Pericles And The Prince Of Tyre

The play Pericles, Prince of Tyre is arguably one of Shakespeare's best plays. In this play Shakespeare displays two informative underlying themes. One of the themes that Shakespeare is trying to portray in this play is what goes around, comes around, and in the end good always triumphs over evil. Shakespeare also displays a belief in Gods, and how they control fate in peoples' lives. This theme represents loyalty. If you are true to yourself, worship the Gods, they will oversee your life, and bless it with gifts. The gods play a major part in the play Pericles, Prince of Tyre. They used good people, pirates, and coincidental events to reward Pericles in the end for overcoming adversity. Also the gods use the same method to punish the people who have wronged Pericles.

Shakespeare uses the character John Gower to narrate the play. This 3rd person point of view helps the audience understand what is going on in the play, and gives the introduction to the play. The play opens by John telling the audience about the kingdom of Antioch. King Antiochus and his daughter engage in incest. To disguise their affair, the king makes every suitor solve a riddle. However there is a twist. If the man gets it wrong, his life will be taken. This intimidates most suitors, but Pericles, Prince of Tyre, goes to solve this riddle. After solving the riddle correctly Pericles discovers the incest that is going on between the two. King Antiochus gives him forty days to live. In 1.1.145, we find out that Antiochus is scared that his secret will get out. "He hath found the meaning, for which we mean to have his head. He must not live to trumpet forth my infamy..." In this passage Shakespeare clearly wishes to call attention to the theme I am exploring, because the key word in this passage is the word trumpet. He uses this as a metaphor. The king is worried that Pericles will be a trumpet, and deliver an appealing sound when played. However, in this case the sound that Pericles will play is to the kingdom about their king's infamy.

King Antiochus hires an assassin by the name of Thaliard to search for and kill Pericles. Antiochus is the first person who has wronged Pericles. While Pericles is on the run he finds out from Helicanus, his advisor, that King Antiochus and his daughter have been burnt to death by fire from heaven. The gods saw what was going on, they had Pericles' back. This is the first piece of evidence.

Pericles also must go through tough times in order to receive gifts. For example, if he never would've solved the riddle, he wouldn't have had to run away. If he didn't run, his ship couldn't have wrecked on the way back home. When the ship wrecked on the shore in Pentapolis, he found out from the people about King Simonides' daughter, Thasia. If Pericles wouldn't have entered in, the jousting contest he would never get the prize. The prize just so happens to be the hand of the beautiful Thasia, his future wife.

Another example of wrong doing towards Pericles is Cleon and Dionyza. Thasia supposedly "dies" while giving birth to Marina. After Thasia's body was thrown overboard, the storm stops. Shakespeare uses the passage 3.1.22-26 to show how much Thasia meant to him. In the quote by Pericles in the passage after the death of his wife, Thasia, Pericles shows deep emotion. Shakespeare uses a spondee in the first line, "O you gods..." This shows stress on how Pericles feels about the gods. He doesn't curse them, but deeply believes that they control his fate. In this passage, the spondee emphasizes his deep confusion for the gods' actions.

Pericles takes baby Marina to Cleon and Dionyza because Pericles feels like