Cyclops and Jean Grey Wedding (Marvel Comics)
I’ve written about relationships in fiction, but I realized that I only touched on the dating and engagement stages. The only time I mentioned marriage was as a story ending for characters. So, this week I want to discuss and play around with the idea of a marriage not ending a character’s journey. Damned if I can think of any good, stable examples outside of comics. Then again, I don’t know if Reed Richards and Susan Storm are still married. I know Cyclops/Jean Grey are out and Spider-Man/Mary Jane’s union was erased by the Devil because somebody thought divorce was a bigger sin. Wait! The Incredibles! There we go.
It really is difficult to have a character carry on after marriage. In our minds, it’s one of the ultimate signs of settling down. You expect kids to show up soon and book-worthy adventures don’t work will in the family dynamic. So, we’re going to skip the kids stage here and maybe leave that for another week. That brings in a lot more responsibility for someone who can’t defend themselves. At least a spouse is an adult and can fight back if they go on a quest for something.
This isn’t even counting the ‘joy’ of fictional weddings. If anyone has paid attention to the Internet over the last few months, you know what the popular opinion on fantasy-genre weddings are. If you don’t then look up ‘Red Wedding’ and see what many of my friends were either crying or cheering about. I guess this has created an idea that marriage and weddings are nothing more than tragedy fodder. A spouse is typically used in a kidnap plot line or their death drives the main character into a darker adventure. As I said, this is a tricky topic.
So, do you think of marriage in fiction? It is always an endgame?
Legends of Windemere 
Marriage is rarely the endgame for me, but my fantasy is a pretty sweeping epic over several generations, so it’s more like a necessary plot device. I’ve never been a fan of “happily ever after.” So many more interesting things can still happen after that fact! I’ve also got a book in the works where I play on different stages of relationships through three different characters: one is a teenager flirting around with crushes, another is a twenty-something still trying to figure things out, and the third is a married man, not a newly wed, but already pretty comfortable in his status as husband. I think a married couple right out the gate is a thing we don’t see enough of, though I am reading Lois McMaster Bujold’s “Sharing Knife” series right now, and she starts the series out with a marriage, and that’s used as a vehicle throughout the rest of the series. I’ve always admired her ability to give us something different than what we normally see in the character archetypes.
I love writing about marriage and the aftermath and what goes on after it. I can’t wait to get to the part in the series when I start marrying people off.
Know who else has some great marriage in his books? Terry Pratchett. Vimes got so much more interesting after he married, and I think Nanny Ogg could fit another one under her hefty belt, too.
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I think when we do see a marriage right out of the gate, it’s the perfect lovey dovey thing. That doesn’t always feel real to me. I like how you mention that marriage can lead to more interesting things.
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Good question! It’s usually an endgame for me, since I read a lot of young adult fiction. Not a ton of weddings there, unless relatives are getting married. 😀 The Twilight series ended with a marriage between two characters, which was the start of the book. But usually when characters get married or wind in up committed relationships, some of the tension is gone. But that’s young adult fiction.
As for adult fiction, like L. S. Engler, I read Bujold’s Sharing Knife and agree that the marriage enhanced the series. We must have the same taste in books, because I also agree about Vimes and Sybil.
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I guess marriage is a ‘goal’ in YA fiction. Once it hits that point, it no longer feels like YA.
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Marriage is hard (so I’ve heard!), so I can see why it’s kind of not dealt much except as an ending, because then you don’t have to go through the though times 😀
One of my romance book is about a newly married couple, and that was fun to do. Trying to go through married life, and the what happens after the happily ever after’.
Another really interesting topic! 🙂
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Thanks. Funny how it’s always happily ever after. Rarely see anything like the Bundys from Married with Children. I think married storylines can be a lot of fun if the author step out if the idea of perfect bliss.
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Exactly. It is definitely not something I see explored very often in books, and reading about a marriage that is real with all the lumps and bumps would make for an interesting story 🙂
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Ever thing rocky marriages are more of a comedy thing? That’s where it keeps turning up.
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Definitely not. I don’t think it has to be the end game. The character could have married a traitor and not known it which would give good cause for an entire new scenario to arise. The couple might now be a super team that works together or be divided at some point on an issue which would cause angst. There’s also the possibility of one or the other spouses perishing, which could give the other a reason to enact their rage button. I think marriage is often times logical and it depends on the type of situation the characters are in upon said marriage.
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Good points. I think I do the ‘dead spouse’ concept in a later post. There should be more stories outside of comics where characters marry and continue adventuring. Or it delves into the idea of a spouse at home while the other travels.
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It seems to be so, in real life, so why not in fantasy? Unless she’s a secret member of some assassin cult, of course, or perhaps a spy ring leader.
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Do you it seems to be the end in real life? Sorry. On my phone and I’m having trouble bringing up the post.
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Storm and Black Panther also split up during the events of Avengers Vs. X-Men, I think Sue Storm and Reed Richards are still together. Ummm… I can’t really think of any mainstream characters who are married.
In novels? All that comes to mind are Goldmoon and Riverwind from the Dragonlance series. They stayed married through several novels and many story arcs and their deaths were an excellent part of the storyline. Other than that no ongoing stories with married characters pops into my mind.
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Comics love breaking couples up. Not sure if DC is any better.
Ranger’s Apprentice has a married couple, but one of the spouses stays at the castle.
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In “Scrolls” the Elven aristocracy form lifetime unions and rule as a couple (well sit in council) with the male being the more emotional and the female being the more rational, together they form a balance. At the end of the first book I have created a union, a mixed race marriage and a proposal which all factor into the next book… for my world Marriage and unions are beginnings not endings…
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Interesting. Are the genders born that way or raised to be like that?
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Elves are born that way…at least in my little world…
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I think there’s always a temptation to keep all the characters “free,” especially in TV series where they have to come up with episodes on a weekly basis. People make fun of Kirk having so many love affairs in original Star Trek, but romantic subplots are a great complication.
The same applies in comics, with the added factor that comic writers change pretty frequently and new writers have different ideas about what the status quo should be. So Superman and Lois got married and stayed together until that big saga of him supposedly dying. For a slightly different example, Batman has had several serious relationships with characters like Catwoman and Talia who could definitely take care of themselves… but he never tied the knot.
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Comics is a strange one. They have no endgame like novels, movies, and shows. So marriage creates a level of stability that some writers can’t maintain. I remember Spider-Man’s marriage was erased because someone thought it made him impossible for kids to connect to. So you have that revolving door of writers too.
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