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Playing With / Starter Marriage

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Basic Trope: A short-lived first marriage.

  • Straight: Alice and Bob get married. Three years later, they get divorced.
  • Exaggerated:
  • Downplayed: Alice and Bob just shack up together for three years as their first real romantic relationship. Then they break up.
  • Justified:
  • Inverted: Alice and Bob get married, have Babies Ever After, and grow old together.
  • Subverted:
  • Double Subverted:
    • Eventually, they do wind up getting divorced; whatever they tried before (couples' therapy, a trial separation, what have you) simply was not working.
    • But it still is short-lived, and just because it's not a first marriage for one half of the couple doesn't mean it's not a first marriage for the other half.
  • Parodied:
    • Alice and Bob get married. Three hours later, they get divorced.
    • Alice and Bob's marriage doesn't even last a few seconds before they get divorced.
    • Alice and Bob go through the motions of the wedding ceremony and a reception, only to have the marriage annulled immediately afterwards, using the wedding only to obtain attention and accolades from friends and family, and/or gifts.
    • Alice and Bob go to get the marriage license, which reads "practice marriage" on it.
    • Alice and Bob's culture practices actual "starter marriages", and expects people to "upgrade" to a new partner/arrangement as time marches on. People use these exact words, talking as if marriage was like buying a new house, car etc.
  • Zig Zagged: ???
  • Averted: Alice and Bob don't get married.
  • Enforced: ??
  • Lampshaded:
    • "My first marriage was just a practice round."
    • "I promise to love you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse, until death do us part, or until I get sick of you in five years, whichever comes first."
  • Invoked: Bob proposes to Alice, his high school girlfriend, right after graduation.
  • Exploited: ???
  • Defied:
    • Alice turns down the proposal, (or accepts it but insists on having a longer engagement) because she doesn't feel that they are ready for marriage.
    • Alice and Bob quickly begin to have difficulties in their marriage, but are committed enough to not give up and make it work.
  • Discussed: "I thought marriage was supposed to be forever."
  • Conversed: "It is, but some people just don't have what it takes. They'd rather just hit the Reset Button than accept the challenges of marriage."
  • Deconstructed: When Charlie learns that Alice divorced Bob so quickly and for petty reasons, he decides that marrying her isn't worth the risk of becoming ex #2.
  • Played For Laughs: Alice and Bob go through a Toilet Seat Divorce.
  • Played For Drama: Bob genuinely expected their marriage to last forever. When he learns that Alice doesn't (or never did) feel the same way, he's Driven to Suicide.

You're going back to Starter Marriage already? But it seems like your wedding was just yesterday!

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