Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
214,662
edits
Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (Mass update links) |
No edit summary |
||
| (5 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
{{quote|''One of them is dark and poor
''One fair with lots of money
''I don't know which one to choose
''The flower or the honey''
|'''[[Celtic Woman]]''', "At the Ceili"}}
|Spin Doctors, "Two Princes"}}
One of the most common complications in the classic [[Love Triangle]] scenario. Two men (in most cases they're
▲{{quote|''Marry him, or marry me<br />
▲''I'm the one who loves you baby, can't you see<br />
▲''I ain't got no future or family tree<br />
▲''But I know what a prince and lover ought to be''|Spin Doctors, "Two Princes"}}
▲One of the most common complications in the classic [[Love Triangle]] scenario. Two men (in most cases they're men -- probably has something to do with a woman needing a man to "provide" for her) are vying for your affection. Who's the right one? It's hard to tell, but there's a good chance that one of them is considerably wealthier than the other, and he can provide security, glamour and the good life, while the other (who has a good chance of being an impoverished artist) can give none of the same. What are you gonna do?
Most of the time, it's going to be "go with the poor one," and the story will carry an [[Aesop]] that true love is worth more than material wealth. This makes sense if the rich suitor is a bad person or the woman is just not in love with him as she is with the poor person. When done poorly, however, the rich one often ends up as the [[Designated Villain]]. This trope overlaps considerably with [[Wrong Guy First]] and [[Disposable Fiance]], but keep in mind that the rich suitor is not ''necessarily'' wrong, first or particularly disposable.
If the suitors are also a [[Betty and Veronica]] pair, the dynamic will typically be either "[[Single Woman Seeks Good Man|poor but nice]] suitor vs. [[Rich Bitch|rich but haughty]] suitor" or "[[All Girls Want Bad Boys|poor but exciting]] suitor vs. [[Romantic Runner-Up|rich but boring]] suitor", being obviously slanted toward the poor suitor in both cases. So much, in fact, that having the rich suitor win or even be a decent, likeable person is considered by many as a ''subversion'' of this
Compare [[Gold Digger]], [[Meal Ticket]].
{{examples}}
== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Maison Ikkoku]]'': Yusaku Godai is the poor college student, Shun Mitaka is the rich guy who only coaches tennis as a hobby. Kyoko Otonashi spent six years choosing between them, thanks to a rash of [[Status Quo Is God]]. {{spoiler|She chooses the Poor Suitor. The Rich one finds [[The Ojou|a girlfriend of his own]] and they're happy together, tho.}}
* ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'': Miaka Yuuki is the Suzaku no Miko and main
** Subverted in {{spoiler|Hotohori's character novel and OAV, ''Suzaku Hi Den''. His future wife and empress Houki is in the middle of the [[Love Triangle]]; Hotohori is the rich suitor, while his long-lost brother Tendou Shu is the poor suitor. This time, Hotohori wins. And Shu actually ''dies''... in Houki and Hoto's arms.}}
* With a little bit of [[Shipping Goggles]] applied, ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' can be seen as having this in the form of aristocratic [[Kuudere|Austria]] and rough-and-tumble [[Hot-Blooded|Prussia]] both being interested in [[Hot Amazon|Hungary]]. Atypically, Austria is [[Official Couple|canonly]] the [[Victorious Childhood Friend|victorious one]], but the fanworks that emphasize this trope the most are the ones that believe Hungary would be better off with the "more fun and passionate" [[Unlucky Childhood Friend|Prussia.]] And they often apply [[Die for Our Ship]] to Austria to "justify" why Hungary would dump him.
Line 46 ⟶ 45:
* Johnny and Neil in ''[[Dirty Dancing]].'' Provided, it doesn't hurt that Johnny is incredibly attractive and an extremely good dancer, whereas Neil is more or less a [[Jerkass]] loser.
* ''[[A Knight's Tale]]'': Jocelyn must choose between Count Ademar, the nobleman, and William, the squire disguised as a knight (and only a country knight of minor nobility at that, although his money situation improves as he keeps winning tournaments). Not a straight example because she thought they were both noble, but she was still willing to love William after she found out his true heritage.
* ''[[Moulin Rouge]]'': Satine must choose between the rich Duke ([[Only One Name|that's his only name]]) and the young bohemian playwright
* ''[[Pretty in Pink]]'': Impoverished young Andie must choose between rich boy Blane and poor boy Duckie.
* ''[[Reality Bites]]'': Lelaina must choose between successful businessman Michael and slacker/philosopher/asshole Troy.
Line 63 ⟶ 62:
* Subverted in ''[[The Notebook]]'' as the rich guy is decent and very lovely.
