Married to the Job: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

'''Leo:''' It is more important than my marriage, right now. These few years while I'm doing this, yes, it's more important than my marriage.|''[[The West Wing]]''}}

 

** Harvey Dent in ''[[The Long Halloween]]'' struggles with his marriage because of the many demands of his job as District Attorney, in addition to his own mental problems. At the end, it's revealed that his wife Gilda {{spoiler|may have been the serial killer who has been killing off members of the mob}} in order to help Harvey so that he "wouldn't have to work so much" and they could be together.

* It was quite a staple in Silver Age superhero comics, used as an excuse to delay an otherwise inevitable progression of a romance where secret-identity issues did not apply, such as within a team of superheroes. Take this example from ''[[X-Men]]'' #9 (1965): Marvel Girl telekinetically holds ice-cubes to Cyclops' bruised head and thinks:

* In ''[[Dykes to Watch Out For]]'', Sydney, whilst researching polyamory, has the epiphany that she ''is'' in a polyamorous relationship already- her work is her primary relationship, while Mo is 'the other woman'. This also happens with Clarice and Toni, with Clarice's job as a lawyer almost immediately put a strain on the relationship.

* In ''[[Watchmen]]'', this leads to conflict between Rorschach's psychologist and the psychologist's wife, considering the more [[Squick|Squicky]] aspects of Rorschach's backstory began to influence the shrink too.

* ''[[Discworld]]'': Sam Vimes a text book example. He's constantly running off on his wife Lady Sybil, often in the middle of meals. In ''[[Discworld/The Fifth Elephant|The Fifth Elephant]]'' he's so preoccupied with the central mystery it takes an entire book before he realizes that {{spoiler|Sybil's pregnant}}.

** Also [[Inverted Trope|inverted]] in the same book, when Sybil accidentally discovers the location of a secret room in the embassy while measuring the floors for carpets:

'''Sybil:''' Just stop thinking like a husband and start listening like a copper, will you? }}

** Vimes does his best to defy this trope in ''[[Discworld/Thud|Thud]]!'' where he makes it his duty to return home in time to read "Where's My Cow?" to his son, no matter what else job-related might occupy his attention at the time.

* Captain Kirk in ''[[Star Trek]]'' is often said to be "married" to the Enterprise.

** Hilariously parodied in ''[[Futurama]]'' where Shatner is forced to read from a bad fan script:

* In the first season of ''[[24|Twenty Four]]'' it was mentioned that Jack and Terri Bauer's marriage was strained because Jack Bauer spent too much time at work and would often spend months at a time away from home.

** And in season 7, President Taylor put her duty to her country over her family and {{spoiler|sent her daughter to prison for ordering a hit on Jonas Hodges}}, which was a direct cause of {{spoiler|her subsequent divorce from her husband}}.

* Mac Taylor on "[[CSI: NY]]" became this after his wife died on 9/11. It's often extremely difficult for his colleagues to drag him away for some actual sleep.

* ''[[The Closer]]'': Fairly common amongst Major Crimes officers. Provenza and Pope both have had multiple divorces. Brenda has had one, and her devotion to the job strains her relationship with her boyfriend/fiancé/husband over the course of the series.

'''Pope''': That...I understand. }}

* On ''[[MASH|M* A* S* H]]'' Hawkeye's complete devotion to his career as a doctor is the reason given for his inability to make relationships last. He finds it easier to remain single and sleep with a different [[Girl of the Week]] each ep (there are hints that this was the case even before he was drafted into the army).

** In contrast Danny seems to be happily married even though he tends to get obsessive about some of his cases.

* In the first season, [[House (TV series)|House]]'s "marriage" is pointed out by a patient, who is himself "married" to his job as a musician.

* Captain Blackadder from ''[[Blackadder Goes Forth]]''. He's married to the army. The book of King's regulations is his Mistress. Possibly with the Harrods lingerie catalogue discreetly tucked between the pages.

* Detective Beckett on ''[[Castle]]'' gets obsessive about her job, although she does find time for a life outside of it. This becomes a form of [[Character Development]] thanks to the fact that earlier seasons see her frequently depicted as intensely focussed on her job (although less-than-pleased about it) and later seasons see her come out of her shell a bit more. It's hinted that it's a result of hanging around with Castle.

== Theater ==

* In ''[[Rent]]'' Roger claims that Mark has deliberately married his job, and Mark...doesn't really deny it. He does offer a defense, though: [[Survivor Guilt]], stemming from being one of the few of his circle of friends without HIV/AIDS. From the song "Goodbye, Love":

'''Mark:''' Perhaps it's because I'm the one of us to survive. }}

* In ''[[Lady in the Dark]]'', Charley accuses Liza of being married to her desk.

* ''[[Persona 4]]'' deconstructs this with the Protagonist's uncle, [[Da Chief|Ryotaro Dojima]]. While he doesn't have a wife {{spoiler|anymore}}, he ''does'' have a young daughter, and because he spends so much time at work because of the serial murder case {{spoiler|along with trying to find the guy who ran over his wife}}, he worries that he doesn't know how to raise Nanako properly. And to be fair, {{spoiler|[[Idiot Ball|he's not]] [[What an Idiot!|entirely wrong]].}}

* One of the excuses Max uses in ''[[The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police|Sam & Max]]'' to turn down Mama Bosco.

'''Sam:''' They had the ceremony in Canada because it's legal there. }}

* Keldorn from ''[[Baldur's Gate|Baldurs Gate]]'' ''2'' is utterly dedicated to his duties as a Paladin of the Order of the Radiant Heart. So much so that he spends months at a time away from his family, to the point that his [[Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder|wife seeks comfort in the arms of another man]]. Even his own ''daughters'' are distant with him and prefer their mother's new paramour who at least spends time with them. His Personal Quest determines how he deals with this unhappy situation.

* Cave Johnson in ''[[Portal 2]]'' mentions that his aide Caroline is "married to science." {{spoiler|1=It's this workaholic tendency that allows GLaDOS to withstand the euphoric reaction to successful testing, noted otherwise to be "unbearable".}}

* Carl Schiff, a psychopath and boss fight in ''[[Dead Rising 2]]'', is absolutely devoted to finishing his routes. Not even a mall full of zombies and serial killers will stop him, though they do manage to make him a few minutes late. This makes him extremely upset, and when he finds out the man who he thinks is behind the outbreak (you), he pulls out s shotgun and starts throwing bombs.

* Knuckles from ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (video game)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' has complained about his boring life guarding the Master Emerald, but he takes his duty extremely seriously.

* Aveline from ''[[Dragon Age II]]''--at first, anyway. After her husband Wesley dies, she throws herself into her job as guardswoman (and later Guard Captain) so fully that, when she ''does'' end up developing feelings for another man (Guardsman Donnic), she has no clue what to do. Her personal sidequest involves [[Match Maker Quest|attempting to get them together despite Aveline's lack of romantic skills]]. To say that Hawke has his/her job cut out for him/her is an understatement.