Pericles, Prince of Tyre by William Shakespeare - Essay Example

In Pericles, Prince of Tyre, William Shakespeare shows the influence of fathers on the lives of their daughters, including their sexuality. It is not odd that Pericles quickly marries Marian to Lysimachus even if he has been a habitual customer of brothels because he thinks that he is doing the best for his daughter by marrying her to him instead of waiting for ill fortune to arrive for her, where she might be raped and he believes that Lysimachus has been good to her and he might as well be a good husband too. As for Marina, she stays silent on this marriage because Lysimachus will be cleansed through his offering to Diana and so he can be as virtuous as she is, and because it has been the custom to obey fathers in matters that concern marriage/sexuality.
First, Pericles quickly marries Marian to Lysimachus, despite being a regular brother customer, because he wants to preserve his daughter’s virtue. Gower narrates in the end that virtue is critical to Pericles, especially since his fate has turned from worst to best: “Although assailed with fortune fierce and keen,/Virtue preserved from fell destruction's blast (Shakespeare 1609, 5.3: 2625: 2626). So many men desire their daughter that she is in constant danger, and so a husband will ensure her protection from the lecherous claws of sinful men. Furthermore, Pericles believes that Lysimachus is not such a bad man because he did not rape Marina or showed her any bad intentions. Instead, he respected her, which is impressive to Pericles who tells Lysimachus: “You shall prevail,/Were it to woo my daughter; for it seems/ You have been noble towards her” (Shakespeare 1609, 5.1: 2488-2490). It does not matter to Pericles if Lysimachus has been a lewd man toward other women, as long as he treated Marina with respect. Pericles also does what he thinks is right, as other fathers did for their daughters. He controls Marina in a compassionate way that Simonides controls the fate of his daughter.
Second, Marina did not object to the marriage because Lysimachus will be purified through his sacrifices to the goddess Diana. Gower describes what Lysimachus has to do before he can marry the virtuous Marina: “That he is promised to be wived/To fair Marina; but in no wise/Till he had done his sacrifice,/As Dian bade: whereto being bound,/The interim, pray you, all confound.” (Shakespeare 1609, 5.2: 2504-2507). Marina knows that Lysimachus will soon be a better man through his offering to the gods. Furthermore, Marina silently agrees because she trusts Pericles that he will ensure she is married to a good man. She knows that Lysimachus is not one of those men who tried to rape her and her father knows this too. She relies on her father’s good judgment. In other words, Lysimachus is not such a bad choice for marriage. Finally, fathers in the story often control the fates of their children, and women commonly accept that. If Antiochus controlled his daughter’s sexuality through incest while Simonides controlled Thaisa’s life through a ruse to determine if Pericles deserves her, it is Pericles' turn to assert control over the life of his daughter, which ultimately affects her sexuality by making the wedding choice for her.
Part 2: Response to Miller
I agree with Miller that Marina cures Pericles’ silence by using different techniques until she finds out the best way that would pique Pericles’ interest. She started with a song, which Pericles rebuffed, and then she followed it with her own life story. She knows how to connect to another person who is grieving his family’s loss because she has also lost her family. Marina connects to Pericles by opening up his heart to her so that he would trust her enough to speak to her. She starts from her own experiences, so she can influence Pericles to share his own life story too.

Her expertise in listening and watching verbal and nonverbal communication, respectively, allows her to find the right words and images to influence Pericles’ speech and actions. Thus, Marina is an “other”-centered woman, which is her key to affecting Pericles’ emotions and behaviors. Read More