History Main / EliteManCourtesanRomance

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(6th_century) Empress Theodora]] of the UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire began life as a sex worker (moving up from low-class brothel to stage performer and HighClassCallGirl). She eventually attracted the attention of then-Prince Justinian and married him in 525 A.D., becoming a co-ruler of the empire with her husband and pushing through many reforms in women's rights, including an outright ban on forced prostitution.

Most of the time, this prostitute is a HighClassCallGirl with [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold a heart of gold]]. In a PeriodPiece, she will be a courtesan or, in Japan, a Geisha. A big deal is made of this high ranking person falling in love with this prostitute, especially if it would ruin the family name if their relationship got out.

* ''Film/ShanghaiExpress'' has the unique variant of the courtesan being the ex girlfriend of the elite man. Dr Donald Harvey is an officer in the British Army, while Marlene Dietrich's character was previously his sweetheart Madeleine. After she played "a woman's trick" to [[OperationJealousy see if he cared about her]], he split up with her and she became a prostitute to survive. However, she's now the HighClassCallGirl, known as 'Shanghai Lily' and the movie involves them falling back in love. Things are complicated when the villain of the film threatens to blind Donald, and only relents when Lily offers to become TheMistress for him. [[spoiler: Despite this, it has a happy ending]].
* In ''Film/TheWorldOfSuzieWong'', contrasting with the book, Robert is a middle class former architect and considered respectable enough to be invited to dinners with wealthy English expats in Hong Kong. He falls in love with the titular Suzie Wong, a prostitute at the Nam Kok hotel. She had another one prior to the film's start, where she was with a rich Hong Kong businessman, and ended up having a son. The movie doesn't elaborate, but the book explains he was originally planning to marry her.

** A subversion where everyone believes that Clorinda and Lord Raxdell are an example of this, but she's actually TheBeard for him, as Raxdell is gay, although they are very close friends. The men who Clorinda has the most emotional feelings towards tend not to be of the highest class.

** This trope is horribly deconstructed with Tyrion Lannister and his two loves, Tysha and Shae. He's the son of Tywin Lannister, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Westeros (albeit he is TheUnfavorite). Tysha, the first girl he fell in love with, turned out to be a prostitute his brother Jaime hired so he could lose his virginity, which backfired. Tyrion's sense of romantic love is skewed by this incident and he frequents brothels, thinking no other woman would ever willingly be intimate with him. He eventually falls in love with a prostitute named Shae and goes to great lengths to keep her safe from his enemies (including his own family), but [[spoiler:it turns out that not only did she never really love him, she betrays him by falsely testifying he plotted to kill King Joffrey, then sleeps with his father. When Tyrion finds her in his father's bed, he strangles her to death]]. And then on top of all that, it's revealed that Tysha [[spoiler: actually wasn't a prostitute; she was a crofter's daughter who genuinely loved Tyrion, with Tywin forcing Jaime to lie because she wasn't a 'suitable' bride]].

* Prince Daemon Targaryen has a close relationship with prostitute Mysaria in ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'', with her becoming TheMistress to him. Despite their difference in station Mysaria seems to share Daemon's more unorthodox view of the world, and is one of his few genuine emotional supports. She does bring up the power imbalance as a potential issue when Daemon includes her in his antics in 1.02, chatising Daemon that while he can afford to galavant around pissing off powerful lords, someone in her position is at far greater risk.

* In ''Series/{{Succession}}'', Connor Roy, the eldest son of one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in America, dates and eventually proposes to Willa, a HighClassCallGirl, much younger than him. A major point of contention in their relationship early in the show is how the rest of the family look down on Willa and judge Connor to be a naive fool to believe the relationship is genuine.

* Irish courtesan [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_Lynch Elisa Lynch]] became the mistress to Paraguayan President Francisco Solano Lopez and though they were never officially married, she was his wife in all but name. Her legacy is very controversial; she is a national heroine in Paraguay (as well as her home in Ireland) but considered a LadyMacBeth abroad specially in Brazil. Nevertheless, she was the subject of several literary works.

** A subversion where everyone believes that Clorinda and Lord Raxdell are an example of this, but she's actually TheBeard for him, although they are very close friends. The men who Clorinda has the most emotional feelings towards tend not to be of the highest class.

%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/GameOfThrones https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bear_maiden_fair_shae_tyrion.jpg]]]]

Love can be a funny thing, especially when it comes to prostitutes, concubines, strippers, or other types of sex workers. Be it a [[HighPriest priest]], a [[PrinceCharming prince]], or some other person, this trope is when a person of high birth or status comes to fall in love with a member of TheOldestProfession.

In many cases, this high-ranking person has some personal issues going on (loneliness, grief, or low self-esteem) or issues in their family, and initially turned to this prostitute for companionship or as an erotic distraction, but eventually they fell for them.

Most of the time, this prostitute is a HighClassCallGirl with [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold a heart of gold]] and a big deal is made of this high ranking person being with this prostitute, especially if it would ruin the family name if their relationship got out.

Love can be a funny thing, especially when it comes to prostitutes, concubines, or other types of sex workers. Be it a [[HighPriest priest]], a [[PrinceCharming prince]], or some other person, this trope is when a person of high birth or status comes to fall in love with a member of TheOldestProfession.

SubTrope of both MenAreTough and WomenAreDelicate, since he's the one from wealth and power. Contrast PlatonicProstitution, where the character is just friends or friendly with a prostitute. Compare to UptownGirl and OppositesAttract. Also compare Compare SexEqualsLove, which assumes that an emotional relationship will arise -- ah, develop -- from a physical one.

In many cases, this high-ranking person has some personal issues going on with themselves or in their family, and initially turned to this prostitute for help or as a distraction, but eventually fell for them.

Most of the time, this prostitute is a HookerWithAHeartOfGold, and a big deal is made of this high ranking person being with this prostitute, especially if it would ruin the family name if their relationship got out.

TruthInTelevision to some degree in some time periods.

* In ''Series/{{Succession}}'', Connor Roy, the eldest son of one of the wealthiest families around, dates and eventually proposes to Willa, a HighClassCallGirl

* In ''Series/{{Sucession}}'', Connor Roy, the eldest son of one of the wealthiest families around, dates and eventually proposes to Willa, a HighClassCallGirl

** Inara and Mal's BelligerentSexualTension is an unusual example. Mal grew up the son of a wealthy rancher, but his home planet was glassed during the Unification War and he sank everything he had left into buying and fixing up ''Serenity'' before he and Inara ever met. By the time of the show, Inara is actually the most respectable member of the crew by their society’s standards.