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Get ready, everyone, buckle into your seats, because we're about to do some major trope-smashing.
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"Annaliese!"
"Yes, Mother?" I said stiffly.
"Your betrothal matters are being discussed."
I seethed rebelliously. I didn't want an arranged marriage. I wanted to marry for love.
Sound familiar?
The arranged marriage trope is an insanely popular one. Formula: girl + boy + parents + love interest = foolproof plot. Plug in some names and you'll be good to go.
I know you've seen them. I definitely have. These stories end up being some of the most formulaic around. In historical fic, usually the entire focus of the book. In fantasy, sometimes sharing the limelight with an epic war plot. Pouting, tantrum-throwing girl... snooty betrothed... rigid, authoritarian mother... (Me: *rolls over, snoring*)
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But not only is this trope one of the most trite and most popular... it's also one of the least logical.
Has it ever struck you what a strange quantity of these brash, headstrong teenage girls seem to exist in the mists of story? Yes, in the country where most of us live, it's practically anathema. But there are other places that practice it to this day, and places that did practice it for generations, and someone who is raised in a culture with certain norms is unlikely to question those norms, save from unusual developments. You have to remember that your character is in this groove. To her, it is the ordinary course of life. She expects it. And if you want her to fight back, you need a reason for her to be outside the groove.
