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Departing from the concept of the “structural homologies” that Daniel Fulda (2005) identified in comparing the genre of the comedy and the financial sector, the article focuses on the ‘ménage à trois’ as represented in French comedies of Enlightenment (Marivaux and Destouches) dealing with marital negotiations. In a second step, the above mentioned French theatrical oeuvres will then be related with triangular configurations of characters staged by Spanish comedies (Moratín the elder and Iriarte). The present study analyses in how far the comedy with its amorous entanglements, its tricks and its constant exchange (of lovers and goods) mirrors the dynamics of economics on the level of the configuration of characters. On the one hand, the article sketches in how far the dramatic discourses of both countries match in conceiving both love and commerce as a process of negotiation inspired by the same civic ethics of Enlightenment. On the other hand, the paper outlines those moments when, due to different cultural and historical contexts, the stagings of mating and marriage as processes driven by economic interests diverge.