History Main / SteppingStoneSpouse

* In Walter Lantz's ''WesternAnimation/BroadwayBowWow'' (1954): John and Mary, two anthropomorphic dogs, are talented but not very famous dancers. They agree to marry, but just as they finally become successful and achieve fame, John jilts Mary at the altar. Heartbroken, Mary seeks him out and watches as he wastes money on his new flame. Ultimately, the fickle John experiences a conga of humiliation: after he spends himself broke, the new woman leaves him for a rich farmer. His reputation is ruined and he can no longer book solo acts. He ultimately tries reconcile with Mary, only to be thrown out by security. He struggles with suicidal ideation until a reluctant Mary appears and agrees to forgive him and take him back.

* In a cartoon by Walter Lantz "Broadway Bow Wow's" (1954): a couple of anthropomorphic dogs named John and Mary were talented but not very famous dancers, they agree to get married when they finally become successful, when they finally achieve their goal John abandons Mary at the altar for another literal bitch he saw from afar, Mary seeks out her husband and watches him wasting his money on his mistress, Mary decides to forget him, soon John goes through a conga of humiliation: just as he spends his last cent his mistress leaves him for a rich farmer, no one liked John anymore until the time came when he could no longer perform because no one wanted to see him, John swallowed his pride and tried to go back to Mary, only to be thrown out by security and left. feel driven to suicide (but in the end a reluctant Mary appears and agrees to forgive him and take him back)

* In a cartoon by Walter Lantz "Broadway Bow Wow's" (1954): a couple of anthropomorphic dogs named John and Mary were talented but not very famous dancers, they agree to get married when they finally become successful, when they finally achieve their goal John abandons Mary at the altar for another literal bitch he saw from afar, Mary seeks out her husband and watches him wasting his money on his mistress, Mary decides to forget him, soon John goes through a conga of humiliation: just as he spends his last cent his mistress leaves him for a rich farmer, no one liked John anymore until the time came when he could no longer perform because no one wanted to see him, John swallowed his pride and tried to go back to Mary, only to be thrown out by security and left. feel driven to suicide (but in the end a reluctant Mary appears and agrees to forgive him and take him back)

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As various true-crime programs can attest to, this does happen in real life but '''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease'''.

While it is possible for the partners to split amicably, it's usually portrayed in media as the beginning of a revenge story. Partner A (usually female) may feel used and betrayed. Partner B (usually but not always male) is likely portrayed as a {{Jerkass}} who never truly cared about Partner A. If Partner A is NotGoodWithRejection, they may become some variety of WomanScorned. In extreme cases, things might turn [[DeathByWomanScorned deadly]] for [[IfICantHaveYou Partner B and/or their new spouse.]] If the partners can come to a mutual agreement and understanding, on the other hand, it might instead become IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy.

* ''Film/WaitingToExhale'': Despite being highly talented and educated, Bernadine puts aside her career goals and her dreams of raising a family with her husband John in order to do everything she can to help him build his company. For over a decade, Bernadine does menial labor tasks to support the fledgling company, only for John to turn around and leave her for another woman once his company is profitable and it's his turn to support her start-up venture. Her subsequent [[BreakUpBonfire burning of his car and a good amount of his expensive wardrobe in revenge]] sets up a contentious divorce battle between the two of them.

While it is possible for the partners to split amicably, it's usually portrayed in media as the beginning of a revenge story. Partner A is usually female in these scenarios, and is more likely than not to feel used and betrayed by this state of affairs, and Partner B (who is usually but not always a guy) is more likely than not to be portrayed as a [[{{Jerkass}} total prick]] who doesn't care at all about Partner A. Partner A may become some variety of WomanScorned, and in extreme cases, things might get [[DeathByWomanScorned deadly]] for Partner B and possibly whoever they left Partner A for. If the partners can come to a mutual agreement and understanding, on the other hand, it might instead become IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy.

* ''Film/WaitingToExhale'': Despite being highly talented and educated, Bernadine puts aside her career goals and her dreams of raising a family with her husband John in order to do everything she can to help him build his company. For over a decade, Bernadine does menial labor tasks to support the fledgling company, only for John to turn around and leave her for another woman once his company is profitable and it's his turn to support her start-up venture. Needless to say, Bernadine is ''pissed'' because of this and all the other crap that John put her through during those years (among them making their kids go to a school with only two other black kids because he didn't want them to be "improperly influenced"), and her subsequent [[BreakUpBonfire burning of his car and a good amount of his expensive wardrobe in revenge]] sets up a huge divorce battle between the two of them.

