Arranged Marriage: Difference between revisions

[[File:HogarthMarriageALaMode.jpg|frame|Hogarth's Marriage a la Mode]]

 

 

An '''Arranged Marriage''' is, quite simply, the idea that someone is going to choose your spouse for you.

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* An anime example occurs in ''[[Tenshi na Konamaiki]]'', whereby the heroes discover one of their group entangled in an Arranged Marriage from which they must extricate her via a [[Zany Scheme]].

* In ''[[Macross 7]]'', Miriya unintentionally sets off the series' central [[Love Triangle]] by setting up an ''omiai'' between her daughter Mylene and Gamlin Kizaki.

** Then she messes things up again in ''Encore 2'' by trying to convince Mylene and Basara to marry while at the same time she sets up another ''omiai'' between Gamlin and Miho Miho, one of the [[Bridge Bunnies]]. Of course it's justified that {{spoiler|she thought she was dying at the time}}.

* Kaoru Hanabishi and Aoi Sakuraba of ''[[Ai Yori Aoshi]]'' are matched in an arranged marriage as young children, to cement a relationship between their powerful corporate households. This is an odd example, however, in that like the previously mentioned ''Gankutsuoh'' example, the engagement is technically broken off (Kaoru left his family after being orphaned and then terribly abused by his grandfather): the series' drama results from the two main characters genuinely falling in love and ''still wanting'' to get married, but not being able to do so for the whole scandal it'd bring.

* Minamo's parents suggest to her (often) to try a modern arranged dating/marriage in the ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'' anime. Fellow teacher, best friend, and pain in the rear Yukari shrugs the idea off and says to just do whatever she wants.

* [[Evil Matriarch|Domyoji Kaede]], the main antagonist of ''[[Hana Yori Dango]]'', arranges for both of her children to marry the children of wealthy entrepreneurs in order to acquire their companies for the family's vast corporate empire. When her children Tsubaki and Tsukasa prove to be unwilling, she resorts to [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|less than ethical]] means to browbeat them into it with mixed success.

* Konoka Konoe in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' is usually in an Arranged Marriage of some kind, set up by her grandfather. This causes her great annoyance since most of the suitors she's set up with tend to be somewhere around ''twice her age or older''. She generally either turns them all down without a look or [[Rebellious Princess|runs away and hides till they're over]].

** When Negi [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v29/c261/18.html Pactios with Fei Ku], she states that he is now "committed to become her groom." She's pulling his leg, though. [[Weasel Mascot|Chamo]] comments that FeiNegi is possible, given what his descendant {{spoiler|Chao}} looked like.

* ''[[Ikoku Irokoi Romantan]]'' features a wedding aboard a Mediterranean cruise ship, meant to improve relations between two powerful [[Yakuza]] groups. The bride and groom have been friends since childhood, and go into the wedding willingly, if not happily. This being a [[Yaoi]] title, the unhappy bride throws the groom out of their cabin on their wedding night, and the groom promptly goes off and gets shagged by a hot Italian [[Seme]].

* In ''[[Diamond Daydreams]]'', the main point in Atsuki's story is her struggle against her looming Arranged Marriage.

* In ''[[Full Metal Panic!|Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid]]'' Melissa Mao reveals that she joined the Marine Corps after becoming a [[Runaway Bride]] from an Arranged Marriage.

* In ''[[Pumpkin Scissors]]'', Alice is engaged to be married to a high-ranking noble named Lionel Taylor. However, this went against her wishes to stay unmarried and continue working for Section III. She was even willing once to go as far as to try and get her fiance to call off their engagement.

* The "Flower Festival" arc of ''[[Rosario + Vampire]]'' involves Mizore trying to escape an arranged marriage with a leader of the powerful "Fairy Tale" group. Hilarity emphatically does not ensue.

* Haruka in ''[[Moyashimon]]'' is the daughter of an executive and is in an arranged marriage, with the caveat that she won't have to marry until she is done with the university. Naturally, she intends never to graduate, and an attempt by her father to push matters leads to him and the fiance [[Fate Worse Than Death|exposed to point-blank]] [[Foreign Queasine|Surstr?ng]].

* ''[[Rose of Versailles]]'' covers arranged marriages from several angles: [[Marie Antoinette]] and Louis XVI wind up kinda ok, little Charlotte... not so much.

