History Main / UptownGirl

* The writer F. Scott Fitzgerald in his youth fell in love with the socialite Ginevra King. Her father told him that "poor boys had no business marrying rich girls." Mr. King then introduced his daughter to his business associates and encouraged her to choose among them. She complied and Fitzgerald later based Daisy Buchanan from Literature/TheGreatGatsby on her.

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': Middle-class [[Characters/MiraculousLadybugMarinetteDupainCheng Marinette Dupain-Cheng]] has a crush on SpoiledSweet fashion model and heir [[Characters/MiraculousLadybugAdrienAgreste Adrien Agreste]]. Equally rich Chloe Bourgeois has the hots for Adrien too, but he is clearly not into her.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': [[Characters/TheOwlHouseLuzNoceda Luz Noceda's]] single mother works as a veterinarian and she herself is apprenticed to public enemy #1. [[spoiler:Her eventual girlfriend [[Characters/TheOwlHouseAmityBlight Amity Blight]] is the daughter to two [[BlueBlood Blue-blooded]] arms dealers. Amity's mother vocally disapproves of the relationship due to [[HeroWithBadPublicity Luz being a wanted criminal]] by the time she finds out (though considering that she previously tried to have Luz killed, it's unlikely that a lack of a criminal status would have changed her mind much).]]

* The old Spanish poem "El Romance de Gerineldo" ("Gerineldo's Romance") is about the titular Gerineldo, the favorite butler of the King of Spain, who's desired by the ''Infanta'' aka the Spanish Princess. They're both aware of the taboo of their potential relationship, but the ''Infanta'' refuses to let it deter her. [[spoiler: They finally sleep together, and her dad catches them: he's torn between his duty to punish the guy for taking his daughter's virginity and how he [[LikeASonToMe Gerineldo is like a son to him]], so rather than waking them up he places his sword between them without raising them from their sleep. How things end depend on each version: the major part feature {{surprisingly happy ending}}s of the "the King forgives Gerineldo since he refuses to throw the ''Infanta'' under the bus" or "the ''Infanta'' confesses what happened [[PleaseSpareHimMyLiege and gets her dad]] to let her marry Gerineldo aka her first and only lover".]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

-->'''William:''' Where will we live? In my hovel, with the pigs inside during the winter so they won't freeze?
-->'''Jocelyn:''' [crying] Yes, William...with the pigs.

-->'''Vanilla''': For months, I've dreamed night after night... of a man. A peasant. ''Strong''. Sunburnt face. Rippling muscles. Curly, springy hair. He's you!
-->'''Will''': M-Me?

--->''"From what I have seen of the lady, she seems, indeed, to be on a very different level to Your Majesty," said Holmes, coldly.''

-->H: Can it be possibly true? Surely love has never crossed such boundaries of class? (clutches Amy's hand)
-->A: But what about you and Mum?
-->H: Well, yes I grant thee when I first met her I was the farmer's son and she was just the lass who ate the dung, but that was an exception.
-->A: And Aunty Dot and Uncle Ted.
-->H: Yes, yes alright, he was a pig poker and she was the Duchess of Argyle, but-
-->A: And Aunty Ruth and Uncle Isaiah, she was a milkmaid and he was-
-->H: The Pope! Yes, yes, all right.

--->'''Gendry:''' [[BandOfBrothers These men are brothers, they're family.]] I've never had a family.
--->'''Arya:''' ''I'' can be your family!
--->'''Gendry:''' You wouldn't be my family. You'd be m'lady.

--> '''Shae:''' I'm your whore. And when you are tired of fucking me I will be nothing.

--> ''Tonight down here in the valley''
--> ''I'm lonesome and o, how I feel''
--> ''As I sit here alone in my cabin''
--> ''I can see your mansion on the hill''

* [[Music/RicardoArjona Arjona's]] song "Quién Diría", about an aspiring musician and a rich girl. The song is full of counter-comparisons.
--> ''You eat caviar, I eat tortilla''
** Similarly, the narrator in "Historias de taxi" is a taxi driver who gets involved with a rich married woman after she tearfully confides in him that her husband is cheating on her. [[spoiler:The "other woman" turns out to be... the driver's own wife.]] The end of the song states that [[spoiler:both couples carried on their affairs, each one pretending the others doesn't know.]]

--> ''Rent a flat above a shop, cut your hair and get a job''
--> ''Smoke some fags and play some pool, pretend you never went to school''
--> ''But still you'll never get it right, 'cause when you're laid in bed at night''
--> ''Watching roaches climb the wall, if you called your dad, he could stop it all!''

