Shakespeare & The Loose Lips
By Juno, that is queen of marriage, all viands that I eat do seem unsavory, wishing him my meat.
“By Juno, that is queen of marriage, all viands that I eat do seem unsavory, wishing him my meat.” — Pericles, Act II, Scene 3, Lines 33-35
Shakespeare is wily. We don’t know much about his biography, and, thanks to his talent at satire, we don’t know much about his opinions either. His histories are full of veiled (potential) criticism of those in power. His comedies (perhaps) point out hypocrisy in the church and other institutions. And littered throughout the cannon is the vein of a question: Was Shakespeare a feminist? It is by no means a simple question, but Pericles gives us some evidence for this debate.
Oh. And there are pirates!
Pericles, written about 1607 or 1608, comes later in Shakespeare’s career where he’s toying with the form and convention of genre to write “problem plays” or “tragicomedies.” These plays aren’t a problem because of their subject matter (although there is a bit of oogyness) but because they don’t quite fit the genre conventions of the day. Pericles is one of those plays. It’s more like the ancient epics of the Iliad and Odyssey than the plays we generally associate with Shakespeare. Except, in this play, the women hold more sway.
The Shake-Scene
Shakespeare uses a couple of techniques to stage this epic adventure that spans oceans and decades. The first is the chorus — often used in Greek tragedy but also used by Shakespeare most notably in Henry V. But this chorus is a bit different. It takes the form of John Gower, a poet from the 14th Century. Fan fiction anyone? Now, I’m sure there’s room for me to say something clever about Gower’s influence on Shakespeare or this work specifically, but I’m not quite that well read. So, on with the plot!
The Chorus Gower sets the stage for the first of many ill-fated voyages of Pericles. He tells us that Pericles, Prince of Tyre, has come to Antioch to woo a beautiful princess. He also tells us the dark and disgusting secret of Antioch. Shakespeare made much use of dramatic irony — when the audience knows what the protagonist does not— and so Gower tells us that the King of Antioch and his daughter are in an incestuous relationship. And, to keep the relationship hidden, the King has devised a ruse by which any suitor must answer his riddle to marry his daughter. If he does not, he dies. If he does… Well, you’ll see.
It is at this point that we finally meet our titular hero — Pericles. The King of Antioch tells Pericles the riddle and Pericles solves it… except the answer is the very secret the King wants to keep secret (poor planning, am I right?). Pericles, realizing he is in big danger, escapes by sea back to Tyre. The King of Antioch sends an assassin after him.
Back in Tyre, Pericles gathers men and supplies, and heads off on another sea-faring adventure. He leaves his bestie, Helicanus, in charge. The assassin arrives too late but Pericles’s courtiers buy him lunch, so…
Meanwhile, Pericles’s first stop is Tarsus. They’re starving and he brings ships full of grain, so they’re super happy to see him. But, alas, the assassin is still after him, so he has to leave. We have another fun interlude where Gower the Chorus summarizes events, intercut with another dramatic device — the dumb show. That’s not my judgment on the device but rather the name arising from the fact that the characters in the pantomime do not speak. Through the chorus and dumb show, we learn that Pericles sets sail from Tarsus but is shipwrecked and all of his men are killed.
He washes ashore at Pentapolis where some fishermen provide him with dry clothes and us with some clowning comedic relief. Oh, and they fish his armor out of the sea and tell him there’s a tournament for a princess’s birthday.
Oh boy. Another princess. This bodes well…
Except it does! He wins the tournament and impresses the King of Pentapolis and his fair daughter Thaisa. And Thaisa is *thirsty* (see this week’s quote). It was rare for Elizabethan women to express sexual desire, and frankly the ladies of the 1950s would not even be so bold. Perhaps this is more Shakespearean innovation of giving women a voice on the all-male stage. Perhaps it’s satire mocking the absurd idea that women could have sexual desire. And perhaps this bit wasn’t written by Shakespeare at all.1
But what we do know is that Thaisa, who is given a choice (even pushed by her father to demand a choice) receives a much happier ending than the Princess of Antioch. Word comes to Helicanus (Pericles’s bestie who’s running Tyre) that the King and Princess of Antioch were killed when a pillar of fire came down from the sky and burned them up to punish them for the whole incest thing. Upside? Pericles can come home! Downside, everyone is pretty sure Pericles is dead and Helicanus should just become king. Helicanus, a loyal bestie through and through (he must’ve been a cancer) sends people to find Pericles and says he won’t become king unless no one can find Pericles for twelve months.
Anyhoo, back to the adorable young lovers. King Simonides learns his daughter Thaisa loves Pericles, so he naturally pretends to be displeased to force them together (seriously, sometimes I worry for Shakespeare’s son-in-laws). But, the ruse works. The lovers double-down on their affections and the King marries them. Which is great, right? The Antioch villains are dead and the star-crossed couple is wed and we’re heading for our comedic ending, right? Right?!?!
Wrong.
Shipwreck.
Again.
