History Main / TheMistress

* In ''TalesOfSymphonia'', Zelo's father had a mistress, who was the mother of Zelo's half-sister Seles. Despite him being the Chosen, it's implied that it was something everyone knew, as Zelos and Seles not only knew about each other, but they got on rather well. The mistress [[{{Understatement}} wasn't happy with the arrangement]] though, knowing that Zelos, the son her lover had had with his wife would be TheChosenOne instead of their daughter. [[TearJerker Let's just say]] ItGotWorse and [[DarkAndTroubledPast leave it at that.]]

* [[TheHouseOfStuart King Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland]] was known as "the Merry Monarch" for his free-living lifestyle, and is famous for having twelve acknowledged illegitimate children by seven mistresses -- with no less than five of the children being by Barbara Palmer, Countess of Castlemaine -- and no children at all by his legitimate wife, Catherine of Braganza. Many of Charles' bastards have prominent descendants, with one of them (Diana Spencer) marrying the Prince of Wales (making Princes Di), and thus probably finally getting one of Charles' descendants in line for the throne.

* One interpretation of the poem "The Rival" by SylviaPlath (in ''{{Ariel}}'') is that the subject is an {{epxy}} of the mistress of Plath's husband.

* Looking through the history of any European country, the amount of mistresses the royalty and nobility kept on hand is staggering. Special mention to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_France Louis XIV of France]], who was still sleeping around at 70, and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_II Augustus II of Poland]], who ended up with ''350 '' children, one of them legitimate.

* The picture is of Madame de Pompadour, one of the mistresses of [[LEtatCestMoi Louis XV]], who was featured in ''LeChevalierDEon''. She also appeared in the ''DoctorWho'' episode "The Girl In The Fireplace".

* In TalesOfSymphonia, Zelo's father had a mistress, who was the mother of Zelo's half-sister Celes. The mistress [[{{Understatement}} wasn't happy with the arrangement]] though, knowing that the son he'd had with his wife would be TheChosenOne instead of their daughter. Let's just say ItGotWorse and [[TearJerker leave it at that.]]

* {{TheSopranos}} Almost every made guy has a "gumar" on top of their wives who they won't divorce for their Catholic beliefs. For the main charactersi, it becomes a major plot device when one of his mistresses actually contacts his home pushing his wife to call it quits, albeit temporarily.

** Queen Marie wasn't happy with her husbands affairs at all, since she was a devot Catholic. She merely preferred the well-behaved and properly deferential Pompadour over her downright arrogant predecessors. Marie Therese, on the other hand, was openly dissappointed when her husband exchanged Louise de la Valliere for de Montespan.

* {{TheSopranos}} Almost every made guy has a "gumar" on top of their wives who they won't divorce for their Catholic beliefs. For the main charactersi, it becomes a major plot device when one of his mistresses actually contacts his home pushing his wife over the edge.

* {{TheSopranos}} Almost every made guy has a "gumar" on top of there wives who they won't divorce for their Catholic beliefs. For the main characters, it becomes a major plot device when one of his mistresses actually contacts his home pushing his wife over the edge.

* TheMistress: [[TheVillain De Guiche]] wants to bully heroine Roxane into this. She will have none of it.

* [[TheHouseOfTudor King Henry VIII]] had countless mistresses, and his long-suffering wives just accepted that arrangement. In fact Anne Boleyn was a mistress at first.
** Anne didn't accept it very well. This is part of why Henry decided he didn't want to be married to her anymore.
*** Anne was not a mistress. She saw what happened to her sister Mary and didn't give it up.
**** She only gave it up at the very end to force Henry's hand so he would marry her. (She ended up pregnant with the future Elizabeth I)

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Pompadour.jpg
[[caption-width:280:When a HotConsort just isn't enough.]]

*** Queen Marie wasn't happy with her husbands affairs at all, since she was a devot Catholic. She merely preferred the well-behaved and properly deferential Pompadour over her downright arrogant predecessors. Marie Therese, on the other hand, was openly dissappointed when her husband exchanged Louise de la Valliere for de Montespan.

[[AC: LiveTelevision]]

[[AC: Literature]]

* Tom's relationship with Myrtle in ''TheGreatGatsby''.
* In Katherine Kerr's Devvery series, Rhodry takes Jill as a mistress -- he would have liked to marry her, but could not for political reasons. It's acknowledged that this is common among the nobility due to the proliferation of political marriages; and in many cases the jilted spouse doesn't particularly mind as long as you are tactful and discreet.
* ''Discworld/MakingMoney'' The bank's previous owner was the mistress of the former chairman, mentioning that as his mistress, she had the wife's approval because it got him out of her hair for a while. She was also good with numbers, which is why she remained in charge of the bank after his death. Before she passed on, she noted that standards have dropped and that now "the ability to spin upside down on a pole is considered sufficient".

[[AC: Film]]

* Lola's father has one in ''RunLolaRun''.
* Helen's husband Charles has one in ''DiaryOfAMadBlackWoman'' , and she even had two children with him(meanwhile Helen had two miscarriages).
* The book in ''DownWithLove'' causes even mistresses to not cooperate with men anymore.

* ThomasJefferson had kids with his slave/sister-in-law, Sally Hemings, and took her on trips to Europe.
** No, that one's been proven more or less true.

* Helen's husband Charles has one, and she even had two children with him(meanwhile Helen had two miscarriages).