History Main / StarterMarriage

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-->-- ''Literature/{{Exodus|Uris}}'' by Creator/LeonUris

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': This is a RunningGag for Ross. The show starts with Ross confirming he and his wife Carol are now divorced after she came out as a lesbian. They were married for four years. However, she ''is'' pregnant at the time, and they go on to co-parent their son and stay in each other's lives as AmiableExes, making it a DownplayedTrope. Ross then marries Emily in a FourthDateMarriage, and she divorces him for accidentally saying Rachel's name at the altar. Eventually, Ross and Rachel marry -- because they were very drunk, in Vegas, and thought it would be funny. Once sober, they then divorce. At this point, the gang agree that Ross's "thing" is to be "the guy that gets divorced".

Reasons for the divorce vary: one or both of them [[InLoveWithLove lacked maturity to sustain a long-term relationship]], AliceAndBob had radically different goals and ideals in life, [[CharacterFlawIndex flaws (big or small)]] that they overlooked are coming to light, they married for the wrong reasons and/or [[FourthDateMarriage too early.]] Whatever the reason(s) given, generally the marriage lasts less than five years and doesn't produce any children. It is also always the first marriage for at least one spouse very often both, and may be followed by a more stable long-term marriage for one or both parties.

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': This is a RunningGag for Ross. The show starts with Ross confirming he and his wife Carol are now divorced after she came out of the closet. They were married for four years. Subverted when they discover they're pregnant, losing one of the key requirements of a starter marriage. He then marries Emily in a FourthDateMarriage, and she divorces him for accidentally saying Rachel's name at the altar. Eventually, Ross and Rachel marry - because they were very drunk, in Vegas, and thought it would be funny. Once sober, they then divorce. At this point, the gang agree that Ross's "thing" is to be "the guy that gets divorced".

* “[[Music/TheStrangerAlbum Scenes from an Italian Restaurant]]” by Music/BillyJoel tells “The Ballad of Brenda and Eddy,” HighSchoolSweethearts who get married and divorced, all within the summer of '75.

--->'''Joanne:''' I was too young, but I was old enough to know where I was living, and I had no intention of leaving New York.

* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': PlayedForDrama. In a flashback in Flash #197, it was revealed that [[Characters/TheFlashHunterZolomon Hunter Zolomon]] had only been married to his college sweetheart Ashley for a few months after they graduated college together and joined the FBI before Hunter's tragic mistake that cost the life of his father in law, causing Ashley to divorce him and him being kicked out of the FBI. Hunter still very much loves Ashley but knows it's unlikely she'll forgive him; he accepts the divorce and tries to move on with his life. Later, when Ashley learns that Hunter transformed into supervillain Zoom, she left the FBI to come to Keystone City to take over his former spot as the local metahuman profiler to help reform him—showing that she still loves him and regrets leaving him. Tragically it's implied that, had that misjudgment on Hunter's part that cost the life of his father in law never happened, Hunter and Ashley would have had a long and lasting marriage.

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* “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” by Music/BillyJoel tells “The Ballad of Brenda and Eddy,” HighSchoolSweethearts who get married and divorced, all within the summer of '75.

%% Please see thread to discuss a new image.

AliceAndBob got together, they got engaged, and they got married. Everyone expects that they'll live HappilyEverAfter and [[GrowOldWithMe grow old together]]. Then the news is broken that AliceAndBob are getting a divorce, even though they haven't even been married 5 years. What happened?

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/starter_marriage.jpg]]

* In ''ComicBook/{{Persepolis}}'' Marjane and her boyfriend Reza feel stifled from having to hide their relationship due to scrutiny from the Iranian police, so decide to marry. They discover however they don't have much in common, and their marriage means she has to stay in Iran and deal with oppression from the fundamentalist government. Their eventual divorce coincides with Marji's decision to finally leave Iran for good. Fortunately, her family was never on board with the marriage in the first place for this exact reason and it's revealed her [[CoolOldLady grandma]] she has been married ''thrice''.

* Marina Gregg's first husband [[spoiler: Arthur Babcock]] in the Literature/MissMarple novel, ''Literature/TheMirrorCrackdFromSideToSide.'' He was a realtor who just wasn't prepared to keep up with the lifestyle of a Hollywood star.

* In the ''Literature/AdrianMole'' series, Adrian's love interest Pandora deliberately has one of these; it's a marriage of convenience, since her husband is gay, and she believes that first marriages should "be got over with quickly."

* ''Series/Babylon5'': The relationship between Captain Sheridan and [[spoiler: Captain Lochley]]. As she puts it, "We met, fell crazy in love, got married, realized it was a huge mistake, fell crazy ''out'' of love, and divorced." It's implied the entire process took no more than a couple of months.

