Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act 2 Scene 0 — Summary & Analysis

What happens

Gower returns to narrate the passage of time and events between acts. He recounts how Helicanus, governing Tyre in Pericles' absence, receives word that Antiochus and his daughter are dead—killed by heaven for their incest. Pericles receives a letter warning him to stay away from Tyre, while he remains in Tarsus. Gower then moves the story forward: Pericles marries Thaisa, she becomes pregnant, and they set sail for Tyre when a terrible storm strikes, shipwrecking them.

Why it matters

Gower's prologue functions as both narrative bridge and temporal accelerator. By compressing weeks into minutes of stage time, he frees the play from naturalistic constraint and invites the audience into the mythic register where *Pericles* operates. The death of Antiochus and his daughter—struck by divine fire for their incest—establishes a moral order in which transgression carries swift, supernatural consequence. This creates thematic weight: Pericles, by contrast, has fled rather than sinned, and heaven's apparatus will work differently on his behalf. Gower's direct address ('pardon old Gower') acknowledges the artifice and asks for imaginative collaboration, making the audience co-creators of the story rather than passive observers.

The scene also establishes the play's reliance on news, rumor, and report as engines of plot. Letters arrive with warnings; Helicanus hears of Pericles' whereabouts and sends word. Information moves faster than the prince himself, and fate seems to operate through these textual and verbal exchanges. The storm that closes Gower's narration marks a shift from court intrigue to elemental catastrophe—from human malice to forces beyond any character's control. This move toward the random, the oceanic, the incalculable, will dominate the middle acts. Gower's calm, observational tone contrasts sharply with the violence to come, preparing us for rupture and loss.