Act 2, Scene 5

Pentapolis. A room in the palace.

Simonides
926 Knights, from my daughter this I let you know,
927 That for this twelvemonth she'll not undertake
928 A married life.
929 Her reason to herself is only known,
930 Which yet from her by no means can I get.
Second Knight
931 May we not get access to her, my lord?
Simonides
932 'Faith, by no means; she hath so strictly tied
933 Her to her chamber, that 'tis impossible.
934 One twelve moons more she'll wear Diana's livery;
935 This by the eye of Cynthia hath she vow'd,
936 And on her virgin honour will not break it.
Third Knight
937 Loath to bid farewell, we take our leaves.
[Exeunt Knights.]
Simonides
938 So,
939 They are well dispatch'd; now to my daughter's letter:
940 She tells me here, she'll wed the stranger knight.
941 Or never more to view nor day nor light.
942 'Tis well, mistress; your choice agrees with mine;
943 I like that well: nay, how absolute she's in it,
944 Not minding whether I dislike or no!
945 Well, I do commend her choice;
946 And will no longer have it delay'd.
947 Soft! here he comes: I must dissemble it.
[Enter Pericles.]
Pericles
948 All fortune to the good Simonides!
Simonides
949 To you as much, sir! I am beholding to you
950 For your sweet music this last night: I do
951 Protest my ears were never better fed
952 With such delightful pleasing harmony.
Pericles
953 It is your grace's pleasure to commend;
954 Not my desert.
Simonides
955 Sir, you are music's master.
Pericles
956 The worst of all her scholars, my good lord.
Simonides
957 Let me ask you one thing:
958 What do you think of my daughter, sir?
Pericles
959 A most virtuous princess.
Simonides
960 And she is fair too, is she not?
Pericles
961 As a fair day in summer, wondrous fair.
Simonides
962 Sir, my daughter thinks very well of you;
963 Ay, so well, that you must be her master,
964 And she will be your scholar: therefore look to it.
Pericles
965 I am unworthy for her schoolmaster.
Simonides
966 She thinks not so; peruse this writing else.
[Aside.]
Pericles
967 A letter, that she loves the knight of Tyre!
968 'Tis the king's subtilty to have my life.
969 O, seek not to entrap me, gracious lord,
970 A stranger and distressed gentleman,
971 That never aim'd so high to love your daughter,
972 But bent all offices to honour her.
Simonides
973 Thou hast bewitch'd my daughter, and thou art
974 A villain.
Pericles
975 By the gods, I have not:
976 Never did thought of mine levy offence;
977 Nor never did my actions yet commence
978 A deed might gain her love or your displeasure.
Simonides
979 Traitor, thou liest.
Pericles
980 Traitor!
Simonides
981 Ay, traitor;
Pericles
982 Even in his throat — unless it be the king —
983 That calls me traitor, I return the lie.
[Aside.]
Simonides
984 Now, by the gods, I do applaud his courage.
Pericles
985 My actions are as noble as my thoughts,
986 That never relish'd of a base descent.
987 I came unto your court for honour's cause,
988 And not to be a rebel to her state;
989 And he that otherwise accounts of me,
990 This sword shall prove he's honour's enemy.
Simonides
991 No?
992 Here comes my daughter, she can witness it.
[Enter Thaisa.]
Pericles
993 Then, as you are as virtuous as fair,
994 Resolve your angry father, if my tongue
995 Did e'er solicit, or my hand subscribe
996 To any syllable that made love to you.
Thaisa
997 Why, sir, say if you had,
998 Who takes offence at that would make me glad?
Simonides
999 Yea, mistress, are you so peremptory?
[Aside.]
Simonides
1000 I am glad on't with all my heart. —
1001 I'll tame you; I'll bring you in subjection.
1002 Will you, not having my consent,
1003 Bestow your love and your affections
1004 Upon a stranger?
[Aside.]
Simonides
1005 who, for aught I know,
1006 May be, nor can I think the contrary,
1007 As great in blood as I myself. —
1008 Therefore hear you, mistress; either frame
1009 Your will to mine, — and you, sir, hear you,
1010 Either be ruled by me, or I will make you —
1011 Man and wife:
1012 Nay, come, your hands and lips must seal it too:
1013 And being join'd, I'll thus your hopes destroy;
1014 And for a further grief, — God give you joy! —
1015 What, are you both pleased?
Thaisa
1016 Yes, if you love me, sir.
Pericles
1017 Even as my life my blood that fosters it.
Simonides
1018 What, are you both agreed?
Both
1019 Yes, if it please your majesty.
Simonides
1020 It pleaseth me so well, that I will see you wed;
1021 And then with what haste you can get you to bed.
[Exeunt.]