->''"Mark and Ellen had gotten married a little after Tom and Kitty. It was a mistake from the first day. Two nice people not made for each other. ... Then it broke wide open and they were divorced. Mark was thankful there had been no children."''
-->-- ''Film/{{Exodus}}'' (from the [[TheFilmOfTheBook original novel]])

* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': PlayedForDrama. In a flashback in Flash #197, it was revealed that Hunter Zolomon had only been married to his college sweetheart Ashley for a few months after they graduated college together and joined the FBI before Hunter's tragic mistake that cost the life of his father in law, causing Ashley to divorce him and him being kicked out of the FBI. Hunter still very much loves Ashley but knows it's unlikely she'll forgive him; he accepts the divorce and tries to move on with his life. Later, when Ashley learns that Hunter transformed into supervillain Zoom, she left the FBI to come to Keystone City to take over his former spot as the local metahuman profiler to help reform him—showing that she still loves him and regrets leaving him. Tragically it's implied that, had that misjudgment on Hunter's part that cost the life of his father in law never happened, Hunter and Ashley would have had a long and lasting marriage.

->''"Mark and Ellen had gotten married a little after Tom and Kitty. It was a mistake from the first day. Two nice people not made for each other. Kitty Fremont's quiet and gentle wisdom held Mark and Ellen together...long after time had run out. Then it broke wide open and they were divorced. Mark was thankful there had been no children."''

* In ''ComicBook/{{Persepolis}}'' Marjane and her boyfriend Reza feel stifled from having to hide their relationship due to scrutiny from the Iranian police, so decide to marry. They discover however they don't have much in common, and their marriage means she has to stay in Iran and deal with oppression from the fundamentalist government. Their eventual divorce coincides with Marji's decision to finally leave Iran for good. Fortunately, her family was never on board with the marriage in the first place for this exact reason and it's revealed her [[CoolOldLady grandma]] she has been married ''thrice''.
-->'''Grandma:''' The first marriage is practice for the second.

* Wombats in ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'' have marriage forms that are friendly towards these types of relationships. Marriage contracts are generally [[http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=549 1 to 5 years with renewal option]].

* ''Series/{{Babylon5}}'': The relationship between Captain Sheridan and [[spoiler: Captain Lochley]]. As she puts it, "We met, fell crazy in love, got married, realized it was a huge mistake, fell crazy ''out'' of love, and divorced." It's implied the entire process took no more than a couple of months.

* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': PlayedForDrama. In a flashback in Flash #197, it was revealed that Hunter Zolomon has only been married to his college sweetheart Ashley for a few months after they graduated college together and join the FBI together before Hunter tragic mistake that cost the life of his father in law, causing Ashley to divorce him and him being kicked out of the FBI. Hunter still very much loves Ashley but knows it unlikely she forgive him; he accepts the divorce and tries to move on with his life. Later, when Ashley learns that Hunter transformed into supervillain Zoom, she left the FBI to come to Keystone City to take over his former spot as the local metahuman profiler to help reform him—showing that she still loves and regrets leaving him. Tragically it's implied that had that misjudgment on Hunter's part that cost his father's life in law never happen, Hunter and Ashley would have had a long and lasting marriage.

* Both Americans who married into the British royal family, Wallis Simpson and Creator/MeghanMarkle, had starter marriages before marrying their royal husbands.[[note]]Wallis' separated from her first two husbands around the five-year mark, though did not formally divorce both until being married for ten years.[[/note]]

Reasons for the divorce vary: one or both of them [[InLoveWithLove lacked maturity to sustain a long-term relationship]], AliceAndBob had radically different goals and ideals in life, [[CharacterFlawIndex flaws (big or small)]] that they overlooked are coming to light, they married for the wrong reasons and/or [[FourthDateMarriage too early.]] Whatever the reason(s) given, generally the marriage lasts less than five years and doesn't produce any children. It is also always the first marriage for at least one spouse, and very often both. and maybe be followed by a more stable long-term marriage for one or both parties.

* First-time [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_marriage Hollywood marriages]] often end up as this. In fact, the list of actors and other celebrities who don't have a starter marriage under their belt is probably shorter than those who do.

* Music/JessicaSimpson and Nick Lachey's marriage, documented in ''Series/NewlywedsNickAndJessica'', became this when they divorced after four years.

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' the title character's cousin, Erin, gets married in season two. By season five (2-3 InUniverse years later), they're getting divorced; apparently Erin only wanted to get married because the guy, Brian, gave her herpes and she [[DefiledForever didn't think anyone else would want her]]. {{Subverted}}, however, when they reconcile. (Except for the wedding, all of this happens off-screen, though it affects Daria and her family indirectly.)

->''"Mark and Ellen had gotten married a little after Tom and Kitty. It was a mistake from the first day. Two nice people not made for each other. Kitty Fremont's quiet and gentle wisdom held Mark and Ellen together ... long after time had run out. Then it broke wide open and they were divorced. Mark was thankful there had been no children."''

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': This is a RunningGag for Ross. The show starts with Ross confirming he and his wife Carol are now divorced after she came out of the closet. They were married for four years. He then marries Emily in a FourthDateMarriage, and she divorces him for accidentally saying Rachel's name at the altar. Eventually, Ross and Rachel marry - because they were very drunk, in Vegas, and thought it would be funny. Once sober, they then divorce. At this point, the gang agree that Ross's "thing" is to be "the guy that gets divorced".