Exiled to the Couch/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A woman gets mad at her husband or boyfriend and won't share her bed with him...leaving him to sleep on The Couch.

  • Played Straight: Alice and Bob have an argument. Gilligan Cut to Bob lying on the couch with pillows, a blanket, and no Alice.
  • Exaggerated:
    • Alice punishes Bob by making him sleep on the couch every night.
    • Bob is not only kicked out of the bed, but kicked out of the house or apartment, leaving him to sleep in the doghouse (which not even the dog will let him do) or a city bus station (which is being co-opted by hobos, homeless hookers, and other city riffraff).
  • Inverted/Gender Flipped: Alice is the one who ends up sleeping on the couch.
  • Justified:
    • Bob did something so heinous that Alice doesn't want to sleep with him until he realizes what he did wrong (or until she cools off).
    • Alice is sick with a bad cold or the flu, and doesn't want Bob to catch it.
    • Alice and Bob are Orthodox Jewish and aren't allowed to sleep together when Alice is on her period.
    • Bob's sleeping on the couch every night is one of the signs that he and Alice's relationship has hit the skids (or has already ended).
    • Bob has a bad sleeping habit (he snores like a chainsaw or masturbates right next to her), and it's gotten to be too much for Alice.
  • Subverted: Bob apologizes, and Alice lets him back into bed...
  • Double Subverted:
    • ...but then another argument ensues, and Bob is back on the couch (or worse, in the bathtub!)
    • ...but Alice still won't talk to Bob and has her back turned to him when he tries to talk to her.
  • Deconstructed: While on the sofa, Bob begins realizing how his relationship with Alice is a mistake, so he decides to cheat on her (or break off the relationship permanently).
  • Reconstructed: Alice realizes that she's been too hard on Bob and decides to sleep on the couch with him.
  • Parodied:
    • Bob puts his dresser, nightstand, alarm clock, etc. out in the living room.
    • Bob is forced to sleep on the couch even though they have a guest room that hasn't been touched in years.
  • Averted: Alice doesn't banish Bob to the couch when he does something wrong.
  • Enforced: Rule of Funny for a Dom Com
  • Invoked: Bob and Alice have an argument before bed.
  • Defied: Alice (or Bob) decides a more constructive problem-solving method, and the disagreement is resolved peacefully.
  • Discussed: "I don't want to argue with you anymore. Every time we do, I always end up sleeping in the living room!"
  • Conversed: "You really screwed up this time, Bob. If I were you, I'd just take the bedding to the couch to save your wife the trouble."
  • Played For Laughs: Almost always is.
  • Played For Drama: Alice and Bob's relationship has hit the skids and Bob decides it's just best to sleep single rather than deal with his bitch of a wife or girlfriend.

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