (at least in their 40s), but grew to love each other very much, and have a child together. It helps that Vimes is a cop that believes that most people deserve a second chance (unless you're irredeemable, or an "I'm automatically better that you" Aristocrat), and Sybil is an old-money Aristocrat that acts as if almost everyone she meets is a "jolly good chap" that just happens to be a friend she hasn't met yet. They also privately believe that the other's job/hobby is a bit too dangerous — being a cop (Vimes), or taking care of explosive swamp dragons (Sybil) — but wouldn't dream of serious asking their spouse to stop.
• Park’s parents in Eleanor & Park have been very happily married for sixteen years.
• Carry On: Baz’s parents were a loving couple until Natasha’s death.
• American Dirt: Years and years into their marriage, Lydia and Sebastian are still absolutely smitten with each other, which only makes his murder at a cartel's hands all the more heartbreaking. By the end of the novel, Lydia still has not recovered from losing her beloved husband.
• Bazil Broketail: Lagdalen has a happy, successful, loving marriage with Captain Hollein Kesepton, despite them often being far off from each other carrying out their duties.
• Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi: After spending most of the story sorting out the romantic tension and confused feelings, the epilogue reveals Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji completed their marriage bows during the three-month Time Skip and are now officially known as cultivation partners (which in series is reserved for married cultivators). During their honeymoon they are as flirtatious and happy as ever (with many jokes to their active sex life), and the extra chapters often show how they blissfully spend time with each other, whether it be going on dates in other towns or simply being domestic in their home when they're correcting their students' work together and having cosy conversations in bed.
• Princess Ben: Though Ben points out as an old woman that no marriage is "Happily Ever After" there are still "moments of bliss" and "long spans of satisfied companionship" and true love.
• Frank and Susan Heffley in Diary of a Wimpy Kid have their quirks that bug each other and Frank can be cold and distant towards his wife and kids sometimes, but they're shown to be a tightly-knit, mutually supportive couple.
• The Dinner: Although they've had some issues, on the whole, main character Paul and his wife, Claire, are very much in love and happy together.
• Dragonvarld: Edward and Ermintrude are a loving married couple. He feels deeply guilty after sleeping with another woman (though unknown to him, it wasn't really his fault). When he confesses he's fathered a son with her, Ermintrude immediately forgives him and accepts the boy, despite being sorrowful at what Edward did.
• The Australian children's book Barebum Billy ends with an adult Billy Bottom marrying a woman named Millie and shows them to be happy together as nudists, even having a baby boy who inherits his dad's love of running around naked.
• Where Are the Children?: Nancy and Ray do have some issues in their marriage - namely, Ray sometimes gets frustrated that Nancy's fear of her identity being uncovered prevents them from doing certain things, while Nancy can't always bring herself to be completely vulnerable and open with Ray - but it's made clear they love each other. Notably, Ray always believed in Nancy's innocence, tries his best to support her and stands by her when she's suspected of harming their missing children. Nancy is grateful for Ray's unwavering support and wishes things were easier for them. When Nancy expresses her fear that their children are already dead, Ray reassures her that no matter what happens they'll have each other.

---