How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #7
[...] Even at the first
Thy loss is more than can thy portage quit,
With all thou canst find here. (3.1.34-36)
Thaisa's apparent death isn't just a terrible blow to Pericles. Here, he reminds us that his newborn daughter (Marina) has suffered a tremendous loss at the very beginning ("the first") of her life. This idea is repeated throughout the play, especially when Marina says "Thaisa was my mother, who did end / The minute I began" (5.1.211-212).
Quote #8
[...] How thou stirr'st, thou block!
The music there!—I pray you, give her air.
Gentlemen.
This queen will live: nature awakes; a warmth
Breathes out of her: she hath not been entranced
Above five hours: see how she gins to blow
Into life's flower again! (3.2.90-96)
Was Thaisa just unconscious, or was she really dead? Did Cerimon bring her back to life with his miraculous healing powers and some music? What does this tell us about the way the play sees death?
Quote #9
O, come hither,
Thou that beget'st him that did thee beget;
Thou that wast born at sea, buried at Tharsus,
And found at sea again! (5.1.194-197)
We talk about this quote in "Themes: Family" and also in "Symbols," but it's super important, so we need to mention it here, too. When Pericles is finally reunited with the daughter he thought was dead, he says he feels like he's experienced a rebirth. Here, he puns on the phrase "to beget," which is an old-fashioned way of saying "to give life to." On the one hand, Pericles calls Marina the daughter that he "did beget" with his wife. (Translation: he and his wife made her.) But at the same time, Pericles feels like his daughter has also given him life. In other words, their family reunion has given him a renewed sense of hope and a new love of life.