This work explores the changing representation of the couple in romantic comedy, focusing on the key themes of marriage, equality and desire. It considers the three cycles of production: screwball comedy in the thirties; career woman comedy in the forties; and sex comedy in the fifties. This work analyses shifting discourses around heterosexuality, gender, romance and love; includes detailed discussion of Myrna Loy and William Powell, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, and Doris Day and Rock Hudson; and, enables a more sophisticated understanding of the functions of such generic conventions |