For anyone who watched Cartoon Network in the early to mid-2000s, you probably remember “Courage the Cowardly Dog.”
He lives in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, the actual name of the town, with a couple that are complete opposites of each other. There is Muriel, who is loving and sweet to Courage. And then there’s Eustace, who is nasty and cruel to him. Eustace even scares him with a mask and goes, “Booga, booga, booga,” which frightens the poor dog.
Yet, he and Muriel somehow stay together, despite their different treatments toward Courage. But aside from how the two separating would change the show’s premise, there are other reasons why they likely don’t separate.
1: They live in an area nowhere near civilization.
That would mean traveling for who-knows how long to get there. It might take hours or days. Muriel and Eustace would also have to move to that area. And I don’t know if they could afford it.
2: Divorcing is a complicated process.
Even though they never had children of their own, the divorce process would involve Muriel petitioning and Eustace doing the same thing. Then they’d have to go to the state court, where the documents would be read. It would then take a month for the court to make a decision.
After that, they’d have to provide more information, which involves a lot, and possibly go to trial.
I would imagine that they would not have to take turns with having legal custody over Courage since he is a dog.
Muriel could force Eustace to change his ways.
The issue with this is that it’s usually impossible to force other people to change. If Muriel were to yell at Eustace and threaten to do something to him that he couldn’t handle, that would only anger him more.
Yet, they still married each other–unless their marriage was arranged–except that that is rare in the US.
Maybe Eustace used to be kind–or he faked it to get Muriel to marry him. Then after that, he showed his true colors.
Yet, he still loves her and will protect her at times.
Conclusion
What do you think of my guesses? Do you have any of your own? Let me know in the comments if you’d like.