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Notes

TLN 934classical allusion
“she'll wear Diana's livery; This by the eye of Cynthia”
A 'livery' is the uniform worn by a servant or retainer. To wear 'Diana's livery' is to be enrolled as a servant of the goddess of chastity — to live in sworn celibacy. Cynthia is another name for the same goddess in her aspect as the moon: Thaisa swears her vow by the moon itself, making the oath as fixed and bright as the night sky.
classical Diana, virgin goddess of the moon
TLN 943archaic vocab
“how absolute she's in it”
'Absolute' here means resolute or unconditional — not negotiating, not open to persuasion. Simonides is marvelling at how completely fixed his daughter is in her choice, even to the point of defying parental consent.
TLN 947archaic vocab
“I must dissemble it”
To 'dissemble' means to disguise one's true feelings or intentions — to put on a false face. Simonides has just revealed in an aside that he approves of the match entirely; he now resolves to hide that delight and pretend anger so that he can test Pericles's courage. The stratagem is the hinge of the scene's comic irony.
TLN 949archaic vocab
“I am beholding to you”
'Beholding' is an archaic form of 'beholden,' meaning indebted or under obligation. Simonides politely says he owes Pericles a favour for the music Pericles performed the previous night.
TLN 967cultural context
“she loves the knight of Tyre! 'Tis the king's subtilty to have my life”
Reading Thaisa's letter, Pericles leaps at once to the darkest interpretation: a king showing him a love-letter must be a trap to destroy him. This paranoid aside echoes the real threat that drove Pericles from Tyre — King Antiochus of Antioch, who sent an assassin after him when Pericles solved the incest riddle (Act 1). Having barely escaped one king who wanted him dead, Pericles now suspects every powerful man of the same design. 'Subtilty' means cunning craft or stratagem.
TLN 971archaic vocab
“never aim'd so high to love your daughter, But bent all offices to honour her”
'Offices' here means duties or acts of service — the things one does as a matter of respect and courtesy. Pericles insists he aimed only at honourable conduct toward Thaisa, never at winning her love. The syntax inverts modern word order: 'I never aimed so high as to love her; instead I directed all my services toward honouring her.'
TLN 982cultural context
“Even in his throat — unless it be the king — That calls me traitor, I return the lie”
To give the lie 'in his throat' was the most emphatic form of publicly calling someone a liar in Elizabethan usage. A lie 'in the teeth' was direct; a lie 'in the throat' went deeper — it meant the accusation was a deliberate, thoroughgoing falsehood. Pericles is saying he would throw the accusation back as an absolute lie in the face of anyone who makes it — except, cautiously, the king himself. It was a formal challenge that could legally require a duel.
TLN 999archaic vocab
“are you so peremptory”
'Peremptory' means presumptuously decisive, brooking no argument — taking a final position as if the matter were already settled, without waiting for consent. Simonides publicly scolds Thaisa for acting as if her will alone is enough; in the same breath his aside reveals he is delighted.
TLN 1008rhetorical device
“either frame Your will to mine, — and you, sir, hear you, Either be ruled by me, or I will make you — Man and wife”
Simonides builds a comic trap using the rhetorical structure of a threat: 'conform to my will — or I will force you — to be man and wife.' The punishing consequence turns out to be the blessing both parties want. The delayed revelation of 'Man and wife' as the 'punishment' is the scene's comic climax: what sounds like coercion is in fact royal approval. The broken syntax — the repeated 'either... or' and the dramatic dash before the payoff — performs the feigned anger and the glee beneath it.
TLN 1013cultural context
“I'll thus your hopes destroy; And for a further grief, — God give you joy!”
'God give you joy' was the standard wedding blessing spoken to a newly betrothed or married couple in Elizabethan England — the equivalent of 'congratulations' at a marriage. Simonides delivers it with mock-severity as the final 'punishment,' turning his pretended anger inside out. The phrasing 'I'll thus your hopes destroy... God give you joy' parodies the form of a punishment speech to land the joke.