History Main / NobilityMarriesMoney

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* The ArrangedMarriage between Rick Scumthorpe and Lady Caroline in ''Webcomic/TheScumthorpeFiles'' invokes this. Rick's father, Larry, is a CorruptCorporateExecutive who had single-handedly built his empire from illicit tiberium mining, but thinks that none of his children are worthy successors to his fortune. So he decided to marry off his ButtMonkey loser of a son to a member of British nobility whose fortune is dwindling down (because apparently, no one would willingly marry into the [[BigScrewedUpFamily Scumthorpes]] if they're not in desperate need for financial support), so that they could pump out grandchildren that would become the Scumthorpe heirs.
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This has been TruthInTelevision for centuries, but it became especially notorious during the [[UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain Victorian Era]]/TheGildedAge, when many British noble families were running out of money and then scooping up brides from families of industrialists and businessmen, very often American ones (the most prominent example being Consuelo Vanderbilt and the Duke of Marlborough; in the same family, the match between Lord Randolph Churchill and American finance heiress Jennie Jerome produced UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill). The trope is also sometimes subverted in Continental European works when provincial NouveauRiche males seek lovers/mistresses/[[HighClassCallGirl courtesans]] from ImpoverishedPatrician families, either those who were [[BlueBlood born so]] or even women who have been married at some point in their past to a BlueBlood and so lay claim to a real or fictitious title.

%% https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/990px_pavel_fedotov_______google_art_project.jpg

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* In ''Literature/TheLeopard'' Don Fabrizio, a Sicilian Prince, arranges a marriage for his nephew, an [[Impoverished patrician impoverished princeling]] with the daughter of a NouveauRiche (whose father was one of his peasants). Fortunately the betrothed are besotted with each other, and the practical advantages of the marriage are a great element of their infatuation.

** Played straight with the marriage offer of the Porters, who are nobility, but never married a royal prince, which they seek to amend by marrying a descendant of [[spoiler: Prince Alannon]], even though he may be poorer than they are. [[spoiler: It's also part of their political scheming. They already placed themselves in the line of succession of the monarchy and the wealth and titles that come with it by having their brother marry the Princesses, but marrying a descendent of a former prince would make their claim on the monarchy twofold if [[ShameIfSomethingHappened something were to happen]] to the Princesses -- a tragedy they just so happen to be planning.]]

** In the westerlands, the Westerlings, an old and honorable but increasingly minor house, married into the Spicers, a relatively new house formed by a family of spice merchants. Because of this the other Westerlands Houses look down on them.

* In the Disney movie ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', Prince Naveen comes to New Orleans to find a young woman from a suitably wealthy family to marry, because his parents have cut him off. [[spoiler: After many adventures and quite the BelligerentSexualTension with the the low-born Tiana, however, they marry and they work together in the restaurant she builds.]]

* ''Literature/'' introduces the Collectors of Illica, who have long ago sunk their fortunes into vast collections of rare and valuable artifacts. Their MO is to marry their children off to wealthy foreigners, then drain their new in-laws dry in service of the Collections.

** The old, widowed and impoverished Lord Aysgarth (whose title, although "merely" a barony, is apparently very old) tries to pull this on Martha Levinson; she declines, saying she "ha[s] no interest in being a 'great lady,'" but offers to invite him to Newport so he can meet some old rich American widows who do. His daughter, Madeleine, has more success with Harold Levinson, but it's not clear where that's going.

* The current page image is Pavel Fedotov's 1848 painting ''Matchmaking of the Major'', where a noble, but rather poor retiring major intends to marry a rich merchant's daughter. The painter wrote a non too short [[http://az.lib.ru/f/fedotow_p_a/text_0030.shtml poem]] commenting on the art piece.

** Subverted in ''Discworld/MenAtArms'' with Sam Vimes (then poor and a common copper) marrying Sybil Ramkin (the richest and highest-titled lady in Ankh-Morpork). Only in later books is it revealed (or RetConned) that the Vimes family was nobility before being stripped of their titles and money for killing the last king of Ankh-Morpork, and Vimes becomes a Duke only some time after he's married.
** Referenced in ''Discworld/TheTruth'', when William separates himself from his father by using the dwarf tradition of repaying the costs of his childhood.:

->''"This wasn't a marriage. This was a merger."''
-->-- '''Abbie Carmichael''', ''Series/LawAndOrder''
%%% One quote is enough. Please put additional quotes on the sub-page.

** Mr. William Elliot of the Kellynch family and a future baronet (Sir Walter's heir presumptive) married a low born woman from a butcher's family who was vastly rich. He wanted to be wealthy quickly and independent, and when he was young, he did not value the baronetcy and Blue Blood connections a lot. His wife is said to have loved him very much, but he did not love her at all and it's implied that he treated her rather harshly, if not outright cruelly. From what is known he must have been at least emotionally abusive to her. It's probable that Mr Elliot did not mix with her family after her death, so her family gained very little from this marriage while Mr Elliot was all take and no give.
** Anne Elliot fell for Captain Wentworth before the start of the plot. Her friends and aristocratic family tell her to reject him because he's poor. A few years on, he's risen up through the ranks of the navy and made quite a lot of money, while Sir Walter Elliot is deep in debts. However, the marriage of Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot relies on their love, and he doesn't care much for her coming from BlueBlood and she doesn't really care about his great wealth beyond being happy that they can afford to get married and have a comfortable income.

