How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #4
Which care of them, not pity of myself,
Who am no more but as the tops of trees,
Which fence the roots they grow by and defend them,
Makes both my body pine and soul to languish, (1.2.29-32)
Unlike the corrupt Antioch, Pericles seems to be more worried about his innocent subjects than he is about himself. He knows that Antiochus is a tyrant and will stop at nothing to have him killed—even if it means waging war against Pericles's people. This is why Pericles makes the decision to flee Tyre and appoint a temporary ruler in his place.
Quote #5
[...] for if a king bid a man be a
villain, he's bound by the indenture of his oath to
be one! (1.3.7-9)
This is where Thaliard justifies why he has agreed to kill Pericles for King Antiochus—he claims he has no other choice but to obey his monarch. Is this really true? Does Thaliard have a choice? Either way, it seems like Shakespeare is telling us that when a king is corrupt, he can easily corrupt everyone else in his court.
Quote #6
My Dionyza, shall we rest us here,
And by relating tales of others' griefs,
See if 'twill teach us to forget our own? (1.4.1-3)
Shakespeare goes out of his way to show us that Cleon is a lousy and wimpy ruler. When we first meet him, he's boohooing to his wife about how Tharsus is suffering from a famine. Instead of being proactive and trying to do something about it, he sits around and tells stories about his people's suffering. In other words, Cleon is way too passive to be a good ruler. Later on, when his wife tries to have Marina killed, Cleon does absolutely nothing about it.