History Main / UnableToSupportAWife

* At the end of ''The Curse of {{Chalion}}''; [[spoiler: Cazaril, being [[ImpoverishedPatrician landless]] and having just been replaced as Iselle's secretary, cites this among a number of other protests when he is betrothed to the new Royina's lady in waiting Beatriz. Iselle simply points out that she is making the post of Chancellor a salaried position... [[ComicallyMissingThePoint wherupon Cazaril starts suggesting useful candidates]].]]

* The Music/{{XTC}} songs "Love on a Farmboy's Wages" and "Earn Enough For Us" are about couples trying to defy this.

* At the end of ''The Curse of {{Chalion}}''; [[spoiler: Cazaril, being [[ImpoverishedPatrician landless]] and having just been replaced as Iselle's secretary, cites this among a number of other protests when he is betrothed to the new Royina's lady in waiting Beatriz. Iselle simply points out that she is making the post of Chancellor a salaried position.]]

* In GeneStrattonPorter's ''{{Literature/Freckles}}'', [=McLean=] believes that Angel and Freckles's romance is doomed in part because she is of a wealthy family, and he has nothing.

* In GeneStrattonPorter's ''Her Father's Daughter'', Donald's mother urges him not to ask Linda to marry him for this reason.

* This drives the plot in ''[[http://www.baenebooks.com/10.1125/Baen/074347175X/074347175X___2.htm To Dye For]]'' by Creator/MercedesLackey for the ''SixteenThirtyTwo'' series.

* In RobinMcKinley's ''BeautyARetellingOfBeautyAndTheBeast'', one of Beauty's sisters is in love with a man who wants to leave the city and become a [[TheBlacksmith blacksmith]], which would never let him get money enough for a merchant's daughter. When their family is ruined, he pays his suit and tells her father that they can all come and live at the house he can get.

** In ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', Wickham's early attentions to Elizabeth are decried because they do not have money between them. Colonel Fitzwilliam is also careful not to let his friendship with her develop into anything more, for the same reason.

Defying this trope is often unwise. Perhaps they will manage -- either he can become the SelfMadeMan or they can live happily on less than her parents' opinion -- but it can also lead to a marriage unhappy due to constant conflicts over money, and sometimes to actual injury, illness, or even death owing to privation. Many a rich man's son, disinherited, has learned the hard way that he has no useful skills to support even himself.

* In the works of Creator/PoulAnderson:
** In Anderson and GordonRDickson's second {{Hoka}} story, Alex wants to marry but can't on his meager salary.
** In Anderson's "The Corkscrew Of Space", Magarac, before the DearJohnLetter, had gone to Mars to make the money.
** In Anderson's "Critique of Impure Reason", Janet tries to soothe Tunny with the suggestion that they could live in her salary; Tunny rejects the notion, Janet calls him medieval, and Tunny says he can be very medieval.

* In ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', Ebeneezer Scrooge didn't marry his girlfriend because he wasn't established yet in his career.

* Creator/JaneAusten:
** In ''{{Persuasion}}'', Wentworth had not saved anything from his naval career, which meant he was entirely relying on his position to enable him to marry. Also Charles Hayter is trying to secure a position to enable him to marry Henrietta. Also, the reason Captain Benwick and Fanny Harville were still only engaged at his death was that his promotion did not come before then.

** In ''PrideAndPrejudice'', Wickham's early attentions to Elizabeth are decried because they do not have money between them. Colonel Fitzwilliam is also careful not to let his friendship with her develop into anything more, for the same reason.
** In ''MansfieldPark'', Fanny's mother foolishly did not heed this, and their family life suffered as a consequence.

