Love, Marriage and Divorce: Hit Shows <Marry My Husband> and <Love After Divorce> explore the positive potential of failed relationships
Posters for <Marry My Husband> and <Love After Divorce 4: In USA>
Valentine’s Day is approaching! Some people love it and others dread it. Dating and relationships are essential components of life in Korea as marriage and children are seen as family obligations. However, after tying the knot, things don’t always work out.
Korean dates for couples (Image courtesy of Koreanmate)
In the past, South Korea enjoyed some of the lowest divorce rates in the world as separation was often stigmatized. However, times have changed and now things like divorce and failed relationships have become more acceptable to discuss openly and have found their way into entertainment.
Let’s look at two recent, popular shows that offer modern, compelling takes on failed love and second chances: Korean drama Marry My Husband and reality show Love After Divorce.
Marry My Husband
Promotional Poster for Korean Drama <Marry My Husband>
Marry My Husband is a fantasy revenge drama that follows Kang Ji-won [PARK Min-young], a woman who dies after witnessing her husband Park Min-hwan’s [LEE Yi-kyung] affair with her best friend Jung Soo-min [SONG Ha-yoon]. She gets a chance to go back in time and decides to make her friend marry her husband instead. However, she also meets Yoo Ji-hyuk, [NA Jong-chan] a man who has a crush on her and helps her with her revenge plan.
Cast [1st ROW]: PARK Min-young, NA Jong-chan, LEE Yi-kyung
[2nd ROW]: SONG Ha-yoon, LEE Gi-gwang, GONG Min-jeong
Adapted from a popular web novel and webtoon of the same name, Marry My Husband features many wild twists and turns as Ji-won works her way to making a future that she hopes will make her happy…and let her get even. The show has grown tremendously in popularity with ratings up more than 100% since its debut. Many viewers attribute the shows popularity to the writing, the chemistry between the two main leads and the progression of their on-screen relationship. Already an addictive hit, the show gained additional buzz among Korean netizens recently when singer/actress BoA made a cameo. This was the megastar’s first appearance in a drama in more than 7 years. The 16-episode series premiered on January 1st 2024 and is set to conclude, appropriately, a week after Valentine’s Day.
<Marry My Husband> is adapted from a Light Novel and Manhwa series of the same name
Love After Divorce
Love After Divorce is a reality show that originally followed eight divorced individuals who are “newly single and ready to mingle”.
English and Korean logo for reality series <Love After Divorce> / <돌싱글즈>
For a week, participants live together in a ‘divorced singles village’ where they slowly open up, bond and create connections that could help them on their path to finding love after divorce. The show is hosted by LEE Hye-young, YOO Se-yoon, LEE Ji-hye, EUN Ji-Won and JEONG Gyu-woon, who also provide commentary and advice to the participants. The 4th season, which aired in the summer of 2023 made a few changes, inviting 10 participants from the USA and housing them at a resort in Cancun, Mexico.
Hosts for Season 4 of <Love After Divorce>: Austin KANG, YOO Se-yoon, Producer PARK Seon-hye, LEE Hye-yeong, LEE Ji-hye, Eun Ji-Won, JEONG Gyu-woon
Both of these shows explore love and failed relationships in different ways. Marry My Husband deals with the themes of betrayal, forgiveness, regret, and second chances and shows how one’s choices can affect not only oneself, but also others. It also portrays how love can be found in unexpected places and how it can heal one’s wounds.
Meanwhile, Love After Divorce deals with the themes of divorce, healing, communication, and compatibility. It shows that divorce is not the end of one’s love life, but rather can be a new beginning to finding the right person to share a lifetime with. It also shows that a failed marriage can be a learning experience and an opportunity to grow as a person and features real people with real stories giving it a more grounded perspective than the entertaining, but sometimes over the top revenge antics of Marry My Husband.
Posters for Season 1, 2 and 3 of <Love After Divorce>
With so many shows featuring idealized couples falling in love, some viewers might have a taste for the other side of romance. Both Marry My Husband and Love After Divorce are shows worth watching for those looking for compelling endings rather than perfect ones. Both shows also prove that love and relationships are not simple, but rather complex and beautiful and often worth the pain.