Act 5, Scene 3 — Pericles, Prince of Tyre

The argument Diana's temple in Ephesus. Thaisa stands as high priestess. Pericles enters with his company and begins the public testimony Diana commanded: how he lost his wife at sea. Thaisa hears the story, recognizes his voice, and faints. Pericles is alarmed; Cerimon identifies her. Husband and wife recognize each other. Thaisa meets Marina — the daughter she never knew. Pericles announces that Marina and Lysimachus will wed in Pentapolis. He will cut his hair. Cerimon explains the full history of Thaisa's revival. Gower enters to deliver the final epilogue: Cleon and Dionyza have been burned by the people of Tarsus; Pericles and Thaisa are restored to Tyre; all is resolved.

altar, as high priestess; a number of Virgins on each side; Cerimon and

other inhabitants of Ephesus attending.

Enter Pericles with his train; Lysimachus, Helicanus, Marina and a

Lady.

PERICLES ≋ verse

Hail, Dian! to perform thy just command,

I here confess myself the King of Tyre;

Who, frighted from my country, did wed

At Pentapolis the fair Thaisa.

At sea in childbed died she, but brought forth

A maid child call’d Marina; whom, O goddess,

Wears yet thy silver livery. She at Tarsus

Was nursed with Cleon; who at fourteen years

He sought to murder: but her better stars

Brought her to Mytilene; ’gainst whose shore

Riding, her fortunes brought the maid aboard us,

Where by her own most clear remembrance, she

Made known herself my daughter.

Hail Diana! To obey your command, I confess myself King of Tyre, vowing to serve you forever in your temple.

Hail Diana! I keep my vow. I'm Pericles, King of Tyre, and I dedicate myself to you.

hail diana. keep vow. king of tyre. devoted forever.

"I here confess myself the King of Tyre" Pericles opens his testimony with an act of self-identification — he names himself publicly before a goddess. This is the inverse of the play's opening, where identifying oneself was dangerous. Then, Antiochus used self-identification as a death trap. Here, in a sacred space, it is simply true.

Why it matters Pericles's testimony is a compressed version of the entire play from his point of view: Pentapolis, Thaisa's death at sea, Marina's birth, Tarsus, the attempt on Marina's life, Mytilene, the recognition. He is telling this story to Diana — and to the high priestess standing before her altar. He doesn't know Thaisa can hear him.

🎭 Dramatic irony Pericles is telling Thaisa's story to the assembled congregation of Diana's temple without knowing Thaisa is standing before him as high priestess. The audience knows she is there. He does not.

THAISA ≋ verse

Voice and favour!

You are, you are—O royal Pericles!

That voice and face! You are—oh royal Pericles!

That voice! That face! Pericles!

pericles! it's you!

"Voice and favour!" Thaisa doesn't think first — she reacts. She recognizes his voice and his face simultaneously. 'Voice and favour' is the compressed moment before the mind catches up with the body. She has heard this voice in her memory for decades.

Why it matters Thaisa's recognition is instantaneous and physical — voice and face, before thought. The play gives her the simplest possible response: she says his name and faints. Everything she has been holding for years releases at once.

[_Faints._]

PERICLES

What means the nun? She dies! help, gentlemen!

What does the nun mean? She's dying! Help, gentlemen!

What's happening? She's fainting! Help!

help! she's fainting!

CERIMON ≋ verse

Noble sir,

If you have told Diana’s altar true,

This is your wife.

Noble sir, if you've told Diana's altar the truth, this is your wife.

Sir, if that's true, this is your wife.

your wife.

Why it matters Cerimon's line is the second great recognition of the play. He has known who Thaisa was since the moment he opened the chest in Act 3. He has watched her serve Diana for years. He has been waiting — perhaps without knowing it — for the testimony that would allow this reunion to be spoken aloud.

PERICLES ≋ verse [overwhelmed, barely able to speak]

Reverend appearer, no;

I threw her overboard with these very arms.

No, I threw her overboard with these very arms.

No! I threw her in the sea with my own hands!

i threw her overboard.

Why it matters Pericles's first response is disbelief — the same pattern as the recognition of Marina. He has buried this hope too deeply. He says 'I threw her overboard' — a brutal recollection, and one that shows how completely he internalized the responsibility for that loss.

CERIMON

Upon this coast, I warrant you.

I guarantee, on this coast.

But she washed up here.

washed up here.

PERICLES

’Tis most certain.

That's certain.

It must be.

must be.

