Act IV, Scene 3 Tarsus. A room in CLEON's house.

Enter CLEON and DIONYZA

 

DIONYZA Why, are you foolish? Can it be undone?
CLEON O Dionyza, such a piece of slaughter
The sun and moon ne'er look'd upon!
DIONYZA I think
You'll turn a child again.
CLEON Were I chief lord of all this spacious world,
I'ld give it to undo the deed. O lady,
Much less in blood than virtue, yet a princess
To equal any single crown o' the earth
I' the justice of compare! O villain Leonine!
Whom thou hast poison'd too:
If thou hadst drunk to him, 't had been a kindness
Becoming well thy fact: what canst thou say
When noble Pericles shall demand his child?
DIONYZA That she is dead. Nurses are not the fates,
To foster it, nor ever to preserve.
She died at night; I'll say so. Who can cross it?
Unless you play the pious innocent,
And for an honest attribute cry out
'She died by foul play.'
CLEON O, go to. Well, well,
Of all the faults beneath the heavens, the gods
Do like this worst.
DIONYZA Be one of those that think
The petty wrens of Tarsus will fly hence,
And open this to Pericles. I do shame
To think of what a noble strain you are,
And of how coward a spirit.
CLEON To such proceeding
Who ever but his approbation added,
Though not his prime consent, he did not flow
From honourable sources.
DIONYZA Be it so, then:
Yet none does know, but you, how she came dead,
Nor none can know, Leonine being gone.
She did disdain my child, and stood between
Her and her fortunes: none would look on her,
But cast their gazes on Marina's face;
Whilst ours was blurted at and held a malkin
Not worth the time of day. It pierced me through;
And though you call my course unnatural,
You not your child well loving, yet I find
It greets me as an enterprise of kindness
Perform'd to your sole daughter.
CLEON Heavens forgive it!
DIONYZA And as for Pericles,
What should he say? We wept after her hearse,
And yet we mourn: her monument
Is almost finish'd, and her epitaphs
In glittering golden characters express
A general praise to her, and care in us
At whose expense 'tis done.
CLEON Thou art like the harpy,
Which, to betray, dost, with thine angel's face,
Seize with thine eagle's talons.
DIONYZA You are like one that superstitiously
Doth swear to the gods that winter kills the flies:
But yet I know you'll do as I advise.
  [Exeunt]

 

To see other scenes in the show:

Full Text Act III, Scene 1 At sea.
Act I, Scene 1 Antioch. A room in the palace. Act III, Scene 2 Ephesus. A room in Cerimon's house.
Act I, Scene 2 A room in the palace. Act III, Scene 3 Tarsus. A room in Cleon's house./Act III, Scene 4 A room in Cerimon's house.
Act I, Scene 3 An ante-chamber in the palace. Act IV, Scene 1 Tarsus. An open place near the sea=shore.
Act I, Scene 4 A room in the Governor's house Act IV, Scene 2 Mytilene. A room in a brothel.
Act II, Scene 1 Pentapolis.  An open place by the sea-side. Act IV, Scene 3 Tarsus. A room in Cleon's house.
Act II, Scene 2 The same.  A public way or platform leading to the lists.  A pavilion by the side of it for the reception of King, Princess, Lords, etc. Act IV, Scene 4 Chorus dialogue./Act IV, Scene 5 Mytilene. A street before the brothel.
Act II, Scene 3 The same. A hall of state: a banquet prepared. Act IV, Scene 6 The same. A room in the brothel.
Act II, Scene 4 Tyre.  A room in the Governor's house. Act V, Scene 1 On board Pericles' ship, off Mytilene.  A close pavilion on deck with a curtain before it:  Pericles within it, reclined on a couch. A barge lying beside the Tyrian vessel.
Act II, Scene 5 Pentapolis. A room in the palace. Act V, Scene 2 Chorus dialogue./Act V, Scene 3 The temple of Diana at Ephesus: Thaisa standing near the altar, as high priestess: a number of virgins on each side: Cerimon and other inhabitants of Ephesus attending.

 

To view other Pericles sections:

Main Play Page      Play Text     Scene by Scene Synopsis     Character Directory     Commentary  

 

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All's Well the Ends Well Antony & Cleopatra As You Like It Cardenio Comedy of Errors Coriolanus
Cymbeline Edward III Hamlet Henry IV, Part 1 Henry IV, Part 2 Henry V
Henry VI, Part 1 Henry VI, Part 2 Henry VI, Part 3 Henry VIII Julius Caesar King John
King Lear Love's Labours Lost Love's Labours Wonne Macbeth Measure for Measure Merchant of Venice
The Merry Wives of Windsor A Mid Summer Night's Dream  Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles Richard II
Richard III Romeo & Juliet Sir Thomas More Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus Troilus & Cressida Twelfth Night Two Gentlemen of Verona The Two Noble Kinsman The Winter's Tale

 

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