* In Creator/PoulAnderson and GordonRDickson's second {{Hoka}} story, Alex wants to marry but can't on his meager salary.
* In Creator/PoulAnderson's "The Corkscrew Of Space", Magarac, before the DearJohnLetter, had gone to Mars to make the money.
* In ''AChristmasCarol'', Ebeneezer Scrooge didn't marry his girlfriend because he wasn't established yet in his career.
* In Creator/PoulAnderson's "Critique of Impure Reason", Janet tries to soothe Tunny with the suggestion that they could live in her salary; Tunny rejects the notion, Janet calls him medieval, and Tunny says he can be very medieval.

* In Creator/CharlesDickens' ''ThePickwickPapers'', Pickwick, talking to his landlady, asks whether it's true that two can live as cheaply as one -- because he's thinking of hiring a manservant. She takes it as considering whether this trope applies and so a marriage proposal.

Sometimes the obstacle to marriage is just plain money: The man cannot earn enough -- or have an indepedent source of income -- to support a family. A mostly ForgottenTrope nowadays, but one with a long history -- mostly in settings where a woman leaves her parents' home for that of her husband, but also where single adults can live in dormitories and the like, but living in a residence of your own is expected for married couples.

How much money depends on situations. Usually the woman is expected to hold out for a life equal to her parents, but in some situations, escaping penury -- and actual hunger -- may be all that is required. It may also be urged that "two can live as cheaply as one", and that the woman, if a good housekeeper, can ensure that her husband's expenses go down; FeminineWomenCanCook, for instance, instead of his having to buy ready-made meals. If the heroine becomes a FallenPrincess, her parents may be much more open to a poor suitor, since he is no longer ''poorer''.

* A common concern in the novels of Creator/JaneAusten.

** In ''PrideAndPrejudice'', Wickham's early attentions to Elizabeth are decried because they do not have money between them.

Sometimes the obstacle is marriage is just plain money: the man can not earn enough -- or have an indepedent source of income -- to support a family. A mostly ForgottenTrope nowadays, but one with a long history -- mostly in settings where a woman leaves her parents' home for her husband's, but also where single adults can live in dormitories and the like, but living in a residence of your own is expected for married couples.

This can combined with ParentalMarriageVeto: the parents ban the marriage until he can find a position where he can earn enough. Or the plot may revolve about wheedling a settlement out of either set of parents sufficient to support a household. In other situations, it is the practicalities of money enough to get a place to live that rule.

How much money depends on situations. Usually the woman is expected to hold out for a life equal to her parents, but in some situations, escaping penury -- and actual hunger -- may be all that is required. It may also be urged that "two can live as cheaply as one", and that the woman, if a good housekeeper, can ensure his expenses go down; FeminineWomenCanCook, for instance, instead of his having to buy ready-made meals. If the heroine becomes a FallenPrincess, her parents may be much more open to a poor suitor, since he is no longer ''poorer''.

* Drives the plot in [[http://www.baenebooks.com/10.1125/Baen/074347175X/074347175X___2.htm To Dye For]] by Creator/MercedesLackey for the ''SixteenThirtyTwo'' series.
* In Creator/PGWodehouse, very, very, very frequently. The plot often involves a ZanyScheme to gain the favour of some wealthy relative who can then give the protagonist an allowance to support his intended.

** In ''Jill The Reckless'', Mrs. Barker is familiar with this trope from [[GenreSavvy romance reading]] but notes that Derek has his own money, so she is not sure why his mother can interfere. Barker has to explain the MyBelovedSmother and MommasBoy dynamic involved.

* In Creator/CharlesDickens's ''ThePickwickPapers'', Pickwick, talking to his landlady, asks whether it's true that two can live as cheaply as one -- because he's thinking of hiring a man servant. She takes it as considering whether this trope applies and so a marriage proposal.

* On one episode of ''{{Bonanza}}'' a local business woman asks Little Joe for help. She wants to marry a nebbishy but sweet natured man who loves her, but he feels that it wouldn't be right to propose to a woman who has more money than him. She gives Little Joe a large sum of money and tells him he should use it to buy a supposedly worthless plot of land from her beloved. After a pair of unsavory fellows get involved, silver is discovered and hilarity ensues.