CERIMON ≋ verse

Look to the lady; O, she’s but o’er-joy’d.

Early in blustering morn this lady was

Thrown upon this shore. I oped the coffin,

Found there rich jewels; recover’d her, and placed her

Here in Diana’s temple.

Take care of the lady—she's overwhelmed with joy. Early this morning, she was washed up on shore. She's been silent until now. But this stranger's voice has moved her.

The lady's overcome. This morning she washed up on shore, barely alive. She hasn't spoken until now, but his voice woke her.

she's overwhelmed. washed up this morning. silent till now. his voice woke her.

PERICLES

May we see them?

Can we see them?

see them?

CERIMON ≋ verse

Great sir, they shall be brought you to my house,

Whither I invite you. Look, Thaisa is

Recovered.

Great sir, they'll be brought to my house, where I invite you. Look, the lady moves!

Sir, they'll be at my house. I want you there. Look—she's moving!

my house. she's moving!

THAISA ≋ verse

O, let me look!

If he be none of mine, my sanctity

Will to my sense bend no licentious ear,

But curb it, spite of seeing. O, my lord,

Are you not Pericles? Like him you spake,

Like him you are: did you not name a tempest,

A birth, and death?

Let me look! If he's not mine, my vows to Diana will mean nothing—I'll abandon them all.

Let me see! If that's not Pericles, I'm breaking my vows to Diana!

let me see! if not him, vow broken.

"Did you not name a tempest, a birth, and death?" Thaisa reduces the entire play's action to three words: tempest, birth, death. The storm that scattered her family; Marina's birth that coincided with her apparent death; her own apparent death. She was inside all three events. She is confirming that the story she just heard is her story.

Why it matters Thaisa's question — 'Did you not name a tempest, a birth, and death?' — is the most compressed possible expression of the play's core events. She is checking: is this the story I lived through? The question is also her proof: only someone who was there would recognize those three elements as the same event.

PERICLES

The voice of dead Thaisa!

That's Thaisa's voice!

thaisa!

THAISA ≋ verse

That Thaisa am I, supposed dead

And drown’d.

Yes, I'm Thaisa, supposed dead and drowned.

I'm Thaisa. I was supposed to be dead.

i'm thaisa. supposed dead.

Why it matters Thaisa says 'I am that Thaisa' — she is reclaiming the identity she set aside when she became Diana's priestess. The line is quiet, factual, complete. She was dead to the world. Now she names herself alive.

PERICLES

Immortal Dian!

Oh immortal Diana!

Oh Diana!

diana!

THAISA ≋ verse

Now I know you better,

When we with tears parted Pentapolis,

The king my father gave you such a ring.

Now I recognize you. When we parted in Pentapolis with tears, my father was king. He's dead now, so I came here as a nun to Diana's temple, vowing never to marry until the gods showed me my husband again.

I remember now. When we left Pentapolis, my father was king. He died, so I came here to Diana's temple and vowed never to marry unless the gods brought you back. And they did.

remember you. father died. vowed never marry. unless you returned. gods brought you back.

[_Shows a ring._]

PERICLES ≋ verse

This, this: no more, you gods! your present kindness

Makes my past miseries sports: you shall do well,

That on the touching of her lips I may

Melt and no more be seen. O, come, be buried

A second time within these arms.

This is enough, oh gods! Your kindness now makes all my past suffering seem like sport.

Stop, gods—this is too much happiness! After all that suffering, this is like a miracle.

too much happiness. after all suffering. this is miracle.

"Your present kindness makes my past miseries sports" Pericles says that the joy of this moment retrospectively transforms all the suffering. It 'makes my past miseries sports' — it makes everything he endured feel like play, like nothing serious. This is not denial; it is the mathematics of the play's theology: the restoration is so complete that it recontextualizes the loss.

"come, be buried a second time within these arms" Pericles's image is remarkable: he invites Thaisa to be 'buried' again — but this time in his arms rather than in the sea. He takes the word of her death and reclaims it as an image of embrace. The play's central trauma — the burial at sea — is here made into an act of love.

Why it matters The ring confirmation is the structural twin of the ring Pericles gave Thaisa. She kept it against her heart for the years of separation — she never stopped being his wife in the deepest sense. His invitation to be 'buried again' in his arms transforms the language of loss into the language of reunion.

MARINA ≋ verse

My heart

Leaps to be gone into my mother’s bosom.

My heart wants to leap into my mother's arms.

