Arranged Marriage

An Arranged Marriage is the idea that someone is going to choose your spouse for you. The way an Arranged Marriage is treated by the plot will be dependent on place and time.

For most of human history, arranged marriages were the norm because "marriage" was less about the union of two souls and more about the union of two families. The rise of the "Marry for Love" ideal didn't really start in Western culture until the 16th century, and there are places on Earth where it still hasn't. Additionally, the "Marriage Before Romance" trope often went hand-in-hand with arranged marriages.

While the priority is, again, the union of two families, that union is dependent on the stability and comfort of the two people getting married, so the two families would try their best to come up with a Perfectly Arranged Marriage.

However, the one thing that is almost always present in an arranged marriage is tension. Most people don't really want to marry a total stranger (much less have sex with them), and if that total stranger turns out to be a complete rogue and a cad, it may be necessary for the heroes to spring into action and rescue the hapless member of their group who is being forced to walk down the aisle. (Of course, being Big Damn Heroes, they'll have to do so in the most overblown and dramatic way possible.)

Sometimes, the person in the arranged marriage takes matters into their own hands and becomes a Runaway Fiancé. The "aggrieved" party may claim Breach of Promise of Marriage in response, as arranged marriages tend to be viewed as legally binding commitments by those who initiate it.

Alternately, there's a Love Triangle. The character of the suitor is less likely to be important in those cases, but they generally won't look kindly on the outsider's interference.

Conversely, an Arranged Marriage can be used to lock the hero and heroine together so that their disputes can not end with one of them washing their hands of the other.

A common tactic is for the daughter of a wealthy but common family to be matched with the Impoverished Patrician, for his title: Nobility Marries Money.

Examples

 * Corpse Bride's main character Victor was engaged to Victoria Everglot by their parents, because she's the daughter of a poor nobleman and he's the son of a nouveau riche fishmonger. It's an ideal match in that respect, but they both feel nervous about whether they're going to get along. As it turns out, it's a Perfectly Arranged Marriage and they're attracted from the first meeting. Of course, he then runs out of the wedding rehearsal in a wretched fit of anxiety, and accidentally gets engaged to a zombie, but it works out eventually.
 * Disney Animated Canon:
 * Sleeping Beauty had an Arranged Marriage between Princess Aurora and Prince Philip from different kingdoms. In contrast to the prevailing modern view of Arranged Marriages as loveless, Aurora falls in love with Philip before she discovers that he's her betrothed husband, making the Arranged Marriage one of true love. The main drama comes from Aurora telling Flora, Fauna and Merryweather that she's fallen in love with Phillip and Phillip telling his father that he's fallen in love with Aurora. In both cases, however, neither of them know who it is that they've fallen in love with, leaving all adult parties to believe that they've fallen in love with a peasant.
 * In The Lion King, Simba and Nala are betrothed, much to their confusion ("I can't marry her — she's my friend!" "Yeah, it'd be so weird.."). They eventually get their own Falling in Love Montage as adults.
 * In Pocahontas, Kocoum asks for Pocahontas' hand and her father betroths her to him. It doesn't go through since Kocoum is later shot to death by Thomas.
 * In Aladdin, the Sultan desperately tries to get Jasmine to marry. However he does give her the option of choosing her husband herself and refuses to choose anyone she hates. He even allows her to marry Aladdin, a commoner.
 * In The Swan Princess, Derek and Odette are betrothed as children by their parents, and forced to spend every summer together. This leads to a musical montage of them growing up hating each other, until one summer (having grown up), they realize that they've actually fallen in love.