Pericles

Father-daughter pairs are a recurring motif in the play, highlighting The Importance of Chastity and Political Virtue as well as loss and rebirth. The first father-daughter pair presented in the play is also the most corrupt version of the filial bond. Antiochus and his daughter represent a breakdown of the family unit, and thus, chaos and death. The imagery used to describe them evokes a beautiful façade barely concealing the stench of rot. Not only does the play compare them to cannibalizing serpents, the arena in which the riddle is to be solved is lined with the heads and bones of past suitors. Further, Antiochus’s daughter is unnamed throughout the play, signifying the unspeakable incest taboo.

The second father-daughter pairing is that between Simonides and Thaisa, a bond that meets the parameters of propriety. Unlike Antiochus, who feeds on his own flesh, Simonides wants to marry off his daughter to the man of her choice. However, Simonides and Thaisa’s interactions are still in the worldly realm, with Simonides showing off Thaisa as “beauty’s child, whom nature gat [begat] / For men to see, and seeing wonder at” (II.