* Played with in ''[[Just Friends (film)|Just Friends]]'' in which Jamie must choose between her former high school best friend who is now a [[Jerkass]], successful [[Casanova]] with a glamorous job in the music intustry and another former friend who has grown up into a nice, down to earth small town paramedic. {{spoiler|Except in turns out the [[Jerkass]] Rich Suitor is really a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] while the supposedly nice Poor Suitor is a [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]] deliberately looking to break her heart for not noticing his crush on her in high school}}.
* [[Gender
* Given a bit of a twist in ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', where Jasmine falls in love with "street rat" Aladdin and doesn't much care for this Prince Ali who comes parading down the streets with an ostentatious display of wealth and possessions. The twist being, of course, that [[Two-Person Love Triangle|"Ali" is]] [[Loves My Alter Ego|actually Aladdin]] who's been turned into a prince by Genie. Jasmine only begins warming up to him when she figures this out and he begins acting more like himself. And it was not like she knew she had a choice between the "two of them", since [[Big Bad|Jafar]] lied to her, claiming Aladdin was executed.
* [[The Flintstones In Viva Rock Vegas]]: Casino owner Chip Rockfeller and quarry employee Fred Flintstone are rivals for Wilma's affections. The movie twists the trope by having Chip ''needing'' to marry Wilma, who's from a rather affluent family as well, to be able to pay his debts and stay wealthy.
Line 71 ⟶ 70:
== Literature ==
* "[http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-choice/ The Choice]" by Dorothy Parker is a poem about a woman who has a choice between a man who offers her lands and fine things and a man who charms her with his singing alone. She chooses the latter without a second
* In the book ''[[Holes]]'', during Stanley Yelnats' great-great-grandfather's story, Elya (the grandpa) is the poor one and he's up against a fat slob rich guy [[Old Man Marrying a Child|who's significantly older]]. In a subversion, Elya loses and leaves the country for America.
** He actually doesn't lose. When he and the other guy both manage to bring an identical [[Bride Price]], the girl's father decides to just let her choose which man she wants to marry. However, when she can't decide, it suddenly hits Elya that she doesn't care about him ''at all'' and he surrenders in depression.
** Even Elya faces this choice, sort of. In the old country, the girl he pursued was richer than he was but dumb as a brick. The one he ended up marrying in America, however, was a smart and capable farm girl.
* Deconstructed in James Thurber's fairy-tale parody short story "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140922055309/http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/
* In ''[[Many Waters]]'', a sequel to ''[[A Wrinkle in Time]],'' by [[Madeleine L'Engle]], Yalith is pursued both by one of the nephilim, a powerful angelic being who promises her splendor and protection from the oncoming flood, and Sandy and Dennys, the twins from another time, who can't exactly promise a way to save her. However, {{spoiler|she [[Take a Third Option|Takes a Third Option]] when she trusts in the seraphim, [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|who takes her away to be with God.]]}}
* In ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'', the backstory had Daisy being torn between common soldier Jay who's away at war and wealthy [[Jerk Jock]] Tom. She chose Tom, but it's implied that she regretted not waiting for Jay and loved him more than she loved Tom. And then this trope is deconstructed every which way when Jay returns even richer than Tom and begins successfully courting Daisy, only for Daisy to be ultimately too weak-willed and shallow to choose him over Tom and {{spoiler|Jay to get shot for trying to cover up a death Daisy accidentally caused}}.
Line 97 ⟶ 96:
* Early episodes of ''[[The OC]]'' had this in the form of Ryan (poor) vs Luke (rich) competing for Marissa's love.
* The first season of the [[Reality TV]] dating show ''Average Joe'' had a plain-looking guy who owned his own company and a good-looking guy who wasn't even out of school yet as the final two choices for the girl, and she ultimately chose the latter. In a twist, her choice of the "poor suitor" was actually ''blasted'' by most viewers who felt that she chose him solely because he was better-looking than the "average Joe".
* Subverted in ''[[Frasier]]'': Niles leaves rich plastic surgeon Mel Karnofski for poor health care worker Daphne Moon, but he's already a wealthy psychiatrist so it was more about social status than wealth. Daphne herself leaves rich lawyer Donny for the equally-rich
* In ''[[Diary of a Mad Black Woman]]'', Helen has to choose between her abusive but wealthy ex-husband Charles, who is disabled by the end of the story, and Orlando, a poor factory worker. {{spoiler|At first she chooses her husband, because he is disabled, but then decides not to and chooses Orlando}}.
* ''[[Revenge (TV series)|Revenge]]'' has the main character Emily Thorne being pursued by the wealthy Daniel Grayson and the comparatively poor Jack Porter. Though in something of a twist for this trope, while Daniel is wealthy by any objective standards, Emily is even more so and could probably equal Daniel's entire net worth with the money she loses in her couch cushions.
| |||