* ''Literature/DeathOnTheNile'': Subverted. Jacqueline introduces her fiancé Simon to her old school friend Linnet as needing a job, she puts him in charge of her estate... and marries him soon after. Jacqueline follows them on their honeymoon, culminating in her apparently murdering Linnet, but it's quickly established she was elsewhere at the time of the murder. [[spoiler:Jacqueline and Simon were in on it from the beginning, intending for Simon to inherit Linnet's fortune and remarry elsewhere.]]
* ''Literature/TheStarterWife'' tells the story of Molly Kagan, the faithful wife of a Hollywood mogul whose life changes overnight when her husband dumps her for a younger woman.

* ''Series/DirtyJohn'': Season 2 of this true crime series features the story of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Broderick Betty Broderick]], a woman who in 1989 murdered her ex-husband Daniel T. Broderick III and his new wife Linda Broderick (née Kolkena). Having been the sole provider for their family of five for years while Dan attended both medical and law school, Betty felt betrayed and cheated when he divorced her and remarried shortly after landing a highly lucrative partnership.
* ''Series/JessicaJones2015'': Jeri Hogarth leaned heavily on the financial support of her wife Wendy while going through law school. As she advanced in her career, Jeri focused much more on work than on Wendy, and when she was made a partner at her law firm, started having affairs with other, younger women. This leads to a messy divorce and Wendy being manipulated by Kilgrave (after Jeri foolishly tried to use Kilgrave's CompellingVoice to get Wendy to drop her legal proceedings) into attempting to [[LaserGuidedKarma do literally to Jeri what Jeri did to her emotionally]]: DeathOfAThousandCuts.

-->''He got that ambition, baby, look at his eyes''
-->''This week, he moppin' floors, next week it's the fries''
-->''So stick by his side''
-->''I know there's dudes ballin', and yeah, that's nice''
-->''And they gonna keep callin' and tryin', but you stay right, girl''
-->''And when you get on, he'll leave your ass for a white girl''

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-->'''Elaine''': What about my dream of dating a doctor?
-->'''Boyfriend''': Elaine, I always knew that when I became a doctor, I would dump whoever I was with and find someone better. That's my dream of becoming a doctor.

While it is possible for the partners to split amicably, it's usually portrayed in media as the beginning of a revenge story, as Partner A is more likely than not to feel used and betrayed by this state of affairs, and Partner B is more likely than not to be portrayed as a [[{{Jerkass}} total prick]] who doesn't care at all about Partner A. Partner A (who is usually a woman) may become a WomanScorned, and in extreme cases, things might get [[DeathByWomanScorned deadly]] for Partner B (who is usually a man) and possibly whoever they left Partner A for. If the partners can come to a mutual agreement and understanding, it might instead become IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy.

While it is possible for the partners to split amicably, it's usually portrayed in media as the beginning of a revenge story, as Partner A is more likely than not to feel used and betrayed by this state of affairs, and Partner B is more likely than not to be portrayed as a [[{{Jerkass}} total prick]] who doesn't care at all about Partner A. Partner A (usually a woman) may become a WomanScorned, and in extreme cases, things might get [[DeathByWomanScorned deadly]] for Partner B (usually a man) and possibly whoever they left Partner A for. If the partners can come to a mutual agreement and understanding, it might instead become IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy.

While it is possible for the partners to split amicably, it's usually portrayed in media as the beginning of a revenge story, as Partner A is more likely than not to feel used and betrayed by this state of affairs, and Partner B is more likely than not to be portrayed as a [[{{Jerkass}} total prick]] who doesn't care at all about Partner A. Partner A (usually a woman) may become a WomanScorned, and in extreme cases, things might get [[DeathByWomanScorned deadly]] for Partner B (usually a man) and/or whoever they left Partner A for. If the partners can come to a mutual agreement and understanding, it might instead become IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy.

While it is possible for the partners to split amicably, it's usually portrayed in media as the beginning of a revenge story, as Partner A is more likely than not to feel used and betrayed by this state of affairs, and Partner B is more likely than not to be portrayed as a total prick. If Partner A is NotGoodWithRejection, it may lead to WomanScorned and IfICantHaveYou. If there are moral objections to divorce, Partner B may learn that DivorceRequiresDeath. If the partners can come to a mutual agreement and understanding, it might instead become IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy.

* ''Series/DirtyJohn'': Season 2 of this true crime series features the story of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Broderick Betty Broderick]], a woman who in 1989 murdered her ex-husband Daniel T. Broderick III and his new wife Linda Broderick (née Homolka). Having been the sole provider for their family of five for years while Dan attended both medical and law school, Betty felt betrayed and cheated when he divorced her and remarried shortly after landing a highly lucrative partnership.