-->--'''Margaret Oliphant''', ''The Perpetual Curate''

* In HayateTheCombatButler, Hayate has convinced himself this applies to him.
* In ''MaisonIkkoku'' Godai could barely support ''himself'' for the longest time, so this very much came into play.

* In JaneAusten's ''{{Persuasion}}'', Wentworth had not saved anything from his naval career, which meant he was entirely relying on his position to enable him to marry. Also Charles Hayter is trying to secure a position to enable him to marry Henrietta. Also, the reason Captain Benwick and Fanny Harville were still only engaged at his death was that his promotion did not come before then.
** In ''SenseAndSensibility'', Colonel Brandon's generosity and reconciling with Edward's mother are needed for Edward and Elinor to marry.

** In ''NorthangerAbbey'', the HappyEnding is brought about because a man who long loved Eleanor inherited a title and so could maintain a wife.

* In PoulAnderson and GordonRDickson's second {{Hoka}} story, Alex wants to marry but can't on his meager salary.
* In PoulAnderson's "The Corkscrew Of Space", Magarac, before the DearJohnLetter, had gone to Mars to make the money.
* In AChristmasCarol, Ebeneezer Scrooge didn't marry his girlfriend because he wasn't established yet in his career.
* In PoulAnderson's "Critique of Impure Reason", Janet tries to soothe Tunny with the suggestion that they could live in her salary; Tunny rejects the notion, Janet calls him medieval, and Tunny says he can be very medieval.
* Drives the plot in [[http://www.baenebooks.com/10.1125/Baen/074347175X/074347175X___2.htm To Dye For]] by Mercedes Lackey for the [[SixteenThirtyTwo 1632]] series.
* In PGWodehouse, very, very, very frequently. The plot often involves a ZanyScheme to gain the favour of some wealthy relative who can then give the protagonist an allowance to support his intended.

* Part of the Tin Woodman's backstory in ''TheWonderfulWizardOfOz''. He loved a Munchkin girl, and she promised that she would marry him when he had earned enough to build her a proper house. [[ParentalMarriageVeto The old woman the girl lived with didn't like that idea]], and she got the Wicked Witch of the East to sabotage his efforts, which led to him becoming tin so he had no heart and couldn't love.
* In CharlesDickens's ''Pickwick Papers'', Pickwick, talking to his landlady, asks whether it's true that two can live as cheaply as one -- because he's thinking of hiring a man servant. She takes it as considering whether this trope applies and so a marriage proposal.
* In RobinMcKinley's ''{{BeautyARetellingOfBeautyAndTheBeast}}'', one of Beauty's sisters is in love with a man who wants to leave the city and become a {{blacksmith}}, which would never let him get money enough for a merchant's daughter. When their family is ruined, he pays his suit and tells her father that they can all come and live at the house he can get.

* On one episode of {{Bonanza}} a local business woman asks Little Joe for help. She wants to marry a nebbishy but sweet natured man who loves her, but he feels that it wouldn't be right to propose to a woman who has more money than him. She gives Little Joe a large sum of money and tells him he should use it to buy a supposedly worthless plot of land from her beloved. After a pair of unsavory fellows get involved, silver is discovered and hilarity ensues.
* Occurs in TheWire season 2 with Nick Sobotka and his girlfriend Ashley; the two can't afford to get a place together.
* AubreyMaturin: In the second and third novels, Mrs. Williams does not permit her daughter Sophie to marry Jack Aubrey until he can prove that he is able to support her. Luckily for Jack, Sophie resists all attempts to marry her off until he earns a fortune from the East India Company.

* In RudyardKipling's "[[http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/post_that_fitted.html The Post That Fitted]]", Sleary, while engaged to Carrie, proposes to another woman whose family can get him a post, and then persuades her to call it off by feigning epilepsy.