History Main / ToiletSeatDivorce

[[folder:Literature]]
* Literature/BookOfEsther starts with a party, where a king '''simply''' asks for his wife to make an appearance... and she says ''no''. (Although there is the implication that when the king wanted her to appear before him wearing her crown, he meant ''[[YouCanLeaveYourHatOn only her crown]]''). His advisers suggest that if the queen can so publicly snub her husband in front of the entire citizenry, every woman in the empire will feel free to do the same, so she's divorced/put to death and the title character replaces her. The king also makes it an immutable law for a wife to respect her husband and for a husband to bear rule in his own household.

->''"A Roman divorced from his wife, being highly blamed by his friends, who demanded, 'Was she not chaste? Was she not fair? Was she not fruitful?' holding out his shoe, asked them whether it was not new and well made. 'Yet,' added he, 'none of you can tell where it pinches me."''

See also MinorFlawMajorBreakup, FelonyMisdemeanor, RantInducingSlight, DisproportionateRetribution, SexChangesEverything, DerailingLoveInterests. This trope is not about a divorce threat to somebody who by chance [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant happens to be in the john]].

* In ''Literature/TheBible'': In [[Literature/TheFourGospels Matthew chapter 19]], the Pharisees question Jesus if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason (which in their minds mean for any trivial thing a wife would do that might displease a husband, such as poor cooking). Jesus takes them back to [[Literature/BookOfGenesis Genesis]] to remind them that "what God has yoked together" as "one flesh", a man should not separate, and it was through the hardness of their hearts that Moses gave them the precept for writing a certificate of divorce. He goes on to say, as He had said earlier in His Sermon on the Mount, that a man who divorces his wife for any reason except for [[YourCheatingHeart marital infidelity]] and marries another woman commits adultery, and that a man who marries a divorced wife commits adultery.

* The title of ''Theatre/BarefootInThePark'' comes from an argument (which leads to a threatened divorce), ''nominally'' about how Paul didn't want to take a barefoot walk in Central Park.
** In the winter.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Proposition Infinity," [[ExtremeDoormat Kif]] breaks up with [[AsianAirhead Amy]], she having [[CompressedVice suddenly decided that his endearingly pathetic traits are actually annoying]] and he being unable to tolerate her AllGirlsWantBadBoys tendency. Played with because she says that they don't have to get a divorce, because that alien ceremony they had in TheMovie where she officially "joined his family?" Yeah, that was different than being married...somehow. All this just so that Amy and [[TheHedonist Bender]] could date for one episode, and then Amy and Kif [[ComedyOfRemarriage instantly get back together]].

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Mr. and Mrs. Van Houten have a public breakup that's precipitated by one spouse losing a game of {{Pictionary}}, though this incident was really only the RantInducingSlight for long-held deep grudges.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Proposition Infinity," [[ExtremeDoormat Kif]] breaks up with [[AsianAirhead Amy]], she having [[CompressedVice suddenly decided that his endearingly pathetic traits are actually annoying]] and he being unable to tolerate her AllGirlsWantBadBoys tendency. PlayedWith because she says that they don't have to get a divorce, because that alien ceremony they had in TheMovie where she officially "joined his family?" Yeah, that was different than being married...somehow. All this just so that Amy and [[TheHedonist Bender]] could date for one episode, and then Amy and Kif [[ComedyOfRemarriage instantly get back together]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Proposition Infinity," [[AsianAirhead Amy]] breaks up [[ExtremeDoormat Kif]], having suddenly decided that his endearingly pathetic traits are actually annoying. PlayedWith because she says that they don't have to get a divorce, because that alien ceremony they had in TheMovie where she officially "joined his family?" Yeah, that was different than being married...somehow. All this just so that Amy and [[TheHedonist Bender]] could date for one episode, and then Amy and Kif [[ComedyOfRemarriage instantly get back together]].