* Narrowly averted in episode 19 of ''[[Fushigiboshi no Futagohime]]'' when the ''[[Evil Chancellor]]'' arranged a marriage between Princess Mirlo and the very young son of a rich man. When the father learned the reason was entirely due to the Water Drop Kingdom being broke, the father called it off.

* Less prominent, but the OAV ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'' storyline features Aeka betrothed to Yosho; she's happy with the idea (until she falls into Tenchi's [[Unwanted Harem]], of course).

* ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]'' has both an arranged marriage and a omiai set up:

** Saki and Kaoru are set up on a omiai by their families. Both admit to being interested in other people, so nothing comes of this.

* Featured between Nozomu and Miu in ''[[Stepping on Roses]]'' (''Hadashi de Bara wo Fume''), which is likely a source of their dysfunction. Since protagonist Sumi and male lead Soichiro both [[Only in It For the Money|marry for money]], however, they're not that much better off to start with.

* Childhood friends Wako and Sugata are in an arranged marriage in ''[[Star Driver]]''.

* In ''[[The Secret Agreement]]'', Iori is the heir to an [[Impoverished Patrician]] family and has to marry into wealth. He doesn't see his marriage as an obstacle to his relationship with his lover, Yuuichi, simply because it's always been a fact of life and he doesn't feel he has to love his wife.

* In ''[[Happy Yarou Wedding]]'', Kazuki shows up at his brother's doorstep claiming he's there to drop off marriage candidate portfolios for him. When Akira confronts his father about trying to arrange a marriage for him his father replies that he knows better than to try to interfere with his life and that the candidates were actually arranged for Kazuki, not Akira.

* Ciel and his cousin Elizabeth in ''[[Black Butler]]'' have been engaged since they were young. While they aren't going to actually marry anytime soon, it doesn't stop Elizabeth from pouring her affections onto Ciel.

* The plot of ''[[Flower Flower]]'' revolves around a princess arriving in a country to be arranged to a prince only to reject him as he's a [[Wholesome Crossdresser]]. She chooses his younger sibling instead, unaware that she's marrying another woman.

* Jenny Doolittle of ''[[Bodacious Space Pirates]]'' is set up in an arranged marriage, as much to prevent her from gaining control of her family's shipping firm as to solidify an alliance. [[Runaway Bride|She shoots her way out of it]], then hires the ''Bentenmaru'' to get her to safety.

 

* Starfire (Princess Koriand'r) of DC Comics has twice been married to men from her home planet and both times she went through with the marriages to satisfy family and political obligations. The first time this happened, Starfire was romantically involved with [[Nightwing|Robin (Dick Grayson)]] and she didn't understand why Grayson was so upset. She said that in her culture, marriage was merely a social obligation; she did not believe that her marriage to another man should interfere with her romantic relationship with Grayson.

* Karolina and Xavin are brought together by one of these in ''[[Runaways]]''. This might've been tricky to do as Karolina is a lesbian... but Xavin is a shapeshifting Skrull and can [[Jumping the Gender Barrier|get around this problem]].

* In ''[[Usagi Yojimbo]]'', the series' premiere [[Action Girl]], Tomoe Ame, is currently roped into an arranged marriage engagement by her young lord who gets talked into by a villainous adviser on the idea that she should be happy. Whether that kid will realize that he should have had the simple logic and decency to ask if she wanted it (she does not, but is too loyal a proper samurai to protest) is unanswered for now.

* In the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' comics, Princess Sally's parents were the result of an Arranged Marriage, but they're happy together. Sally's father on the other hand tried to set up an arranged marriage between Sally and her fellow Freedom Fighter Antoine D'Coolette. She wasn't thrilled about the idea, but went through with it because she felt it was her duty. The groom turned out to actually be Antoine's [[Evil Twin]], however, and the marriage was hastily annulled.