-->''That rich guy you've been seein'''
-->''Must have put you down''
-->''So welcome back baby''
-->''To the poor side of town''

-->''Baby, so they give you anything''
-->''Darling, all the joy money can bring''
-->''Baby, do they bring you happiness''
-->''Darling, you're no different from the rest''
-->''Can't you see that it's love you really need''
-->''Take my hand and I'll show what a love could be''

-->''But the only thing you dream of,''\\
''Money can't buy for you''\\
''And in my dreams,''\\
''I'll make your wish come true''

-->''You're an uptown uptempo woman''
-->''I'm a downtown downbeat guy''

[[folder:Religion and Mythology]]

---->"You're [[spoiler: Chrom]]'s daughter, and in your veins runs the blood of [[spoiler: exalts and heroes]]... So how could a common man such as I ever be worthy of you? (...) I am in love with you, [[spoiler: Lucina]]. I can say it no plainer. I know I'm a fool to harbor a love far beyond my station, and yet..."

* ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'': On the first season, Anthony Bridgerton (the eldest son of a reputable high society family) is in a relationship with Siena Rosso (a working-class opera singer). It's especially painful on her part because it means they can never be seen together in public. However, Siena eventually gets fed up with being treated like a dirty secret, thus she breaks up with Anthony. On the second season, Anthony meets and falls in love with Kate Sharma, who is later revealed to be ''not'' [[BlueBlood a noble born]]. However, she is proven to be [[BirdsOfAFeather a perfect match]] for him in every ways that matters, thus he is adamant to marry her.
* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', this happened between LovableAlphaBitch Cordelia and working-class nerd Xander. Downplayed in that money wasn't so much of an issue as high school popularity and clique insularity. After their relationship ended, it turned out Cordelia was only rich because her father was cheating on his taxes, by graduation she has nothing.

* Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert in ''Series/ADifferentWorld'' definitely fits here, Dwayne being the college nerd Everyman and Whitley the upper crust snob. Dwayne didn't start pursuing her until Season 3, but from there it was pretty much your average sitcom relationship, starting with Type 2 and progressing to Type 1 and eventually marriage through a course of break-ups and 'desperately in love with you' revelations.

->''Uptown girl''\\
''She's been living in her uptown world''\\
''I bet she's never had a backstreet guy''\\
''I bet her momma never told her why''\\
''I'm gonna try for an uptown girl''\\
''She's been living in her white bread world''\\
''As long as anyone with hot blood can''\\
''And now she's looking for a downtown man''\\
''That's what I am''

This is transitioning into DeadHorseTrope territory since interclass marriage is no longer shocking, and the expectation that men should be the breadwinner in the family is much weaker today than it used to be. On the other hand, it may become an UndeadHorseTrope with the emergence of [[CultureWar culture wars]] and new waves of [[SlobsVersusSnobs social stratification]].

** ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' features a similar plot, but without a romance element.

* ''Literature/AdrianMole'': The working-class main character and his aristocratic first wife Jo Jo. Adrian's most consistent love interest, Pandora Braithwaite, also counts as this, as do his exes Daisy Flowers and Pamela Pigg. Adrian himself was once an Uptown Guy to Sharon Bott (described by him as "lower-working/underclass")

** Zigzagged with Alex and Henry's relationship. Alex, as the biracial American from a working class family, is technically way beneath Henry in status. However, as the child of an American President and an American Senator, he could still be considered a perfectly respectable partner for a prince. What ''actually'' disqualifies him from being a potential suitor, at least in Mary's eyes, is that [[GetBackInTheCloset he's a man]].

* There's a gender-reversed element of this in the developing relationship between millionaire playboy mystery writer Richard ''Series/{{Castle}}'' and working-stiff police officer Kate Beckett.

* ''Series/{{Willow}}'': Prince Airk is shown to be involved with Dove, a kitchen maid in the palace. {{Zigzagged}} however as it turns out she's TheChosenOne Elora Danan, and thus very important herself as the True Empress (though she doesn't yet have any official authority).

* Lois and [[Characters/FamilyGuyPeterGriffin Peter Griffin]] in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''; she comes from an old money family and he was a groundskeeper for their estate. In one of the show's most truly-touching flashbacks to their courtship, Lois leaves her parents' high-class ball to meet up with Peter at the servants' much livelier party and dances with him, and she realizes she loves him more than her family's money. Naturally, [[DatingWhatDaddyHates her father disapproves]], and Carter's hatred for his son-in-law is a running joke throughout the series.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Blondie}}'': The original strip was about the well-to-do Dagwood marrying the distinctly lower-class Blondie against his parent's wishes. He was cut off and had to get a real job, and the strip gradually morphed into the Dom Com it has been for most of its run.

* This trope has been (and still is) so extremely common in TurkishDrama since 70s, that it is already considered either [[OmnipresentTrope the most essential element of the whole genre]] or [[UndeadHorseTrope an overused cliché that refuses to die]] in Turkey, depending on how you look at it. The Turkish name for this trope is "Rich Girl, Broke Guy" (''zengin kız, fakir oğlan''), for the curious.