Some months later news reaches Tharsus that King
Antiochus is dead. His life is no longer in danger - and his identity is
finally revealed - Pericles sets sail for Tyre with Thaisa, now pregnant
with their first child. During a terrible storm, Thaisa dies giving
birth to a daughter and is buried at sea. Pericles makes for the coast
of Tharsus and entrusts his baby daughter, christened Marina, to the
care of Cleon and Dionyza, charging them to bring her up as becomes a
princess. Meanwhile, Thaisa's coffin has come to land at Ephesus and
is carried to the monk Cerimon who, through his skills, is able to
revive Thaisa. Believing herself to be the only survivor of the storm,
Thaisa enters the temple of Diana as a nun.Some twenty years pass. Marina, growing up in Cleon's household has
attracted the envy of Dionyza, who fears she outshines her own daughter.
She instructs Leonine to kill Marina but before he can carry out his
charge they are attacked by pirates who abduct Marina and sell her into
a brothel in Mytilene. Cleon and Dionyza maintain that Marina has died
and when Pericles comes to claim his daughter, they show him her
monument. Pericles, in anguish, puts to sea again with the faithful
Helicanus, and goes completely mad.Meanwhile in the brothel, Marina's chaste defence of her virtue
confounds the inmates and is bad for business. Lysimachus, the Governor
of Mytilene, visiting the brothel in disguise, is greatly impressed by
her. With the help of Boult the servant, she manages to find a situation
in an honest house, where she is much admired for her musical talents
and her innate goodness.Meanwhile, Pericles and his followers have returned to Mytilene.
Pericles, who remains nearly catatonic, and is revived by Marina, who
comes to cure an old sick king, and finds he is her father. Both father
and daughter set sail for Ephesus, where Pericles goes to give thanks to
Diana for her favor in finding his long-lost child. There, they are also
reunited with Thaisa, and the tale ends happily. |
