How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #4
Yet cease your ire, you angry stars of heaven!
Wind, rain, and thunder, remember, earthly man
Is but a substance that must yield to you;
And I, as fits my nature, do obey you:
[...]Let it suffice the greatness of your powers
To have bereft a prince of all his fortunes [...] (2.1.1-9)
Pericles has a pretty good reason to be ticked off at the gods. After all, he just experienced a terrible shipwreck that killed his entire crew. What's interesting about Pericles is that he's not all that defiant toward the "angry stars of heaven." Here, he insists on his obedience and his human weakness.
Quote #5
[...] but fortune, mov'd,
Varies again; the grisly north
Disgorges such a tempest forth [...] (3.Prologue.46-48)
Just as things seem to be going well for our hero (he marries Thaisa and sets sale for home with his pregnant wife), moody fortune whips up another tempest that tears apart Pericles's family. Is it just us, or does this remind you of that famous passage in Shakespeare's King Lear? "As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods / They kill us for their sport" (King Lear 4.1.4). In other words, the gods seem totally indifferent to human suffering and can be incredibly cruel.
Quote #6
O you gods!
Why do you make us love your goodly gifts,
And snatch them straight away? We here below
Recall not what we give, and therein may
Use honor with you. (3.1.22-26)
Pericles is pretty ticked off when he hears that his wife has died giving birth to the couple's child, and he demands to know why the gods are always taking away the things we love the most in this world. What's interesting about Pericles is how this is as close as he ever really comes to rebelling against the gods and fate.