* In the backstory to ''Literature/HarryPotter'', [[ImpoverishedPatrician impoverished pureblood witch]] Merope Gaunt left her degenerate family to marry a wealthy {{Muggle|s}}, Tom Riddle Senior, whom she'd drugged with a LovePotion. This...didn't work out. Her husband abandoned her once she stopped doping him, so she quickly ended up destitute and alone, and her remaining relatives never saw any of the Riddle family's wealth either. Ultimately, instead of rejuvenating the Gaunt family's wealth, marrying outside BlueBlood rejuvenated their ''bloodline'', allowing their son to become one of the most powerful wizards of all time instead of being pathetically inbred. Unfortunately, this son turned out to be Tom Riddle Junior, also known as Lord Voldemort. Alongside a good dose of insanity, Voldemort inherited their ideas on pureblood supremacism.

* In the backstory to ''Literature/HarryPotter'', [[ImpoverishedPatrician impoverished pureblood witch]] Merope Gaunt left her degenerate family to marry a wealthy {{Muggle|s}}, Tom Riddle Sr., whom she'd drugged with a LovePotion. Instead of rejuvenating the family's wealth, marrying outside BlueBlood rejuvenated their bloodline, allowing their son to become one of the most powerful wizards of all time instead of being pathetically inbred. Unfortunately, it turned out to be Tom Riddle Jr. aka Lord Voldemort, and alongside a good dose of insanity he inherited their ideas on purebloods.

* Two of the marriages in ''Literature/BelisariusSeries''. Both turned out as PerfectlyArrangedMarriage, Eric Flint having a fondness for this.

** Averted. Jerin's grandfather, Prince Alannon, doesn't wed money because he's abducted by his future brides, who are just spies.
** Averted with Cullen, who is married to the eldest half of the Whistler sisters. Cullen's mothers had a brother who ''was'' married off for money and status to the princesses' mothers -- and ended up killed as part of a political game, which Cullen's mothers have regretted since, one of them calling their late brother a sacrificial lamb. The Whistlers couldn't pay the price that Cullen normally would have gotten, but Cullen's eldest sister agrees to the price anyway, stating that she wants Cullen to be happy and doesn't want to bear the same regrets their mothers do.

* ''Literature/TheFrenchLieutenantsWoman'': Ernestina Freeman is the only daughter of a rich industrialist and fabulously wealthy. She's engaged to Charles Smithson who is from aristocratic circles. He's not poor though and actually a future heir to his uncle's house and title. Ernestina chooses Charles and cleverly manages to attract him, and he proposes. Turns out his uncle remarries and has a son of his own, so Charles is left much poorer than presumed. He's now expected to "deserve" Ernestina's dowry and correctly assumes Ernestina's father will want him to be involved in the family business. Charles doesn't show it, but his gentleman's honour is insulted. In the ending that turns out to be Charles' imagination, Charles expects that his resentment will gradually vanish and that he'll find his new responsibilities interesting. Their marriage is supposed to be this trope as well as marrying for love. In reality, Charles breaks the engagement off, mainly because of his infatuation and relationship with Sarah.

* ''Literature/TheFrenchLieutenantsWoman'': Ernestina Freeman is the only daughter of a rich industrialist and fabulously wealthy. She's engaged to Charles Smithson who is from aristocratic circles. He's not poor though and actually a future heir to his uncle's house and title. Ernestina chooses Charles and cleverly manages to attract him, and he proposes. Turns out his uncle remarries and Charles is left much poorer than presumed. He's now expected to "deserve" Ernestina's dowry and correctly assumes Ernestina's father will want him to be involved in the family business. Charles doesn't show it, but his gentleman's honour is insulted. In the ending that turns out to be Charles' imagination, Charles expects that his resentment will gradually vanish and that he'll find his new responsibilities interesting. Their marriage is supposed to be this trope as well as marrying for love. In reality, Charles breaks the engagement off, mainly because of his infatuation and relationship with Sarah.

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--->'''Lord de Worde''': Do you really think that family is a matter of money?
--->'''William''': We-ell, ''yes'', historically speaking. Money, land and titles. It's amazing how often we failed to marry ''anyone'' who didn't have at least two out of three.

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* In ''Series/{{Medici}}'', Giovanni de' Medici, who came up from the bottom, marries off his elder son Cosimo to Contessina de' Bardi, a noblewoman, who is the daughter of an ImpoverishedPatrician. Her father made some bad investments and is now forced to give his daughter away for a fraction of what he would otherwise get. Meanwhile, Giovanni sees this as an opportunity to legitimize his House as a noble family. While Contessina's father hopes his daughter will serve as his eyes and ears in the Medici camp, Cosimo makes it clear that he expects his wife to be loyal to him and to the Medici, no one else.

Compare GoldDigger, MealTicket, TrophyWife.

Contrast MarryForLove, UnableToSupportAWife, AltarDiplomacy.

!!Examples;