* In the shortlived [[Furry Fandom|Furry]] series, ''Tales of the Fennick'', the series began with a prologue story with a mother telling her story to her children about how as a girl she was being maneuvered for an arranged marriage by her parents who were losing patience with her continually and defiantly exercising her lawful right to refuse the beaus they are offering. However, she found her last beau is actually no more enthusiastic at their meeting than herself. However, a combination of the boy showing that he is a genuinely kind and charming fellow and the chance meetings with gossipy friends who assume they are engaged puts them in an awkward position as they are both growing to like each other. In response, make a secret pact to stall any wedding plans by pretending to have a ''long'' engagement so their friends and family will leave them alone. As it is, the mother admits to her daughter that this was simply a mutual rationalization to allow them both to submit to social expectations while feeling that they have some free choice in the matter since they married in the long run. At this, the young daughter playfully declares she is not going to marry, but become a soldier like her father. The mother humors her about this in the prologue story, but in the series proper, the mother is shocked to learn that her now adult daughter is now an even more strong willed, if more quietly defiant, girl than herself who is still serious about following through on that intention and imitating her mother's self-deceptions is ''not'' going to be enough for her.

 

 

* More popular than it has any right to be in ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' [[Fan Fiction]], in which it's frequently used as a contrived device for hooking up two characters who wouldn't otherwise give each other the time of day. Usually, it takes the form of a Ministry decree that all purebloods must marry a muggle-born, causing either a) Lucius Malfoy to purchase Hermione Granger's contract for his son, or b) Severus Snape to do the same to "save" her from the previous.

** Also sometimes used, somewhat more justifiably, for pureblood/pureblood marriages like Lucius and Narcissa's.

*** One example of this is [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5316729/1/Honour_Amongst_Snakes Honour Amongst Snakes], which turned into a [[Perfectly Arranged Marriage]].

** If a time limit is given for Hermione to find a pureblood husband, there is often a [[Hand Wave]] about why she can't just [[Official Couple|marry Ron]], but very rarely will the possibility of her [[Citizenship Marriage|marrying Neville, Seamus, Ernie, etc.]] even be considered.

** Some fans tend to believe that the higher class Hobbit families (mainly Brandybuck and Took) marry through arrangements, which is a good way of adding fanfic drama. This belief seems to come from the fact that Merry is an only child, Pippin has three older sisters and no brothers, and only one child of his own (a son), which could suggest that the parents simply get separate bedrooms once an heir has been born. There is, however, no indication in Tolkien's work that this is actually the case.

* In ''Sweeney Todd'' fanfiction (yes, it exists), Benjamin and Lucy Barker are sometimes said to have had an arranged marriage, which is odd as (a) arranged marriages were nearly kaput by the nineteenth century, (b) it seems unlikely that Lucy's parents would aim no higher than a barber, and (c) the way the man who used to be Benjamin remembers Lucy gives every indication of it having been a love match. Of course, the arranged marriage is often used to undermine their marriage in a case of [[Die for Our Ship]].

* Heavily implied by [[Gratuitous Japanese]] and [[One Dialogue, Two Conversations|a conversation with a character's father]] in ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]''. {{spoiler|Between Kyon and Tsuruya.}}

** Confirmed, and Kyon and Tsuruya now realize. They're not too happy.

* In the ''[[Code Geass]]'' Fanfic ''[[Dauntless]]'', {{spoiler|Lelouch is forced into one with a noble girl named Abigail after being discovered and brought back into the Royal Family.}} [[Rich Bitch|Surprisingly]], she ends up turning into quite the [[Ensemble Darkhorse]].

** Schneizel was also supposed to marry a European (what specifically, not noted) noble, but he keeps putting it off because he knew there would be no real point to it as Britannia was going to attack the EU eventually.

* In the ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (animation)|How to Train Your Dragon]]'' fanfic "[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6670885/1/Crash_Courses_in_Marriage Crash Courses in Marriage]," Hiccup and Astrid are roped into an arranged marriage. To their parents' credit, they thought the kids wouldn't have any problem with this considering their big public smooch at the end of the first story. As it is, they are not enthusiastic at all at being forced, but admit they are each other's best choice in better circumstances and decide to cooperate.

* In the ''[[Death Note]]'' [[Alternate Universe Fic|AU]] [[Dark Fic]] ''[[The Faceless (fanfic)|The Faceless]]'' Light's parents arranged it so that he would [[Meal Ticket|marry Misa for her fortune.]]

 

* ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]'' took place in an early 20th century Slavic Jewish community where Old Traditions (Arranged Marriage) were rapidly clashing with New Ideas (marrying for love). The practice was to keep marriages within the Jewish community, but the musical points out that this is why the system fails.

** Tevye and Golde's duet ''Do You Love Me?'' addresses the belief that an arranged marriage can ripen into love, while ''Matchmaker'', sung by the daughters, addresses both the pros and cons of arranged marriages.

