SceneFiend library
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
By William Shakespeare - Stage play
Roles
- Pericles - Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50), Male
About this piece
Pericles narrates to Helicanus what happened in Antioch
Summary
In the city of Antiochus, in Syria, King Antiochus rules the city. We learn in the prologue that he is committing incest with his beautiful daughter and is keeping all her suitors away by forcing them to answer a riddle or die. One of the suitors is Pericles who in the first scene of the play is in King's Antiochus court, determined to try and answer his riddle. When he reads the riddle he realizes that it is about the incest going on with his daughter. He then refuses to answer it saying that he knows the truth but rather not tell it. The king, who realizes Pericles knows about the incest, tells him he will be executed in 40 days. Pericles decides to flee and goes back to Tyre. There he meets Helicanus, one of his councelors. Helicanus overhears him lament about his situation and advices him to get over his grief. In this monologue Pericles tells Helicanus what happened to him in Antioch and why he fled the city.
Tone
Use cases
Library metadata only. SceneFiend never includes script text here - pick up the published version to rehearse.