Pericles
Part I Boult is sent to the brothel to rape Marina. Marina pleads to Boult, “Do anything but this thou doest” (IV, 6,167). By saying this, she shows how much she values her virginity. Her virginity is all she has that she can say is truly hers. She does not have a family, a true place she can call home, or even someone to love her. Her mother supposedly died and was thrown overboard while she was still an infant. She is taken by pirates to the brothel after she is left alone when her nurse dies. Marina begs Boult not to commit rape because she has already suffered many traumas, and has nothing to comfort her. Her only sense of belonging is within herself, knowing that she is still a virgin. She only wants to lose her virginity when she knows that she is ready to let go of her parents and be independent. She tells Boult to “Empty/Old receptacles, or common shores, of filth” (IV, 6, 167-168). By saying this, Marina tells Boult to preserve her purity. She wants him to do anything but rape her. She sees rape as something dirty, and doesn’t want Boult to commit a dirty crime. Rather than rape her, she wants him to do the opposite. Using the example of cleaning up garbage from the shore, she tells Boult to be “clean” rather than adding to the filth and destroying what is pure. She wants him to do something beneficial rather than destructive. Her speech warns him against destroying the pureness in society. She speaks not only for herself, but for the other women in the brothel as well.