Cleon's Curse
When Pericles brings corn to the famine-stricken Tarsus, Cleon, the governor, embraces him as hero and proceeds to call for a curse to fall upon anyone who expresses ingratitude. Cleon accepts no limitations upon this curse. He thus ironically damns himself to his own curse when his wife Dionyza attempts to have the grown daughter of Pericles murdered and Cleon enters the conspiracy in the cover-up.
The Murderer
Practically the first words out of Leonine's mouth are expressions of hesitancy about killing such a “goodly creature” as Marina. Leonine is prepared to go through with the murder, but his heart is not really in it and he is actually relieved when pirates appear at the last second and kidnap Marina, thus saving him from having to actually do it. Thinking he is totally in the clear by this unexpected stroke of lucky fortune, he tells Dionyza that he did kill Marina. Fate ironically steps in, however, as Dionyza secretly poisoned him despite buying his lie.
Irony and Fate
After Pericles leaves Tarsus with the agents of Antiochus hot on his heels, he suffers the bad luck of his ship not surviving a storm. Only Pericles manages to survive the shipwreck by making it to shore. Out of everything that was on board with him, only one item manages to make it to just that spot where fishermen retrieved and revived him. Ironically, that item is a heavy suit of armor (that would have likely otherwise sunk in the shipwreck). Moreover, that armor is the one thing he needs at that moment in order to take part in a jousting tournament celebrating the birthday of the daughter of the king.
Virgin in the Brothel
The entire subplot of Marina being bought by the brothel from the pirates that kidnapped her is ironic. The transaction is made precisely because Marina is still a virgin, and thus highly desirable for clientele. It is precisely these attributes and Marina’s devotion to keeping them all intact—especially her virginity—which actually causes the brothel to lose money as her goodness succeeds in converting all potential buyers of her virtue.