I want to run into my mother's arms!

mama! run to her!

Why it matters Marina's line is the quietest and most devastating in the scene. She has never known her mother. Thaisa died the minute she began. And now she says: my heart leaps to go to my mother's arms. The simplicity of it is total.

[_Kneels to Thaisa._]

PERICLES ≋ verse

Look, who kneels here! Flesh of thy flesh, Thaisa;

Thy burden at the sea, and call’d Marina

For she was yielded there.

Look, who kneels here! Flesh of your flesh, Thaisa—the child you carried, born at sea, and now restored to you.

Look! Your daughter! Born at sea, lost, and now returned to you!

your daughter! born at sea. restored.

Why it matters Pericles gives Marina to Thaisa with the phrase 'flesh of thy flesh' — the biblical language of belonging. He also explains the name again (born at sea, named Marina) but this time he says it to Thaisa, who was there. She carried Marina at sea. She named her by dying there.

THAISA

Blest, and mine own!

Blessed—and mine own!

My daughter! Blessed!

my daughter! blessed!

Why it matters Three words. Thaisa's response to seeing her daughter for the first time is three words: 'Blest, and mine own.' The compression is the play's most economical moment of joy — there are no more words needed. Everything is in those three.

HELICANUS

Hail, madam, and my queen!

Hail, madam, my queen!

Hail, your majesty!

hail, majesty!

THAISA

I know you not.

I don't know you.

Who are you?

who?

PERICLES ≋ verse

You have heard me say, when I did fly from Tyre,

I left behind an ancient substitute:

Can you remember what I call’d the man?

I have named him oft.

You've heard me say that when I fled Tyre, I left behind an ancient, wise counselor. That's him.

I've told you—when I fled Tyre, I left my wisest counselor behind. That's him.

fled tyre. left counselor behind. that's him.

THAISA

’Twas Helicanus then.

That was Helicanus then.

That's Helicanus.

helicanus.

Why it matters Even in the midst of the reunion, Thaisa asks about her father. She has been in Ephesus all these years not knowing what happened to Simonides. The play acknowledges what all reunions also contain: the absent people who won't be part of it.

PERICLES ≋ verse

Still confirmation:

Embrace him, dear Thaisa; this is he.

Now do I long to hear how you were found:

How possibly preserved; and who to thank,

Besides the gods, for this great miracle.

Yes, confirmed. Thaisa, embrace him—this is he. I want to hear what's happened in Tyre.

Yes, that's him. Hug him, Thaisa. Tell me what happened in Tyre.

embrace him. what happened in tyre?

THAISA ≋ verse

Lord Cerimon, my lord; this man,

Through whom the gods have shown their power; that can

From first to last resolve you.

Lord Cerimon, my lord! This man, through whom the gods showed their power, will you take him with honor as he deserves?

Lord Cerimon! This man brought us back together. Will you honor him?

honor him. he brought us together.

PERICLES ≋ verse

Reverend sir,

The gods can have no mortal officer

More like a god than you. Will you deliver

How this dead queen relives?

Reverend sir, the gods couldn't have a better servant than you. Will you come with me?

Sir, you've done a god's work. Come with me.

god's work. come with me.

CERIMON ≋ verse

I will, my lord.

Beseech you, first go with me to my house,

Where shall be shown you all was found with her;

How she came placed here in the temple;

No needful thing omitted.

I will, my lord. Come to my house—there you'll see the treasures I've kept and the pearls of great price. Everything's for you.

I will. Come to my house. I've got everything—treasures, fine things. All yours.

come. teasures. all yours.

PERICLES ≋ verse

Pure Dian, bless thee for thy vision! I

Will offer night-oblations to thee. Thaisa,

This prince, the fair betrothed of your daughter,

Shall marry her at Pentapolis.

And now this ornament

Makes me look dismal will I clip to form;

And what this fourteen years no razor touch’d

To grace thy marriage-day, I’ll beautify.

Pure Diana, bless you for this vision! I'll make offerings to you. Thaisa, we'll celebrate our wedding here, then go to Tyre and present our daughter to the people.

Diana, thank you! I'll make offerings forever. Thaisa, we'll marry again here, then go to Tyre and show our daughter to everyone.

diana, thank you. marry again. show daughter to tyre.

"This ornament makes me look dismal — I'll clip to form" The hair vow, made in Act 3 when Pericles left Marina in Tarsus, is fulfilled here. He said he would not cut his hair until Marina was married. She is betrothed. He cuts it. The play closes a loop that was opened in 3-3.

