History Main / WifeHusbandry

* A recurring trope in the works of Creator/GilbertAndSullivan is an older man or woman [[MayDecemberRomance trying to marry]] one or both of TheIngenue{s}, often intersecting with this trope.

* In ''Theatre/HMSPinafore'', little Buttercup, the captain's nursemaid, ends up marrying him.

* Done in ''Theatre/ALittleNightMusic'', but subverted. A paraphrased line: "Just imagine, a few years ago, you were Uncle Frederick. And now, you're Darling Frederick." *Giggle* *Cue squirming and uncomfortable audience.* [[spoiler:The girl discovered that it was just a crush and Frederic discovered his true love in a former mistress. His 18-year-old ex-wife ran off with his son, who was the same age.]])

* In Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's ''Theatre/TheMikado,'' Ko-Ko attempts to marry his ward, Yum-Yum, though by the end he's [[PairTheSpares paired off]] with Katisha, a woman closer to his age. It's hinted that Katisha had also tried to do this with the much younger Nanki-Poo.

* And in ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance'' (notice a trend here?), Frederic's onetime nursemaid Ruth, who is the only woman he has seen in 13 years, convinces him that she is a beautiful woman, and that he should marry her. This plan falls apart the second he sees a group of girls his own age.

* ''Series/FatherBrown'': In "The Prize of General Gerard", the General had adopted a young Chinese girl named Jia-Li. As she matured, Gerard's nephew Edward (whose mother had married Gerard after his father's death) had fallen in love with her, but Gerard made it quite clear that he planned to take Jia-Li as his mistress, her own desires be damned, and further planned to have Edward committed to keep him away from her. [[spoiler: Considering that Jia-Li ended up murdering Gerald, one may safely assume that the attraction was one-sided. Oh, and [[ShoutOutToShakespeare Gerard had also killed Edward's father]] [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} and married his mother]]. [[AssholeVictim What a sweet guy.]]]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

---> '''Angelus''': She's practically your mother. There should be a [[Theatre/OedipusRex play]].
** It is played with when it is later revealed, [[spoiler: that Cordelia had died/ascended and not been resurrected/returned as they thought. It was actually an ancient Lovecraftian terror inhabiting Cordelia's body. This doesn't keep it from being any less creepy, but it's not Cordy's fault.]]

** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' novel "The Vulcan Academy Murders", Dr. Daniel Corrigan, a middle-aged human doctor, has had a highly successful partnership with the Vulcan healer Sorel, and has become something of a favored uncle to Sorel's daughter T'Mir. Years later, when T'Mir returns from several years studying xenobiology at Starfleet Academy, she and Corrigan become bond-mates. Subverted in that 1) Corrigan underwent an experimental neural treatment that he and Sorel pioneered that had the side benefit of extending his life-span, and 2) he hadn't allowed himself to consider T'Mir as a life-mate or wife, until ''she proposed to him''.

* It is mentioned by Ranmaru's parents in ''Manga/TheWallflower'' anime as a way that Ranmaru can capitalize on his ArrangedMarriage to Tamao... by the end of the episode they have a Hikaru Genji moment... which is quickly ruined.

* ''ComicBook/AmericanVampire'': Jim Books' goddaughter Abilena fell in love with him. Jim always thought of her as a daughter and never realized she saw him as something other than a father figure until the night she gave him a passionate kiss.

** A disturbed, gender-inverted example is heavily implied to happen at the end of the episode "A Short Drink from [[FountainOfYouth a Certain Fountain]]". The story has a wealthy, old man fighting to keep up with his selfish, [[GoldDigger gold-digging]] and far younger TrophyWife. He then gets rejuvenated via an experimental serum. [[spoiler: By the end, he's regressed to an infant due to the serum not being perfected. As a kind of PoeticJustice for her self-serving ways, the man's wife now has to take responsibility and raise what was her husband now as her son and the roles will be switched by the time he reaches her age.]]

* In the second ''WesternAnimation/MuzzyInGondoland'' movie, Corvax's plan to kidnap the ''infant'' daughter of Bob and Princess Sylvia to teach the baby to adore him so she'll eventually marry him and let him become king, or at least make him [[EvilChancellor royal advisor]] again. Oddly enough, such a creepy plot is PlayedForLaughs, mainly due to Corvax and his minion, Thimbo, [[PityTheKidnapped sheer ineptitude at getting the baby to do what they want]].

A subtrope of AgeGapRomance. Often overlaps with either MayDecemberRomance or MayflyDecemberRomance, depending on the age gap and whether one of the lovers (typically the older one) is LongLived or {{Immortal|ity}}. Compare PygmalionPlot, TheJailbaitWait, TeacherStudentRomance, and ParentalIncest. See also FatherIWantToMarryMyBrother.