* ''[[Spaceballs]]'': "Excuse me, I'm trying to conduct a wedding here, which has nothing to do with love!"

* ''[[Ever After (film)|Ever After]]'' involves an arranged marriage between Prince Henry and a princess chosen by his parents. Both Henry and the bride are in love with other people; the bride sobs loudly throughout the ceremony, ultimately prompting Henry to call off the wedding so they can both be happy.

* ''[[Mulan]]'' begins with her trip to a matchmaker in hopeful preparation for an advantageous marriage. Naturally, this ends in disaster, setting Mulan up nicely for [[The Call]] which comes a few hours later (and for the love match that eventually results).

* The 2004 Czech film, ''Želary'', puts an interesting spin on this trope. The main character, [[City Mouse|Eliska]], works for an [[La Résistance|underground resistance movement]] in the Nazi-occupied city of Prague, Czechoslovakia. When her conspirators are captured, the resistance sends her to a remote mountain village with a new identity to hide from the Gestapo. To keep her under the radar, she is ordered to marry one of the local farmers to avoid attracting attention. She is understandably pissed off about this arrangement and acts coldly towards her intended. Of course, the man she marries is quiet, kind and chivalrous, so there's only [[Undercover As Lovers|so many directions]] [[Will They or Won't They?|that their relationship]] [[Love Epiphany|could go]].

* This trope is the entire driving force behind the plot of [[Eddie Murphy]] comedy ''[[Coming to America]]''. Finding that his parents have arranged for him to marry a hopelessly servile young woman who has been trained all her life to mindlessly obey him, Prince Akeem devises a scheme to travel to the United States (under the pretense of "sowing his royal oats") and find a bride who will love him for who he is and not for his royal status.

* The movie ''Arranged'' is about two school teachers, one Jewish and other Muslim, who become friends by sharing the highs and lows as their families arrange their marriages.

* In ''[[Alpha and Omega]]'', Kate is to be married to Garth, to prevent war between rival packs. That plan is disrupted when she and her omega friend, Humphrey, are darted and relocated to a distant American park. As the pair struggle to get back to Jasper, Garth inadvertently falls for Kate's omega sister and thus both are in an awkward situation when Kate returns. Even though both confess their true feelings with Lily's sister perfectly willing to substitute for Kate, the packs don't accept this and go to war that sparks a caribou stampede that threatens the pack leaders, but Kate and Humphrey's rescue of them convince them to change their minds.

* In ''[[East Is East]]'', it's George's repeated attempts to arrange marriages for his British-born sons that finally causes their [[Culture Clash]] relationship to boil over.

* In ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'', Neytiri is the daughter of the chief and the priestess. She is to be the next priestess and must bond with the next chief, who is supposed to be Tsu'tey. Naturally, when he finds out she slept with Jake Sully, he's not pleased. They do mend fences later, though, and Tsu'tey {{spoiler|names Jake his successor as chief before dying, preserving the tradition}}.

 

== Literature ==

*** Both of those marriages actually [[Happily Ever After|turn out quite well]], actually. A more realistic instance is the web of custom relating to marriage-based alliances among the Bingtown and Rain Wild Traders, who often pressure their children to make advantageous matches. Though no main character is ever involved in one, several are threatened with the possibility on occasion.

* In [[Diana Wynne Jones]]' ''[[Castle in the Air]]'', Prince Justin of Ingary ran away from such a marriage with the Princess Beatrice.

* In the ''[[Liaden Universe]]'' books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, aligned clans Korval and Erob trade off having members of their clans marry each other every other generation or so. Val Con was technically one of those promised to marry someone of Erob. However, he disappears for many years and ends up marrying on his own an [[Action Girl|ex-mercenary]] he meets on another world altogether. As it turned out, her grandmother is a lost member of Clan Erob, who shipwrecked while pregnant and never returned home. It's pointed out that had Val Con known he was doing what he was "supposed" to do, he certainly wouldn't have done it!

* In [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]]'s ''[[Narnia|The Horse and His Boy]]'', [[Rebellious Princess]] Aravis's [[Wicked Stepmother]] had arranged a marriage for her to get rid of her ''and'' win power within Calormen (the fiance was a high-ranked [[Smug Snake]]). She was at first [[Driven to Suicide]], but after her [[Talking Animal|mare]] Hwin talks her out of it, her inner [[Tsundere]] kicks in and she and Hwin run away to Narnia.

