He is willing to be affectionate when power is entirely his; for example, he ensures his daughter’s marital happiness, so long as the suitor will give him a royal legacy, and he praises Ariel and promises to give him freedom, so long as the spirit obeys him. Over the course of the play, we witness the growth of what seems like affection between the two. His attempt is never quite caught. Alonso spends much of the play mourning his son Ferdinand, who he thinks has drowned. A butler on the Italian ship. However, while his staged fatigue is to convince Miranda of his devotion and his masculinity, it prompts her to undercut this masculinity by offering to do the work for him, in some sense taking matters into her own hands and suggesting he is too weak to do the work required. He finds a casket of wine from the ship’s cargo and shares it with Trinculo and Caliban, who convinces him he will be king of the island if he can kill Prospero and take his throne. Duke of Milan and Prospero’s brother. He has something of a taste for liquor, and is well-served when he is cast up on the shore with a butt of wine that he held onto to avoid drowning. Caliban believes Stephano to be a god because he gave him wine to drink which Caliban believes healed him.[1]. Hopkins was aboard the Sea Venture when it was shipwrecked on Bermuda. At the same time, the play’s emphasis on Prospero’s attempt to get back the dukedom that was rightfully his echoes Caliban’s insistence that the island is his by the exact same rules of inheritance. Act 3: Scene II[1], He that dies pays all debts. 'The Tempest' Themes, Symbols, and Literary Devices, Prospero: Character Analysis of Shakespeare's 'Tempest' Protagonist, Top 5 Female Villains in Shakespeare Plays. Prospero had treated him kindly until he attempted to rape Miranda, after which he was forced to live in a rock. The Tempest is a prime example of the selfishness, egocentrism, and power hunger that we see and deal with every day. In contrast, the most violent parts of the play, the shipwreck and the hunting dogs’ chase, are brought about when Prospero feels his authority is under threat. Caliban is a complicated character. From the very beginning of the play when he accuses the diligent Miranda of not listening well enough to his story, he appears to be a control freak, demanding loyalty and respect. Would cry to a sailor Go hang!

[1] Stephano is rather gullible. He was imprisoned by the witch Sycorax when she ruled the island, but Prospero freed him. A key theme of the play is power. He quickly becomes lord-like, threatening Trinculo with violence. Lov'd Mall, Meg, and Marian, and Margery, Caliban: I have seen thee in her, and I do adore thee. Ruler of the island and Miranda’s father.

Alonso’s brother. An “airy spirit” and the fairy-servant of Prospero. [1], The master, the swabber, the boatswain, and I, He is a survivor of a shipwreck off a remote island in the Mediterranean Sea. Stephano (centre), Trinculo and Caliban dancing on the sea shore, painting by, KS3 Set Scenes Support: "The Tempest" Pupil Workbook (Longman Schools Shakespeare), Tempest essays – Trinculo and Stephano of Shakespeare's Tempest, William Shakespeare's Works/Comedies/The Tempest, A True Reportory of the Wracke and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates, Knight, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stephano_(The_Tempest)&oldid=961423964, Articles with self-published sources from December 2017, Articles with self-published sources from January 2018, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 8 June 2020, at 11:22. He also acknowledges his guilt in Prospero’s undoing years before, as he accepted Antonio as the rightful duke despite his betrayal. Antonio is probably the least scrupulous character in the play, and he is the originator of another plot to take the throne from Alonso through more murders‹though this plot is engineered by Prospero, and made possible by Ariel's magical powers. On the island, Antonio convinces Sebastian to murder his brother Alonso the king, showing that his ruthless ambition and lack of brotherly love continues to this day. Thought is free.

(see 'The Plan' below). Although Prospero protests that he treated Caliban well, teaching him English and allowing him to live in his house, there is no question that Caliban was denied his own culture, language, and lifestyle with Prospero’s arrival. They provide a comic foil to the other, more powerful pairs of Prospero and Alonso and Antonio and Sebastian. Much of the play's social action is dictated by the powerful wizard, but each character has his or her own claim to power. For his cooperation, Ariel gets his freedom—but only once Prospero leaves the island for his own dukedom and desires no more claim to it. Yet a tailor might scratch her where'er she did itch. [2] This is what Stephano wants, possibly because he is used to being a servant. Ariel, however, can be seen next to Caliban as a victim of Prospero’s colonialism; after all, he was imprisoned by the witch Sycorax, herself an intruder, and is seen by some scholars as the rightful owner of the island. [1] (see 'The Plan' below). Meanwhile, she falls in love with Ferdinand immediately. Stephano is a character in Shakeseare’s play, The Tempest. Finding Trinculo with Caliban, he swiftly gets the latter drunk and makes him swear obedience to him. Caliban convinces them to attempt to overthrow Prospero, but they are no match for the powerful wizard. Prospero may for this reason forgive his perfidious brother Antonio and treat the king’s retainers—even those that attempt to kill him—mercifully, only when it is clear they are in his power.

This is a scurvy tune too; but here's my comfort. In the same vein, the whole play can be seen as a spectacle of Prospero’s recapturing of power from the brother who stole his title. He is not afraid to make a bit of a show of this semi-heroic toil if she’s watching. Act 2: Scene II[1], Caliban: Hast thou not dropp'd from heaven? He quickly becomes lord-like, threatening Trinculo with violence. The slave of Prospero, Caliban was the son of Sycorax, the witch who ruled the island after she banished from the city of Algiers in Algeria. [3], Stephano may have been created, along with Trinculo, to add comedy and show human greed. His unlikeability is thus complicated, and is in fact never resolved by Shakespeare; we are left uncertain about Caliban’s fate by the end of the play, perhaps because no ending would feel justified or satisfying.

In the play, Trinculo finds Caliban hiding under a cloak and thinks he had been struck by lightning. Trinculo, a jester, and Stephano, a drunken butler, are two minor members of the shipwrecked party. [4], Shakespeare used Trinculo and Stephano primarily as comic relief but also to demonstrate the evil in our nature. Please consider making a small donation to help keep this site free. He is quickly distracted from this plot by some shiny new clothes, then tormented by invisible spirits, before discovering that his master is still alive and that he is in serious trouble. Furthermore, both Prospero and Ferdinand align her value to an extent with her virginity, and thus define her by her relations to other men above her own feminine personality or power. Caliban believes the wine healed him and thinks Stephano a god. Stephano plots against Prospero with Caliban and Trinculo. When Prospero accuses him of spying, Ferdinand shows he is brave (or at least dashing), drawing his sword to defend himself. Then to sea, boys, and let her go hang! Stephano, played by Mark Lockyer, wore a ship steward’s uniform of white coat and bow tie, with buck teeth, a fake posh accent, and a beer belly.