How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #10
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: (5.3.85-90)
This play really does celebrate chastity in the end, don't you think? According to Gower, incestuous Antiochus and his daughter totally got what they deserved. (Remember how they get struck by a ball of fire while they're out joyriding in their chariot?) On the other hand, the play's "virtu[ous]" characters are rewarded. (And by virtuous, we're referring to virginal Marina and to Thaisa, who remains chaste in Diana's temple.) What's not totally clear is whether the play has an issue with all sex outside of marriage, or whether it has an issue with sex without love or respect. The second kind of sex generally happens in marriage in Pericles, but since the other kinds of sex we see we are incest and prostitution (which are definitely extremes), it's not totally clear where the play falls on the morality spectrum.