** In that same book, Queen Susan the Gentle and her younger brother King Edmund the Just travel to Tashbaan (the capital of a neighboring kingdom) to consider an offer of marriage to Susan from Crown Prince Rabadash. She ultimately doesn't want to marry the Prince, [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|having seen his true colors]], but Rabadash [[Scarpia Ultimatum|plots to force her go through with it anyway]]. They escape back to Narnia, and when Rabadash attempts to seize her by force he ends up failing [[Humiliation Conga|in the most humiliating way possible]].

* [[George R. R. Martin]]'s ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' series includes several, as befits a fantasy series with somewhat higher pretensions to historical accuracy than the average. The first volume devotes much effort to contrasting the marriage of Ned Stark and Catelyn Tully with that of Robert Baratheon and his queen Cersei Lannister; while both were arranged to form political alliances, the former grew to love each other and build one of the least dysfunctional families of the series, while the latter shared a mutually abusive and adulterous relationship. Somewhere in between we find the marriage of Daenerys Targaryen and the barbarian warlord Khal Drogo, which grows from something terrifying if not outright abusive into mutual respect and considerable passion. The series being what it is, however, there's a good chance for all of these to end badly.

** {{spoiler|End badly? I'll say - all three men are dead by the end of the first book...}}

* In ''[[The Alien Series|Alien Tango]]'' Kitty learns Martini is betrothed in one of these, not that he or his arranged bride ever agreed.

* Shows up in ''[[Buddenbrooks]]'', with Jean and Tony's first marriage

* In the ''[[Dragon Jousters]]'' series by [[Mercedes Lackey]], arranged marriage is common among nobles, but required for Altan monarchs—the oldest pair of male twins among the royal clans ''must'' marry the oldest set of female twins among the royal clans. Kaleth and Marit fall deeply in love with each other, but Toreth and Nofret ... well, Toreth states openly that he would never interfere with Nofret seeking pleasure elsewhere, and sees no reason why she would interfere with his pleasures. Part of the Magis' plans to take over Alta involve establishing themselves as a fake royal clan, declaring two of their members twins, and forcing a marriage between them and Marit/Nofret once Toreth is murdered and Kaleth disgraced.

* In ''[[Literature/Emperor|Emperor]]: The Field of Swords'', Julius Caesar has to promise his daughter's hand in marriage to Pompey in order to secure the latter's support in his bid for consul.

* In ''Altraterra'' series by Yvonne Pioch, Anne, a 14-years-old girl, is forced by the Magical Academy to marry Miraz, her brother's teacher. Notably because unlike many other works, which relegate the consequences to [[Fridge Horror]] territory, here it is explicitly stated that the sole purpose of said marriage is to produce a male heir, and as soon as possible. Since Anne has a crush on Miraz, she willingly agrees. {{spoiler|then her brother, who made a [[Face Heel Turn]], intevenes...}}

* In [[Enchantress From the Stars]] Evrek is clearly Elana's designated fiance. The chemistry between them is ... less then stellar.

 

 

== Live Action TV ==

* Vulcans in the ''[[Star Trek]]'' universe have a quite complicated marriage arrangement process. This often involves telepathically bonding the intended spouses in childhood, and breaking one's marriage commitment carries dire consequences (especially when one or both of them are in their ''pon farr'' mating cycle).

** Also in the ''[[Star Trek]]'' universe, Betazoids have arranged marriages; this is explored in the TNG episode "Haven."

* An episode in the first season of ''[[Blackadder]]'' spoofed the "royals using marriages to form alliances" phenomenon. In one scene, the king calls his elder son Harry to inform him of a marriage he wants to arrange for him. Harry then pulls out a scroll and recites a long list of the women he's ''already'' engaged to. This episode also spoofed the young ages at which said marriages took place when, in the end of the episode, Edmund is married to a 9 year old princess. The final episode of the third season involved King George III announcing that he wished his son to marry a rosebush. Not just any rosebush; a specific rosebush.

* ''[[Young Blades]]'': An arranged political marriage between King Louis XIV and the princess of a newly rich kingdom drives the plot of "The Girl from Upper Gaborski." The princess whines and complains about it for the whole episode, leading to this bit of marital advice:

{{quote|'''Queen Anne:''' A state marriage is like a state dinner: you might not like the menu, but it's impolite to show it.

