History Main / PerfectlyArrangedMarriage

** This could also be due to different overall views of the arranged marriage - as in "I'm marrying him/her because it's good for my family/me, not out of love... I can work with that." As opposed to the Western view of "I love him/her so much!"...and SmashCut to 5 years later "I HATE YOU!"

[[folder:Religion]]
* One of TheOldestOnesInTheBook: TheBible describes the marriage between Isaac and Rebekah (arranged by his father, and found by a ''servant'') like this:
--> "So she became his wife, and he loved her".
[[/folder]]

* Partially, King Juan Carlos I of Spain and his wife Sofia of Greece and Denmark. ''Partially'', because they met during a cruise to the Greek Islands that was specially arranged by Sophia's parents Paul and Frederika (the then-Royal Couple of Greece), in hopes that their daughter would find a nice RoyalBlood boyfriend while not imposing any specific choices on her. Of course, she did find and get her guy: they've been married for almost ''fifty'' years.

* Partially, King Juan Carlos I of Spain and his wife Sophia of Greece and Denmark. ''Partially'', because they met during a cruise to the Greek Islands that was specially arranged by Sophia's parents Paul and Frederika (the then-Royal Couple of Greece), in hopes that their daughter would find a nice RoyalBlood boyfriend while not imposing any specific choices on her. Of course, she did find and get her guy: they've been married for almost ''fifty'' years.

** And he does, so the trope is ultimately played straight since they get married in the end.

* ''TheSwanPrincess'' has a version of this. Prince Derek and Princess Odette, the heirs of two neighboring kingdoms, are betrothed to each other by her widowed father and his widowed mother, who are good friends and want to unite their realms. The arrangement annoys them because they're kids and hate each other. Then one day they meet each other after puberty, and it's LoveAtFirstSight! Derek demands that the wedding be arranged, but when Odette asks him why, he replies that she's beautiful...and when she asks "What else?" he replies, "What else is there?" Odette promptly refuses to marry him until he is able to find a reason he loves her besides her looks.

* Partially, King Juan Carlos I of Spain and his wife Sophia of Greece and Denmark. ''Partially'', because they met during a cruise to the Greek Islands that was specially arranged by Sophia's parents Paul and Frederika (the then-Royal Couple of Greece), in hopes that their daughter would find a nice RoyalBlood boyfriend while not imposing any specific choices on her. Of course, she did find and get her guy: they've ben married for almost ''fifty'' years.

* The marriage between William III and Mary II didn't start out very good; Mary cried through their wedding, William was cold and neglectful towards her, and had an affair with one of her ladies-in-waiting. However, the relations between them improved very much, and when Mary died young of smallpox, William was devastated, saying that "from being the happiest" he was "now going to be the miserablest creature on earth".

* [[{{Fanon}} Possibly]] Zuko and Mai from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender,'' given the fact that Zuko's parents had an arranged marriage and that sort of thing seems to be common in the Avatarverse. One semi-popular theory is that they were betrothed as kids, but the arrangement was broken when Zuko was banished. When Zuko comes back to the Fire Nation, they carry on as boyfriend and girlfriend anyway, and the finale strongly implies that they will get married.

* The movie ''Lady Jane''.

* ''Swan Princess'' has a version of this. The prince and princess of two kingdoms are betrothed to each other, which just annoys them because they're kids and hate each other. Then one day they meet each other after puberty, and Oh God, Love At First Sight! The wedding is tomorrow. Odette calls the prince out on that too. She refuses to marry him until he is able to find a reason he loves her besides her looks.

* The Krishnans, RubberForeheadAliens from L. Sprague de Camp's ''Vaigens Interplanetarias'' series practice arranged marriage, a fact that upsets the occasional human that falls in love with one. However, in nearly all cases the Krishnans themselves are totally unbothered by arranged marriage, as they consider marriage to be an important lifetime social and financial arrangement too important to be dictated by something as fickle and ephemeral as love. Several characters even express horror of the very idea of marrying for love.

* On {{Angel}}: Not exactly a marriage, but Cordelia's objections to her required ritual "com-shuk" with the "Groosalug" get a lot less strenuous once she gets a good look at him, and even less so once they start to talk. A very sweet (if eventually doomed) relationship results.