* Alex and Maggie broke off their engagement in ''Series/{{Supergirl}}'' when Alex realized that she "[[AllLesbiansWantKids was always going to want kids]]" in one episode, while Maggie was dead-set against it. While this can be a legitimate reason for a breakup, the show basically handled it as Alex deciding that she wanted to be a mother and then her and Maggie breaking up in the next scene, without the two of them even having any sort of serious discussion, couples-counseling, or otherwise seeing if there was any way to work things out between them. This was especially shocking given how many previous episodes had been devoted to the two of them finding a way to reconcile a serious difference in their relationship.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature]]
* Literature/BookOfEsther starts with a party, where a king '''simply''' asks for his wife to make an appearance... and she says ''no''. (Although there is implication that when the king wanted her to appear before him wearing her crown, he meant ''[[YouCanLeaveYourHatOn only her crown]]''). His advisers suggest that if the queen can so publicly snub her husband in front of the entire citizenry, every woman in the empire will feel free to do the same, so she's divorced/put to death and the title character replaces her. The king also makes it an immutable law for a wife to respect her husband and for a husband to bear rule in his own household.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Ross and Rachel from ''Series/{{Friends}}''. Since the series depended on them being separated in order to work, their break up was quick and difficult to understand -- and divisive among fans as well, since most tend to take sides on this issue. From Rachel's point of view, she saw that their relationship was struggling, and so she asked for some space in the form of "a break" so they could deal with issues better... but from Ross's point of view she broke up with him (requested a break, which is often language that starts a breakup... and Ross had been divorced by his wife a year or so before), and the only reason she decided the break was over was because she saw that other people thought of Ross as desirable. Even after Rachel forgave him, she couldn't be with him because ''"she would know that he cheated on her with that other woman"''. And Ross, who acted out of both being hurt and past trauma, as well as doing what would be considered acceptable behavior for others (like Joey), and for whom the hookup literally meant nothing, staunchly refused to admit that he had done anything wrong, probably because Rachel was atttempting to place all the blame solely upon him. This doesn't stop her from wanting him back, which makes all this pretext more useless. It doesn't stop Rachel from getting involved in the very situation Ross was worried about with her coworker, though, meaning that Ross felt further justified, and could not let go of that in order to allow the relationship to continue.

* Dr. Wilson from ''Series/{{House}}'' had what seems to have been an example of this trope, given how he and his ex get along when they end up back together. The only difference the second time around is that House convinced Wilson to actually speak up instead of let the irritation build up to RantInducingSlight levels.

* Played with ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': Ted, Barney and Robin come home to discover telltale signs of a fight between Lily and Marshall. While Robin makes the correct guess that the fight was over Lily's terrible spending habits preventing them from getting a decent loan for the couple's new apartment (which Marshall only found out about when they went in to get the loan), Ted and Barney assume it was because Lily left the lid off of the peanut butter jar. Which makes all the more hilarious when Ted hits redial on the house phone and discovers that the last person called was a divorce attorney. [[spoiler: Subverted in that neither Lily nor Marshall want to get divorced: Lily only wanted to get divorced legally so that they could put the loan in Marshall's name and get a better rate; neither of them even considered breaking up their relationship. Marshall eventually nixes the plan, saying that even "divorce on paper" is too much for him; he treasures their marriage too much.]]

* Alex and Maggie broke of their engagement in ''Series/{{Supergirl}}'' when Alex realized that she "[[AllLesbiansWantKids was always going to want kids]]" in one episode, while Maggie was dead-set against it. While this can be a legitimate reason for a breakup, the show basically handled it as Alex deciding that she wanted to be a mother and then her and Maggie breaking up in the next scene, without the two of them even having any sort of serious discussion, couples-counseling, or otherwise seeing if there was any way to work things out between them. This was especially shocking given how many previous episodes had been devoted to the two of them finding a way to reconcile a serious difference in their relationship.

[[folder: Music ]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]

[[folder: Radio ]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Due to the completely random nature of ''Videogame/TomodachiLife'', a player's Mii couple can wind up suddenly erupting in to a battle against each other for no reason other then the RandomNumberGod declaring the Miis should fight. Even if a Mii's relationship with their spouse is at maximum, they will still fight. [[SubvertedTrope Though they can make up and stay together]], if they don't, they will break up.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Mr. and Mrs. Van Houten have a breakup that's precipitated by one spouse losing a game of {{Pictionary}}, though this incident was really only the RantInducingSlight for long held deep grudges.

* The ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' adaptation of ''The Book of Ester'' has the King ask his wife for a sandwich in the middle of the night, she refuses, and the rest is history.

** Wouldn't it be her fault for not turning on the light?

* ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'': Mentioned in one strip where Faye starts laying into Angus for leaving the toilet seat up. It turns that that as is was dark and Faye didn't have her glasses, she didn't notice the missing seat and nearly fell in.

