How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #7
PERICLES
The good King Simonides, do you call him.
1 FISHERMAN
Ay, sir; and he deserves so to be called for his
peaceable reign and good government. (2.1.101-103)
Before we even meet him, we know that King Simonides is a foil to the wicked King Antiochus. His subjects love him because he's a good ruler and because he keeps his kingdom out of wars. Not only that, but Simonides actually wants his daughter to marry, since he knows his kingdom is going to need an heir when he's gone—unlike Antiochus, who wants to keep his daughter all to himself.
Quote #8
And knowing this kingdom is without a head,—
Like goodly buildings left without a roof
Soon fall to ruin,—your noble self,
That best know how to rule and how to reign,
We thus submit unto,—our sovereign. (2.4.35-39)
When Pericles flees his kingdom and doesn't return home for a long period of time, his subjects think he's dead. This causes a ton of chaos and fear back in Tyre because the people feel vulnerable without their monarch. Here, one of the lords says the kingdom is like a body without a "head," or a house without a "roof."
Quote #9
Imagine Pericles arrived at Tyre,
Welcomed and settled to his own desire.
[...]
Now to Marina bend your mind [...] (4, Prologue, 1-5)
The play seems to be asking whether or not it's possible to
be a good parent and
a good monarch at the same time. When Pericles is busy tending
to his family, his kingdom suffers. When he's being a good ruler, his daughter's
life is put in danger by the people he has trusted to care for her. And by the
way, why the heck does Pericles leave Marina in Tharsus when he returns back
home to rule Tyre?