History Main / MarriedTooYoung

* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'': Topanga's parents admit they married too young when they reveal they're divorcing each other, having lost the spark they had as HighschoolSweethearts. This becomes a worry for Cory and Topanga who likewise are barely out of high school when they decided to tie the knot and fear they'll end up the same way. But Feeny's own upcoming marriage, a man long past his prime, convince them they can make it work long as they continue to put effort into it.

This trope is what happens when characters get married young, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome however it doesn't turn out as they had hoped]]. Maybe two HighSchoolSweethearts feel they're meant for each other and marry as soon as legally possible. A few years after marriage, however, they realize that wasn't such a good idea. They thought they were the perfect couple, but it was just young love and they ultimately grew apart. Or maybe, they feel constrained by their marriage and want to go out and live their lives. It's even more troublesome when a child is involved, especially since an unplanned pregnancy is often [[ShotgunWedding the cause of such marriages]] in the first place.

* One ''Series/{{Castle}}'' episode has the Case of the Week involve an amnesiac who turns out to be divorced when his identity is discovered. When he asks why they split up:

* The [[AllThereInTheManual art book]] to ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' explains that this is why Jim's dad ran off. He married the then-seventeen-year-old Sarah when he was nineteen. Sarah ended up pregnant not soon afterwards, but he ended up feeling confined in his marriage as he wasn't ready for a wife and children yet. Despite Jim trying to please his dad, he was [[WellDoneSonGuy very distant]] towards Jim. One day when Jim was eight he ran off for good. Jim hoped for years that he'd come back home, however, he ultimately realized that his dad was gone for good. This led to Jim becoming a bitter and angry teenager, especially at himself for not being good enough for his dad.

* "Where I Wanna Be" by Music/DonnellJones is about a man who is married (or just committed) to his high school sweetheart, but now that he's in his 20's, he wants to break up with her so he can play the field as an adult. He laments having to hurt her this way since she has done nothing to deserve it, but he can't deny that he feels trapped in the relationship. However, the song leaves open the possibility of getting back together in the future.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': Bella's parents, Charlie and Renee, ran off together when Renee was only nineteen. It was a short-lived relationship and they spent Bella's childhood co-parenting. Even nearly two decades afterwards Charlie still pines for his ex, but Renee has moved on.

* "Where I Wanna Be" by Music/DonnellJones is about a man who has been in a committed relationship since he was a teenager, but now that he's older, he wants to break up with her so he can play the field as an adult. He laments having to hurt her this way since she has done nothing to deserve it, but he can't deny that he feels trapped in the relationship. However, the song leaves open the possibility of getting back together in the future.

Within the last 100 years or so, however, this has fallen by the wayside, especially in western countries. Most people today prefer to spend their young adult years establishing their own lives, careers, and identities ''before'' tying the knot, and relationships often last years before someone pops the question. If anything, getting married too young and/or too soon into a relationship is seen as impulsive or a waste of youth.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' has this for Beth and Jerry, with the added complication that they married shortly after Jerry got Beth pregnant. Fast forward 17 years and they have a ''very'' strained relationship that teeters on a divorce every so often.

This trope is what happens when characters get married young, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome however it doesn't turn out as they had hoped]]. Maybe two HighSchoolSweethearts feel they're meant for each other and marry as soon as legally possible. A few years after marriage, however, they realize that wasn't such a good idea. They thought they were the perfect couple, but it was just young love and they ultimately grew apart. Or maybe, they feel constrained by their marriage and want to go out and live their lives. It's even more troublesome when a child is involved. Maybe they aren't ready for kids or didn't even ''want'' kids.

* [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''Series/{{Roseanne}}''. Roseanne and Dan got married in high school--largely because [[ShotgunWedding she was pregnant]]--but do genuinely love one another enough to make their relationship work. However, neither of them was truly ready to be a parent, and one of the main themes of the series is them struggling to reconcile their love for each other with their resentment and frustration over giving up their dreams to settle down and take care of their children. Dan wanted to be a musician and Roseanne a writer, and occasionally, situations arise where they have to confront the fact that, while they're relatively content, their current lives aren't what they hoped for. In "Fights and Stuff"--one of the darkest episodes of the show where the two unload all of their anger at each other in a destructive argument--Dan blurts out that he wishes he'd never married Roseanne, which is the only thing he says that truly hurts her.
** The show's treatment of getting married too young continued with Becky and Darlene. The former drops out of high school and elopes with her boyfriend Mark, giving up on her plans to go to college (it doesn't help that Dan and Roseanne use her tuition fund to open a bike shop that ultimately fails, leaving her desperate and angry), while the latter marries her own boyfriend David in her early twenties, largely because she too is pregnant and it's pragmatic for them to get together. The [[Series/TheConners sequel series]] reveals that both marriages ended up failing. Mark dies and leaves Becky a wreck, and her CharacterDevelopment over the series is her confessing that she's angry at him for the way he treated her--and angry at herself for allowing her desperation to cloud her judgment and cause her to waste her potential. Meanwhile, Darlene and David end up divorcing, because the differences in their personalities were too big to overcome.

