Original Cuttings

The following is an example of things I looked to cut:

Good Helicane, that stay'd at home,
Not to eat honey like a drone
From others' labours; for though he strive
To killen bad, keep good alive;
And to fulfil his prince' desire,
Sends word of all that haps in Tyre:
How Thaliard came full bent with sin
And had intent to murder him;
And that in Tarsus was not best
Longer for him to make his rest.
He, doing so, put forth to seas,
Where when men been, there's seldom ease;
For now the wind begins to blow;
Thunder above and deeps below
Make such unquiet, that the ship
Should house him safe is wreck'd and split;
And he, good prince, having all lost,
By waves from coast to coast is tost:
All perishen of man, of pelf,
Ne aught escapen but himself;
Till fortune, tired with doing bad,
Threw him ashore, to give him glad:
And here he comes. What shall be next,

The above said by Gower really serves not much purpose rather than to recap the play. In a play that most likely has time constraints, a recap is probably not favorable. Not to mention, the narrator  would appreciate the relieving of these lines.

Another example of something I cut:

Were all too little to content and please,
Although they gave their creatures in abundance,
As houses are defiled for want of use,
They are now starved for want of exercise:
Those palates who, not yet two summers younger,
Must have inventions to delight the taste,
Would now be glad of bread, and beg for it:
Those mothers who, to nousle up their babes,
Thought nought too curious, are ready now
To eat those little darlings whom they loved.

The above is said by Cleon before Pericles is in Tarsus giving them the wheat. Cleon pretty much goes on and on and on about how hungry the people of his land are. We get it, they are beyond famished. I think that a few examples would suffice rather to lengthen the scene and lose the audience's attention. Additionally, much more dramatic examples can serve the purpose fine such as:

So sharp are hunger's teeth, that man and wife
Draw lots who first shall die to lengthen life:
Here stands a lord, and there a lady weeping;
Here many sink, yet those which see them fall
Have scarce strength left to give them burial.

If that is not polarizing to paint an image of the hunger problems, I don't know what is.

Magical Endings

I think that the ending of Pericles, Prince of Tyre is in a word, overwhelming. A family that has been completely separated throughout the Meditaranean region has been yearning for each other for so long. each one of the family members has faced his or her own struggles that complicates the possibility of the family reuniting. In Act 5, Pericles is completely shocked to hear that the young girl's name is Marina. After the long 14 year "search" (since we don't know what happened), the family is finally reunited. Additionally, I also feel that the grand, magical ending contributes to some of the play's main themes: virtue and perseverance. Not many more things are virtuous than constantly working at a goal for 14 years without knowing the outcome. I feel that this ending is better experienced in person as I recall going to Pericle, Prince of Tyre produced by the HTC. Although I like to think myself a little more on the masculine side, I will totally admit I teared up at the ending!

Scene Ideas

I think that the most interesting way to fix the fourteen year gap is to have Pericles embark on an epic journey. In general, something very significant must have occurred in those fourteen years for Pericles to have been stranded from his daughter who he knew was in Tarsus. What could Pericles possibly been doing? We are given no clues in the text either as to where he could have gone or what purposes he had, so it is complete fantasy as to what he did. All forms of fantasy on this matter are equally valid basically as there is no compelling argument either way.

I think most people, however, do not pick up on a subtle clue. This clue came inspired to me through an economic idea called "opportunity cost." An opportunity cost is the cost of giving up the next best thing. So the opportunity cost of going to see a movie would be working, for example. We know that the opportunity cost of Pericles doing whatever he did for those 14 years was giving up being able to see his daughter. So whatever Pericles did for fourteen years, he must have had quite a compelling reason.

This now leaves us with 2 kinda of decisions: involuntary and voluntary. An involuntary decision to fill the 14 year gap would be perhaps that Pericles got shipwrecked again!!! However, I think the shipwreck theme would make me weary and I would want something Pericles deliberately does; in other words, embark on an epic journey.

Quizlet!!

What Happened In Those Fourteen Years??

In Pericles, Prince of Tyre, many people question what happened in the fourteen year gap. Personally, I think that the gap occurred plot-wise so that Marina could mature more in order to fulfill her role in the plot; however, if I was to make the story more interesting and add to the "epic" quality, I would have Pericles spend the years looking for the casket at the bottom of the ocean where he thinks his wife's body should be. Having the gap filled in by this would also lead on to more qualities about Pericles. The ocean is vast, mysterious, and terrifying. The reader/audience can draw a conclusion about the degree of Pericles's bravery for diving into the very heart of uncertainty. The ocean may once again swallow up Pericles and spit him ashore, and Pericles meets the soldiers in the second part of the play where he verifies his identity since he looks like a madman.

Narration

Today in this blog post, I feel like discussing the arguments concurring with the importance of narration in Pericles, Prince of Tyre. The first argument I would like to discuss is the argument I accidentally stumbled upon in class today: narration adds a legendary quality that adds to the epic personality of the play itself. The narration adds to the play's granduer because the nature of narration intrinsically implies oral tradition, i.e., the story was passed down via word of mouth through generation after generation etc. Something absolutely incredible must have happened for people to keep orally passing this story down every generation, right? When one wanted to catch the awe of others, he would revert to an epic journey such as Pericles, Prince of Tyre. 
Secondly, narration is important in a play such as Pericles, Prince of Tyre because the narrators provide background information so that the audience understands the context of the play and why certain characters might make the decisions that they do. The narrator can also fill in gaps in the story that are not in the play so that the audience can further understand the context of the next scene or so. Additionally, I think that the audience may be able to better understand what a narrator says in comparison to the other characters. The emotion (like anger) an actor may be portraying would distract the audience from giving their full attention to the words the actor is saying; however, a narrator is usually unmoving or not physically dynamic but instead verbally dynamic, allowing the audience to further concentrate on the words they are hearing.

The Importance of Central/Essential Metaphors

To be completely frank, I do not fully grasp the idea of what exactly a central or essential metaphor is. Even after some attempts of finding an answer online, the general consensus is that a central metaphor is the most basic form of a metaphor. (for example, "the clouds are white marshmellows").

However, thinking about the discussion in class today, I doubt that the blog post has a deeper meaning than the most basic version of a metaphor. I think that a central metaphor is any metaphor in the play that ties the play together. In other words, I want to write about the metaphors for major themes/ components in the play.

The most fascinating metaphor to me is how life is compared to Pericles's journey. I feel that Shakespeare is probing at the idea of the necessity of self-exploration. Pericles left his kingdom in fear of being killed by assassins from Antioch; thus, he was forced to learn who he really was. Just like in life, Pericles's journey had many bumps in the road, but sometimes these bumps are beneficial in making someone more resilient. Pericles nearly had everything he desired in life, but then a storm wrecks his ship. The sea takes Pericles and spits him upon the shore with absolutely nothing. This instance resembles the common metaphor in the play of rebirth. Pericles was reborn because he is literally starting over from nothing. Pericles proves to be a very humble and persistent individuals as he never belittled those who he met, such as the fishermen, with his nobility status (although Pericles would have a difficult time claiming his identity). As the play unfolds, the new qualities Pericles will discover he has further promotes the central metaphors of life and rebirth. Perhaps Shakespeare urges for people to undertake a personal journey of their own and learn of their true inner-person.