* The Game of Love and Chance (Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard) by Marivaux.Silvia and Dorante are engaged without know each other.They disguise as servants,met and fall in love, without know the other is the promisedone.

* ''{{Garanos}}'': The main character had one of these, but her fiancee got kidnapped, and her current quest is to find him again.

* [[{{Fanon}} Possibly]] Zuko and Mai from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender,'' given the fact that Zuko's parents had an arranged marriage and that sort of thing seems to be common in the Avatarverse. One semi-popular theory is that they were betrothed as kids, but the arrangement was broken when Zuko was banished. When Zuko comes back to the Fire Nation, they carry on as boyfriend and girlfriend anyway.

* Historically, the marriage of Joanna "the Mad" of Castile (daughter of the famous ''Reyes Catolicos'' Ferdinand and Isabella) to Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy, turned out this way...too much. The two of them literally fell in love at first sight (Philip the Handsome was...well...[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin handsome]], and Joanna herself was by all accounts a stunning redhead), begging to have the marriage formalized the day they met so they could [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean get it on]] right away; they had six children (including Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, for those who care). Eventually, things happened, [[{{Yandere}} Joanna started to get jealous]], and eventually the jealousy had some kind of party in her head with a familial disposition towards insanity (in fact, it was something of a minor miracle that both of her parents were sound of mind, given that both were members of the ridiculously-inbred House of Trastamara). Hence the epithet "the Mad"--her father Ferdinand had to become Regent of Castile upon his daughter's ascension instead of ruling jointly until she inherited Aragon upon his death.

* According to history, the marriage between [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_of_Hungary#Early_life_and_marriage Princess Elizabeth of Hungary and Ludwig IV of Thuringia]] was this. It certainly helped that she went to live with his family when they were both children and got to befriend each other first, thus making them also {{Victorious Childhood Friend}}s.

** King Henry III was madly in love with his wife, Eleanor of Provence. Unusually for a medieval monarch, he never took a mistress. Their son Edward I also had two very happy marriages.
** The only soft spot Edward I was known to have seems to have been for his first wife, Leonor (Eleanor) of Castile. They married as teenagers and had a long and happy marriage, with many children. When she died, he was heartbroken and had the Charing (chere reine, French for "beloved queen") erected in her honor. Edward I's second marriage to the much-younger Marguerite of France seems to have been a great success, as well. Like his father, Edward I was never known to have taken a mistress.

* The marriage between William III and Mary II didn't start out very good; Mary cried through their wedding, William was cold an neglectful towards her, and had an affair with one of her ladies-in-waiting. However, the relations between them improved very much, and when Mary died young of smallpox, William was devastated, saying that "from being the happiest" he was "now going to be the miserablest creature on earth".

* In Tom Robbins' ''Jitterbug Perfume'', Kudra's first husband turns out to be awesomer than expected [[spoiler: and then promptly dies]].

* King George V - great-grandfather to HMTheQueen - married his brother Albert's fiancee Mary of Teck when Albert died of pneumonia. This marriage of convenience became a love match and spawned one of England's most universally beloved monarchies - just about the only monarch seriously complained about from this dynasty is the rather selfish Edward VIII.

* King George V - grandfather to HMTheQueen - married his brother Albert's fiancee Mary of Teck when Albert died of pneumonia. This marriage of convenience became a love match and spawned one of England's most universally beloved monarchies - just about the only monarch seriously complained about from this dynasty is the rather selfish Edward VIII.

* {{Pompey the Great}} of ancient Rome had a habit of marrying for purely political reasons and then falling head-over-heels in love with his wife. Some guys are just romantics. He and his fourth wife, Julia (daughter of [[GaiusJuliusCaesar Julius Caesar]] were especially devoted to each other, though he was over twenty years older than her.

* Pompey the Great of ancient Rome had a habit of marrying for purely political reasons and then falling head-over-heels in love with his wife. Some guys are just romantics.

* Eddard "Ned" Stark and Catelyn Tully from A Song of Ice and Fire