Marriage tropes are common in novels, probably because it’s something most readers are familiar with. Even if the reader isn’t married, their parents, friends, or colleagues are. They have a frame of reference for the idea of marriage. Marriages tropes can also offer a wealth of sub-tropes to enhance a story. But that’s another post. For now, I want to go over the main tropes about marriage, what they are, and why they work.
Arranged Marriage Tropes
Arranged marriage is when someone chooses two people to marry each other. Powerful characters in any theme can arrange for their children, staff, or members of their group to be married to people of their choosing. The most common use of this trope is in romance novels with a mafia theme. The leader of one mafia seeks an alliance with another by marrying their children or mafia members to each other.
There is an interesting set of books that explores this theme by having the heads of several mafia groups all agree to marry their daughters to each other sons in a set time frame. These stories are interesting because they are not only about different marriages, but different authors wrote each one. This allows the reader to see several views of arranged marriages through the eyes of the characters. The series starts with Binding Rose by Ivy Fox. Marketed as romance novels, these books may have content that is objectionable to some readers. The trope does not have to be limited to just mafia stories.
Another variation of this trope is when the arranged marriage is a cultural or religious tradition. These types of stories are more often dramas, as they explore both the significance of the tradition and how it affects the family. The perspective of tradition adds a layer to the story beyond the actual marriage. It allows the characters to explore how their traditions relate to modern views of marriage and relationships.
This trope opens the story to discuss the impact of arranged marriages on both the characters and society. If the characters fall in love anyway, then the arrangement is positive. When one character in the marriage is abusive or forced to leave their true love to be married, then the trope is negative. It’s important to note that not all arranged marriages are forced marriages. Forced marriage is a different trope.
Honor Marriage Tropes
Honor marriages are when one character marries another to save their honor. When using this trope, the author must first define what the dishonorable action is. A common one is that a woman is pregnant without a husband. In order to save her honor, a male friend offers to marry her. This allows the child to be born after the marriage, making it appear the woman became pregnant after the wedding.
There are several issues with this trope. Modern views on unwed mothers and children born out of wedlock are no longer considered dishonorable in most societies. Unless the story establishes a reason for the outdated worldview, then the story can feel dated. In order to get around this, some stories tie the concept to a specific cultural or religious group. Whenever using cultural or religious beliefs as a basis for trope, the storyline can easily cross into stereotyping. I strongly recommend using sensitivity readers whenever you are writing something that focuses extensively on a single culture or religion.
Forced Marriage Tropes
Forced marriage is when one or both characters who are getting married are doing so against their will. This trope can be a sub-trope for arranged marriages, but it doesn’t have to be. One character may have kidnapped the other, or be threatening them into marriage. J.T. Geissinger successfully twisted this trope in book 4 of the Queens and Monsters series,Brutal Vows.
Gay Marriage Tropes
Gay marriage is a trope that encompasses everything related to same-sex marriages. Because this trope is so broad on its own, authors often refine the trope to one or two elements that they want to express to readers. In a romance novel, the trope may focus on the couple getting married and how they fell in love. A family drama story may spend more time exploring how the characters’ families feel about the marriage. A political drama may focus on how society views gay marriage and on the gay marriage movement.
Marriage Pact Tropes
This trope has two variations. The first variation involves two characters deciding that if they aren’t married by a specific date, then they will marry each other. Often, the characters are childhood friends where one friend is secretly in love with the other. But it could be a social convention that pressures them into agreeing. For example, a worldview where everyone has to be married by a certain age, and if they aren’t, then the government will match them to a spouse. Thus, the characters agree to marry each other if they don’t find a spouse before that age.
The other variation is when a group of friends all decide they will be married by a certain date. This variation is more commonly seen as a pregnancy or suicide pact in young adult books. In the marriage pact version, the characters focus on finding spouses, even if they are ill-suited for the role. The character’s goal is to be married.
Fake Spouse Tropes
A trope that most people don’t think of as a marriage based is the fake spouse. This is when two characters pretend to be married when they aren’t. This leads to the characters spending time together and eventually falling in love for real. It’s a popular trope in romances novels. One or both characters have an external reason for getting married. There are several reasons the characters might get together. Popular ones include:
- The character’s parent is obsessed that the character is not married and constantly sets them up on dates.
- The character’s relative dies and a stipulation of the will is that the character be married to receive their inheritance.
- A politician may need a spouse to make them look better to the public, or a boss may favor married people for promotion.
- A character has a fake spouse to discourage an ex from trying to get back together or to prove they moved on from an old relationship.
While these are common reasons to have a fake spouse, they are not the only ones.
Marriage tropes are interesting to write because they easily branch out into sub-tropes depending on the genre, tone, and themes of the story. To see these and other tropes, be sure to check out Tropes: A Quick Reference Guide. Which marriage tropes do you prefer?