This type of marriage can end up in multiple ways. The couple can end up staying in a strained marriage, work things out after a trouble spot (or three), other times they get divorced, and often times the father simply [[DisappearedDad runs off]]. This also occurs [[MissingMom with mothers]]; however, it's more common for the dad. In some instances, the couple is still happy together, but it doesn’t erase the regret of lost youth.

Within the last 100 years or so, however, this has fallen by the wayside, especially in western countries. Most people today prefer to spend their young adult years establishing their own lives, careers, and identities ''before'' tying the knot, and relationships often last years before someone pops the question. If anything, getting married too young and/or too soon is seen as impulsive or a waste of youth.

* "Where I Wanna Be" by Music/DonnellJones is about a man who has been in a committed relationship since he was a teenager, but now that he's older, he wants to break up with her so he can play the field as an adult. He laments having to hurt her this way since she has done nothing to deserve it, but he can't deny that he feels trapped in the relationship. However, he's open to the possibility of getting back together in the future.

* Ash's DisappearedDad hasn't been discussed much in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, however, the novels ''Literature/PocketMonstersTheAnimation'' went into detail on his and Delia's relationship. The books were written by the lead director of the Kanto arc Creator/TakeshiShudo, however, are only semi-canon as they contradict the anime multiple times. According to the book, Delia married Ash's dad in her teens and ended up giving birth to Ash [[TeenagePregnancy at nineteen]]. Ash's dad, however, ran off one day on a Pokemon journey and never came back, likely failing (like many trainers) but still refusing to return home. Delia has since fallen out of love with him but has never formally divorced him.

* Nick Hurley from ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'' exploited the AllGirlsWantBadBoys allure to latch onto a rich heiress, and rise from the WrongSideOfTheTracks to a construction mogul. However, Nick never felt comfortable with high society, and he has divorced Kate years ago. This almost derailed his romance with protagonist Alex Owens when Alex saw Nick with Kate at an opera gala. Nick later explained that this rendezvous was just making nice-nice with his ex since both are members of the Pittsburgh Arts Council.

* Ash's DisappearedDad hasn't been discussed much in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, however, the novels ''LightNovel/PocketMonstersTheAnimation'' went into detail on his and Delia's relationship. The books were written by the lead director of the Kanto arc Creator/TakeshiShudo, however, are only semi-canon as they contradict the anime multiple times. According to the book, Delia married Ash's dad in her teens and ended up giving birth to Ash [[TeenagePregnancy at nineteen]]. Ash's dad, however, ran off one day on a Pokemon journey and never came back, likely failing (like many trainers) but still refusing to return home. Delia has since fallen out of love with him but has never formally divorced him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons,'' Homer and Marge married after Marge became pregnant with Bart. In the early seasons of the show, this occurred when they were in their early 20s, and while later seasons [[VagueAge would age Homer and Marge up slightly to imply that they were closer to 30 when Bart was born]], the trope remained in play due to Homer's {{Manchild}} nature meaning that he struggles to be a responsible husband and father, creating conflict in his marriage and his relationships with his kids (with [[MultipleChoiceFuture at least one future timeline]] showing that he becomes OlderAndWiser from the many mistakes he made along the way and proves an excellent grandfather). On the bright side, Homer's job keeps the family afloat and he's [[SeductionProofMarriage deeply in love with and loyal to Marge]], despite everything.

* "Where I Wanna Be" by Music/DonnellJones is about a man who has been in a committed relationship since he was a teenager, but now that he's older, he breaks up with her to explore his sexuality as an adult. He laments the fact that she has done nothing to deserve being hurt this way, but he can't deny his feelings of being trapped. However, he's open to the possibility of getting back together in the future.

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''VideoGame/ClockTowerThree''. Protagonist Alyssa Hamilton is descended from a long line of women called "Rooders" who have magical power InTheBlood. Since these powers peak at age fifteen and quickly wane afterward, Rooder women are encouraged (though not necessarily obligated) to marry as soon as possible and start having children immediately so that the evil powers they fight remain in check. It helps that there are multiple Rooder bloodlines around the world, allowing them a degree of flexibility in their timeline.