Basic Trope: A (usually unmarried) woman who claims that she has a husband, but he's dead.
- Straight: Alice says she has a husband, but he's dead. Alice has never been married.
- Exaggerated: This extends to legal documents, as well.
- Downplayed:
- Alice says she has a boyfriend or husband, but that he's away fighting in a war, or that it's a Long-Distance Relationship.
- Wedding Ring Defense
- Justified:
- Alice has a child, and wishes to avoid the social stigma around having a child but no husband.
- Alice is a closeted lesbian (or simply an Old Maid who's ashamed of that fact), and doesn't want people questioning her.
- Alice wants to claim some kind of government or charity benefits, and knows she'll get more if she claims to be widowed.
- Alice is separated or divorced from her husband; he's dead to her.
- Alice is having an extramarital affair.
- Alice is divorced, in a society where divorce carries a lot of social stigma.
- Inverted:
- Alice claims that she's married or engaged when she's not.
- Alice is a widow who claims that her husband is still alive, or that she's divorced.
- Gender Inverted: Bob says that he had a wife, but that she's dead. Bob has never been married.
- Subverted:
- Alice is asked about a man in a picture, and she says he's her husband, who died in an unfortunate accident.
- Alice doesn't claim to be married.
- Double Subverted:
- He was her husband at one point, but he became her ex-husband before his death.
- But she does claim that her long-term boyfriend or fiance was killed in The War.
- Parodied: The "Bob" that she speaks of is an inanimate object, such as her computer, or her vibrator.
- Zig Zagged: Sometimes Alice claims her husband is dead, sometimes she claims he's away on business, sometimes she claims he's at home.
- Averted: Alice makes no false claims about her marital or relationship status.
- Enforced: "We need a Consummate Liar."
- Lampshaded: "Your husband died? Since when did you get married?"
- Invoked: People start questioning Alice because she's been unmarried for a long time.
- Exploited: Alice wants to get more money from a government agency or a private charity to which she's applying for assistance.
- Defied: Alice makes no bones about her single status.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Played For Drama: Having children out of wedlock is taboo in Alice's society, so she was to lie and say her children were from a husband that is now deceased.
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