Why it matters Pericles's gratitude to Cerimon is the play's recognition that the entire Act 5 reunion was contingent on one act of charity: a physician in Ephesus who chose to attempt to revive an unknown woman in a chest washed up from the sea. Without Cerimon, none of this happens.

THAISA ≋ verse

Lord Cerimon hath letters of good credit, sir,

My father’s dead.

Lord Cerimon has letters confirming my father is dead.

Cerimon has word that my father died.

father died.

PERICLES ≋ verse

Heavens make a star of him! Yet there, my queen,

We’ll celebrate their nuptials, and ourselves

Will in that kingdom spend our following days:

Our son and daughter shall in Tyrus reign.

Lord Cerimon, we do our longing stay

To hear the rest untold. Sir, lead’s the way.

May the gods make him a star in heaven. But Thaisa, we'll celebrate your marriage here, then go to Pentapolis for your father's funeral rites, and finally to Tyre to show our daughter the kingdom.

May he become a star in heaven. We'll celebrate here, go to Pentapolis for his funeral, then Tyre to show Marina the kingdom.

may he be star. celebrate here. pentapolis funeral. tyre kingdom.

Why it matters Cutting his hair is the final act of the play's arc of mourning. The wild hair has been the visible sign of years of grief. Cutting it is the return to the world, the end of the mourning period, the claim that joy is now appropriate. The vow made over an infant in Tarsus is kept.

[_Exeunt._]

Enter Gower.

GOWER ≋ verse

In Antiochus and his daughter you have heard

Of monstrous lust the due and just reward:

In Pericles, his queen and daughter seen,

Although assail’d with Fortune fierce and keen,

Virtue preserved from fell destruction’s blast,

Led on by heaven, and crown’d with joy at last.

In Helicanus may you well descry

A figure of truth, of faith, of loyalty:

In reverend Cerimon there well appears

The worth that learned charity aye wears:

For wicked Cleon and his wife, when fame

Had spread their cursed deed, the honour’d name

Of Pericles, to rage the city turn,

That him and his they in his palace burn.

The gods for murder seemed so content

To punish, although not done, but meant.

So on your patience evermore attending,

New joy wait on you! Here our play has ending.

Antiochus and his daughter ended in monstrous sin and just punishment. The gods rewarded Pericles' patience and virtue. He recovered his wife and found his daughter, proving that the gods love goodness. Thus ends our tale of a man who suffered much but gained everything through faithful endurance. Go home knowing that virtue is rewarded and sin punished. The gods watch all.

Antiochus and his daughter got what they deserved—punishment for their evil. Pericles suffered but stayed good, and the gods rewarded him with his wife and daughter back. The lesson: virtue wins, sin loses. The gods see everything. That's the end of the story.

antiochus punished. pericles rewarded. virtue wins. sin loses. gods see all. the end.

"The gods for murder seem'd so content to punish, although not done, but meant" Gower makes a theological point in his epilogue: the gods punished Cleon and Dionyza for attempting to murder Marina even though the murder was not completed (she was taken by pirates before Leonine killed her). The intention is enough. The play's divine justice is exacting.

"Here our play has ending" Gower's final line closes the frame that opened with his first prologue in Act 1. He has been the play's organizing consciousness throughout — bridging time, explaining gaps, providing context. Now he releases the audience. The circle closes.

Why it matters Gower's epilogue is the play's moral accounting: each character receives their due. Antiochus and Dionyza are punished. Helicanus and Cerimon are honored. Pericles and his family are restored. The epilogue is not summary — it is completion, the final movement of the pattern the play has been tracing since Act 1.

[_Exit._]

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF KING RICHARD THE SECOND

The Reckoning

The final scene is the completion of everything the play has been building since Act 1. Thaisa has been waiting in Ephesus for years. Pericles has been waiting, in a different sense, at sea. Marina has been the instrument that brought them both back. The reunion happens through testimony: Pericles tells his story publicly as Diana commanded, and Thaisa hears it. The miracle is not supernatural intervention — it is the act of speaking the truth aloud in the right place. All three members of this family have been on separate arcs of loss; this scene is their convergence.

If this happened today…

A woman who spent thirty years as a nun in a city where she washed up after an accident hears a man at the altar tell the story of losing his wife at sea during a storm. His voice. His story. The details are impossible. She faints. When she comes around, she's looking at her husband. And behind him stands their daughter, whom neither of them has raised.