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]
* A ''ComicStrip/{{Herman}}'' comic shows someone offering a judge a plate of his wife's cooking, and being told that, while it was certainly awful stuff, it's still not grounds for a divorce.
[[/folder]]

* Alex and Maggie broke of their engagement in ''Series/{{Supergirl}}'' when Alex realized that she "[[AllLesbiansWantKids was always going to want kids]]" in one episode, while Maggie was dead-set against it. While this can be a legitimate reason for a breakup, the show basically handled it as Alex deciding that she wanted to be a mother and then her breaking up with Maggie in the next scene, without the two of them even having any sort of serious discussion, couples-counseling, or otherwise seeing if there was any way to work things out between them.

* On ''Film/KramerVsKramer'', Joanna's decision to abandon Ted (and her child) is explained by her as "LeavingYouToFindMyself". While Ted has one possible reason for her to divorce (he starts the movie as TheWorkaholic), she doesn't really ever elaborates within the film and much drama ensues from her apparent fickleness to just up and leave one day, and return a year later to battle for her son's custody.

* Literature/BookOfEsther starts with a party, where a king '''simply''' asks for his wife to make an appearance... and she says ''no''. His advisers suggest that if the queen can so publicly snub her husband in front of the entire citizenry, every woman in the empire will feel free to do the same, so she's divorced/put to death and the title character replaces her. The king also makes it an immutable law for a wife to respect her husband and for a husband to bear rule in his own household.

* In ''Literature/TheBible'': In [[Literature/TheFourGospels Matthew chapter 19]], the Pharisees question Jesus if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason (which in their minds mean for any trivial thing a wife would do that might displease a husband, such as poor cooking). Jesus takes them back to [[Literature/BookOfGenesis Genesis]] to remind them that "what God has yoked together" as "one flesh", a man should not separate, and it was through the hardness of their hearts that Moses gave them the precept for writing a certificate of divorce. He goes on to say, as He had said earlier in His Sermon on the Mount, that a man who divorces his wife for any reason except for [[YourCheatingHeart marital infidelity]] causes his wife to commit adultery, and that a man who marries a divorced wife commits adultery.

See also MinorFlawMajorBreakup, FelonyMisdemeanor, RantInducingSlight, DisproportionateRetribution, SexChangesEverything, DerailingLoveInterests. This trope is not about a divorce threat to somebody who by chance [[IThoughtItMeant happens to be in the john]].

* Literature/BookOfEsther starts with a party, where a king '''simply''' asks for his wife to make an appearance... and she says ''no''. His advisers suggest that if the queen can so publicly snub her husband in front of the entire citizenry, every woman in the empire will feel free to do the same, so she's divorced/put to death and the title character replaces her.

* In ''Literature/TheBible'': In [[Literature/TheFourGospels Matthew chapter 19]], the Pharisees question Jesus if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason (which in their minds mean for any trivial thing a wife would do that might displease a husband, such as poor cooking). Jesus takes them back to Genesis to remind them that "what God has yoked together" as "one flesh", a man should not separate, and it was through the hardness of their hearts that Moses gave them the precept for writing a certificate of divorce. He goes on to say, as He had said earlier in His Sermon on the Mount, that a man who divorces his wife for any reason except for [[YourCheatingHeart marital infidelity]] causes his wife to commit adultery, and that a man who marries a divorced wife commits adultery.

* In ''Literature/TheBible'': In [[Literature/TheFourGospels Matthew chapter 19]], the Pharisees question Jesus if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason (which in their minds mean for any trivial thing that might displease a husband, such as poor cooking). Jesus takes them back to Genesis to remind them that "what God has yoked together" as "one flesh", a man should not separate, and it was through the hardness of their hearts that Moses gave them the precept for writing a certificate of divorce. He goes on to say, as He had said earlier in His Sermon on the Mount, that a man who divorces his wife for any reason except for [[YourCheatingHeart marital infidelity]] causes his wife to commit adultery, and that a man who marries a divorced wife commits adultery.

[[folder:Religion]]

* In ''Literature/TheBible'': In [[Literature/TheFourGospels Matthew chapter 19]], the Pharisees question Jesus if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason (which in their minds mean for any trivial thing that might displease a husband, such as poor cooking). Jesus takes them back to Genesis to remind them that "what God has yoked together" as "one flesh", a man should not separate, and it was through the hardness of their hearts that Moses gave them the precept for writing a certificate of divorce. He goes on to say, as He had said earlier in His Sermon on the Mount, that a man who divorces his wife for any reason except for [[YourCheatingHeart marital infidelity]] causes his wife to commit adultery, and that a man who marries a divorced wife commits adultery.

[[/folder]]