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Honorable Marriage Proposal: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
A man who ''isn't'' [[Shotgun Wedding|the father of the child]] proposes to a pregnant woman in order to preserve her honour in a society with strong views on extramarital sex. Whether this is a suitable basis for a [[Happily Married|happy marriage]] largely depends on the work's [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|idealism]].
If it happens nowadays, the guy either has a ''very'' strict [[Honour Before Reason|sense of duty]] or is just in love with the woman and making excuses. Also, expect his actions [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished|to be criticised]] for implying that a single mother [[Values Dissonance|can't raise a baby alone.]]
[[Sister Trope]] to [[Shotgun Wedding]], when the ''father'' is pressured into "doing the honorable thing".
{{examples|Examples: }}
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* In [[Emile Zola]]'s book ''La Curee'' (''The Kill''), Aristide Saccard uses this ploy to marry a rich girl.
* In the novel ''The Lady and the Unicorn'', by Tracy Chevalier (author of ''[[Girl with a Pearl Earring]]''), set in the late Middle Ages, Philip marries Aleinor after she gets pregnant from another guy, to help her escape from an [[Arranged Marriage]] to yet ''another'' man.
* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire|A Storm of Swords]]'' has Robb Stark proposing marriage to Jeyne Westerling after he has sex with her. He has his reasons, as he's just as honorable as his dad but doesn't want to produce a bastard like he did. Unfortunately, he also promised to marry another lord's daughter, so that... doesn't go well.
* In ''My Year of Meats'', by Ruth L. Ozeki, when Jane finds out her ex got her pregnant, one of her coworkers offers to marry her. Naturally, the fact they're also quite good friends isn't enough to make her accept.
* In ''The Masterharper of [[Pern]]'', which explains Masterharper Robinton's [[Backstory]], it's revealed that {{spoiler|the simple-minded workman of Harper Hall, Caro, is actually Robinton's son by the headwoman Silvina}}. When {{spoiler|Silvina}} tells Robinton that she's pregnant, he offers her marriage. She refuses because she knows he's still in love with Kasia, his dead wife.
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* ''[[Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip]]'': Danny proposes to Jordan while she's giving birth. He first asked her out shortly after discovering she was pregnant, and she was initially worried that this trope was the sole reason for it.
* In ''[[A Woman Of Substance]]'', Blackie tells Emma to list him as the father of her child on the birth certificate when she refuses to name the real father, so the child will not have the shame of having the father listed as unknown.
* ''[[Friends]]'': Joey proposes to Rachel shortly after she has Ross's baby... ''by accident'' (he happens to be down on one knee when he picks up the ring Ross had bought for the same purpose).
** Joey proposed to Phoebe when everyone thought that she was the one that was pregnant (not to "preserve her honour", but because it's tough to be a single mother). Once they find out it's really Rachel, he promptly asks the ring back from Phoebe so he could propose to Rachel. Made funnier by the fact that Phoebe gleefully accepted Joey's proposal, then seems upset when Joey says he needs the ring back.
* In ''[[The Secret Life of the American Teenager]]'', Ben, convinced that he is in love, proposes to Amy shortly after finding out she's pregnant with Ricky's baby. Since they're 15 and have only been dating a few weeks at that point, their parents don't approve. In fact, no one thinks that Amy ''needs'' to be married just because she's pregnant. None of these things stop Amy and Ben from secretly getting married. But since it's with fake IDs, the marriage is invalid and {{spoiler|they end up breaking up later anyway}}.
* In ''[[Frasier]]'' Niles (somewhat drunkenly) proposes to Daphne after an [[
* In ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', after Robin sarcastically says she's pregnant after Ted asks why she was throwing up, he swears that he'll marry her and help her raise the kid -- though he quickly stipulates that it'll have to be "one of ''those'' marriages", where they date other people (this was long after Ted and Robin broke up).
* Horshack in ''[[Welcome Back, Kotter]]'' proposes to Rosalie Totsie after she claims to be pregnant by one of the Sweathogs. She's lying to trick them into taking back rumors about her being "easy," but after the reveal, [[Heartwarming Moment|she thanks Arnold for offering to do the right thing and asks him out on a date]].
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== Religion ==
* The story of the Nativity is not strictly related, but Joseph hesitated to wed Mary because she was pregnant and he knew darn well it wasn't his. Not wanting to humiliate her, he planned to quietly cancel their engagement. An angel from Heaven had to step in and tell him everything was okay.
* [[The Bible|King David]] tried to pass his marriage to Bathsheba off as one of these (or even as just a regular marriage), but he actually was trying to cover up the fact that he got her pregnant even though she was already married...and [[Uriah Gambit|killed her husband]] to facilitate the cover-up.
== [[Video Games]] ==
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