'''Queen Anne:''' Eat your vegetables in public, dear, but have your dessert in private. }}

* Practically all marriages featured on ''[[The Borgias]]'' are based on political alliances (this is [[Truth in Television]] for the time period, of course), with poor Lucrezia being saddled with a [[Domestic Abuser|violent]] [[Marital Rape License|rapist]], and thirteen-year-old Gioffre having to marry [[The Vamp|Sancia of Naples]] - a woman about twice his age, who sees nothing wrong with screwing Gioffre's older brother Juan mere minutes before [[Squick|consummating her marriage with Gioffre]] himself.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* It's the central plot for the two main characters, Miharu and Kazuo, in ''[[Red String]]''. It's also the center of the subplot for Miharu's cousin Karen and her betrothed, Makoto.

** Miharu and Kazuo turns out to be a subversion: Their mothers arranged the marriage in an attempt to [["Well Done, Son" Guy|to give Kazuo an actual life away from his abusive father]].

* [[The Cyantian Chronicles]]: Tira and Caite. Twice.

* [[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]: In Elven society pre-marital courtship consists of an elaborate system of blackmail and counterblackmail. And that's mild compared to what went on a few centuries earlier.

* {{spoiler|Wildy}} of [[DMFA]] is [http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_1169.php due to be married] to one of five possible candidates, they seem relatively okay with this.

* In ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'', Glon has to marry three orc ladies for political reasons when his mother is crowned Queen of Black Mountain. At first, he loathes the idea, but he soon grows to like them. The situation is not quite [[Perfectly Arranged Marriage]]s, but Glon does enjoy their company, turning to them for advice and taking one of his wives along on at least one adventure.

 

== Web Original ==

** Based on a story in [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|the original comics]], in which she actually does go through with it. The husband would later die.

* Another arranged hook-up that actually worked out was between Princess Layla and Nabu on ''[[Winx Club]]''. The circumstances are similar to that in the ''Sleeping Beauty'' example: When Layla sees Nabu for the first time, she doesn't know it's him, and he doesn't tell her that he is either. (Doesn't stop Layla from being p-o'd at him, which [[Ungvichian|makes me wonder]] why they even bothered with the ruse.)

* An episode of ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' had Lucius arranging for Beezy to marry the Weavil Princess in order to get a large amount of treasure from them (which they were willing to sacrifice in order to get rid of her).

 

** It's also the reason infidelity was so tolerated among men. You had to marry the princess to pump out the required legitimate heirs. What you did outside of business hours wasn't your wife's concern. [[Double Standard|On the other hand]], any woman, even one with no enemies, could find herself on the wrong side of an executioner's axe (or could doom her lover to that fate) by having an affair - in some cases, even a merely emotional affair.

*** Though the logic behind that [[Double Standard]] is simple to understand: if the woman had an affair, there could easily be an illegitimate heir, which could have caused problems in theory. In reality, though, an illegitimate heir was often the healthiest thing the queen could provide her husband, and often there was no way to know.

** It's possible that Charles Windsor and Diana Spencer's marriage was this, leading to a real-life example of [[Unwanted Spouse]].

* Arranged marriages were fairly common right up to the 20th century in many western countries and still fairly common in African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries even today.

* The [[wikipedia:Unification Church#Sex and marriage|Unification Church]] ("Moonies"): all the marriages amongst the flock are arranged by Reverend Moon.

** While that may have been true for the First Generation of the Unification Church, the children of those marriages now adhere to the more "traditional arranged marriages" mentioned above, with the matching being done by the parents. Interestingly, there's a whole sort of ideology behind it, where the parents should marry their children for lifelong "true" love. This means that they look for someone who is [[Opposites Attract|opposite of, and therefore complements their child]]. The hope is that they will personally grow into a better person, ''and'' grow in love. After doing a sort of courtship, the couple can decide whether they fit. Personal experience says it seems to work pretty well, although it helps that a [[Wide-Eyed Idealist|lot of them really]] [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|believe in it]]. Ironically, there is still a large percentage that would rather be married by the Reverend Moon, and some who do not trust their parents/church enough to do either.]

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Romance Novel Plots]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]