Pericles

Thus, Gower says, Marina escapes the brothel, making an honest living by tutoring the children of nobility and teaching embroidery and music. Marina’s embroidered landscapes are so beautiful people often mistake them for nature itself. The only downside to her work is that she has to give her earnings to the awful Bawd. 

Leaving Marina for a while, Gower now visits her father, Pericles. As fortune would have it, Pericles’s ship is approaching Mytilene, which is busy celebrating the annual festival of Neptune, the god of the seas. Lysimachus, the governor, sets out in a boat to meet the grand ship approaching his shores. Gower asks the audience to sit and watch intently, as they are bound to like what happens next.

Helicanus helps Lysimachus onto the deck of the Tyrian ship. Lysimachus introduces himself. Helicanus tells Lysimachus that the ship belongs to King Pericles. For the last three months, the king has not met anyone and eaten but the bare minimum required to survive. Grieving for his dead wife and daughter, Pericles is despondent. Lysimachus requests to meet Pericles. Helicanus pulls a curtain to reveal Pericles, but warns Lysimachus that Pericles may not pay him any heed.