Basic Trope: A character turns down another character's proposal that they get married.
- Straight: Bob asks Alice to marry him, but she says no.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob has asked Alice to marry him and been turned down numerous times.
- Alice has received multiple marriage proposals from different people and refused them all.
- Bob and Alice have been together for years and are basically married in all but name. Bob asks Alice to marry him, but not only does she refuse, she dumps Bob on the spot.
- Downplayed: Alice tells Bob she needs some time to think it over and then makes a decision to accept or decline.
- Justified:
- Bob and Alice have only been dating for a few months and barely know each other.
- Bob only asked Alice to marry him in a desperate attempt to win her back after she dumped him.
- Alice realizes she wouldn't be happy spending the rest of her life with Bob, as they're incompatible in a lot of areas and/or it would conflict with her other dreams and life goals.
- Alice has fallen in love with someone else.
- Alice's family can't afford a dowry (if such things matter in the setting).
- Alice is already married, though she's estranged from her spouse, and is either waiting for the divorce to be finalized or is unable to get divorced for some reason.
- Alice doesn't care about getting married, seeing it only as a piece of paper or outdated institution.
- Alice's parents went through a messy divorce and it's soured her on the idea of getting married.
- Bob is a Stalker with a Crush who is completely delusional about their relationship (or lack thereof).
- The way Bob proposed was poorly-planned with little thought put into it and Alice wants a more sincere, heartfelt proposal.
- Bob's proposal, on top of being poorly considered, comes off as rather manipulative and basically trying to force Alice to make a snap judgment to avoid being judged in front of people, rather than allowing her time to actually accept it without coercion.
- Inverted: Bob proposes to Alice and she says yes, but then Bob rescinds it.
- Subverted:
- Alice turns Bob down, but then changes her mind and tells him she accepts after all.
- It looks as though Alice is going to reject Bob, but it turns out to be a Bait-and-Switch and she actually says yes.
- Double Subverted:
- Then Alice changes her mind once again and rejects him.
- Turns out Alice really is saying no.
- Parodied: Alice and Bob are high school students and Alice is turning down Bob's 'promposal', which they treat with the same gravitas as if she were rejecting a marriage proposal.
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted:
- Alice accepts the proposal immediately.
- Bob never proposes to begin with.
- Enforced: Alice's actress is leaving the show, so the creators use her rejecting Bob's proposal as a way to break them up and write out Alice's character.
- Lampshaded:???
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied:
- Alice tells Bob not to propose to her because she'll say no.
- Bob knows Alice will say no and so doesn't ask her.
- Alice has been re-thinking her relationship with Bob, realizes he plans to propose and breaks up with him beforehand, so they don't have to go through the humiliation of her rejecting him.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Alice reflexively and bluntly rejects Bob's proposal, but upon thinking about it more realizes she would actually like to marry him or at least appreciates him asking. However, the callous way she rejected him deeply hurt Bob and he breaks up with her.
- Played for Drama:
- Alice is currently financially dependent on her jerkass boyfriend Bob, due to having lost her job. She rejects Bob's proposal and he threatens to throw her, her elderly mother who lives with them and her pet dog out on the streets unless she accepts (this is also a variant of the Scarpia Ultimatum). Alice is torn between legally tying herself to a jerk, or having herself and her vulnerable loved ones face homelessness.
- Bob saves up to buy a nice engagement ring for his girlfriend Alice. She not only turns down Bob's proposal, but reveals she never loved him and has been cheating with his best friend. She leaves Bob for his friend, leaving him heartbroken. And then his car breaks down, but he can't afford repairs because he used his savings on the ring.