Enter the Gower Chorus with his dumb show. He tells us that the couple are married and quickly pregnant. That word came from Tyre that he needed to hurry home. That Pericles boarded a ship with his now nearly-to-term wife, and that the ship is overcome by a storm. My favorite part of this particular chorus is the line “His queen, with child, makes her desire— which who shall cross?— along to go.” Just saying, Shakespeare gets it. You don’t tell a pregnant lady what she can or cannot do.
As an aside, if this all feels a bit “Tempest” to you, you aren’t wrong. It’s also about to feel a bit “Comedy of Errors” in a moment. But give the guy a break. You try writing and staging that many plays in the middle of on-again-off-again plagues. It ain’t easy.
Which brings us to the deck of the tempest-ravaged ship where Pericles is brought word that his daughter has been born and his wife has died in childbirth. The seamen2 insist that the dead body of the Queen be tossed overboard because of superstition. Pericles relents to their demand but writes an epitaph to be sealed with her inside the coffin. Now, as he clutches his infant daughter and mourns his dead3 wife, he commands the ship to head to Tarsus (the starving town he saved with ships full of grain).
And so, we end in tragi— oh wait, no. There’s more… apparently.
The body of the Queen Thaisa washes up onshore in Ephesus. They open the coffin and revive her (Lear be damned, maybe Shakespeare really did become a softie in his old age). She assumes she’ll never see her husband again and so becomes a priestess for Diana in Ephesus.
Pericles leaves his daughter— Marina (yes, seriously)— to be raised by the King and Queen of Tarsus, and returns to rule Tyre. And sure, he abandons his daughter and her nurse, but he promises not to cut his hair until she marries, so… Good father?
Gower then returns to push our tale forward another fourteen years. Now, Marina has grown up to be beautiful and talented, and is now competition for the daughter of the King and Queen of Tarsus. So, naturally, devoted mother she is, the Queen of Tarsus sends a servant to kill Marina. Sigh.
But the murder is foiled when Marina is captured by pirates instead! Ok, I know I teased pirates and these pirates briefly appear and are reprehensible (and in no way sexy), but still. Pirates!
The pirates sell Marina to a brothel in Myteline but fear not, she uses her wit and cunning to shame any man who dares try to purchase her, *ahem* wares. Back in Tarsus, the evil queen tries to justify her actions to her husband and he’s weak-willed enough to be swayed. So, when Pericles comes, they tell him his daughter is dead. No good deed goes unpunished… Pericles vows to go into perpetual mourning. The dude is seriously broken.
Meanwhile, in Myteline, the governor Lysimachus arrives at the brothel. And here’s where we veer into Pretty Woman territory. He has… ummm… purchased time with Marina, but she is not having it (naturally). She pleads/begs/shames/charms Lysimachus — actor’s/director’s choice really— and he very benevolently (please note the excessive sarcasm here) agrees not to force himself on her. Instead, he gives her the money she needs to buy her freedom. Marina uses this money to negotiate her way into a new, less abhorrent to her, profession.
But before we move on, I’d like to invite you all the reflect on the wooing of the three princesses and what Shakespeare might be trying to say (to the extent we care about his views) or what might can be said using his words (to the extent we use them as advocacy as well as art). The Princess of Antioch takes no part in choosing her husband. Instead, she’s a prize to be given in exchange for her father’s riddle. Thaisa not only chooses Pericles but fights for him. And Marina uses her wit and cunning to fend off unwanted suitors (if they can be called that). Perhaps there’s an argument that women should be given a choice in choosing their futures?
At any rate, Marina flourishes in Myteline. She becomes renowned in the town for her ability to sing and dance and sew. Until, one day, the Tyrian ship bearing Pericles comes to Myteline. The governor, Lysimachus, comes aboard to pay his respects to Pericles and sees that he is deep in despair. He has Marina brought onboard to sing and cheer him up. She tells Pericles enough of her story that he realizes she is his lost daughter. They have a joyful reunion and in that reunion, Pericles has a vision that he must travel to the temple of Diana in Ephesus. So, he does.
Lysimachus also comes along because now he’s engaged to Marina and … well … good luck to those directing this show in justifying that move.
In Ephesus, Thaisa recognizes Pericles and they’re reunited. Thaisa finally gets to meet her daughter. And, allegedly, they all go off to celebrate the marriage of Marina and Lysimachus (I feel like Mama Thaisa and goddess Diana might persuade Marina to a better match, but who am I?). And finally Gower returns to tell us this family was blessed because of their virtue and that the King and Queen of Ephesus were murdered by an angry mob.
All’s well that ends well… or so they say.
Speak the Speech, I Pray You
Bring Shakespeare’s words into your own life by:
Propositioning that hottie at the club;
Expressing admiration for a nice Grade A ribeye;
And . . . celebrating the return of the boybands:
Additional Resources
Find a copy of the entire play here.
Read about the theories of its authorship here.
Read what the Royal Shakespeare Company has to say about its sources and authorship here.
This play is widely believed to be a collaboration between Shakespeare and pub owner and author George Wilkins.
Giggle.
Right?