In what he sees as his place in the power structure he becomes dictatorial, ruling by threats – which is an echo of one of Prospero’s means of political control. He is unremittingly self-interested and opportunistic. The play has a strong political theme and Stephano becomes a parody of a politician. The comic absurdity of the rebellion by Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban underlines the absurdity of the plotting of the European politicians, far away from their context, powerlessly marooned on an island, with no obvious means of escape, making their plot empty and, reflected by the drunken trio’s plot, comical. Whatever else is happening in the play, Shakespeare returns repeatedly to the antics of the three plotters, which echo, not only the original deposing of Prospero as Duke of Milan, but also what is going on among the other characters who are plotting to overthrow Alonso. Moreover, Prospero is monitoring their machinations. That in itself is funny because they are so ridiculous, particularly so in the face of Prospero’s power, which goes beyond political to magical power. In his drunken state he finds Caliban’s plan to overthrow Prospero appealing and the three plot a coup. Stephano takes that seriously and fancies himself as the king and the rightful ruler of the island, with Caliban and Trinculo as his subjects. Stephano gives him some sack, which makes him drunk and he begins to regard Stephano as a god. The pair meet Prospero’s indigenous island slave, Caliban, soon after their arrival. We never see him sober as he drinks throughout the play and if ever an actor wanted to play a character who is drunk during the whole three hours of a play, this is the one for him.
When we first meet Stephano we see that he has rescued a barrel of sack from the wreckage and is already drunk. It is not funny throughout but whatever humour there is is provided by the antics of Stephano and Trinculo. It can be seen as many things, including a fantasy, a supernatural drama, a revenge play, a political play, and more.
Plays like Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing are not only comedic in their structure but funny throughout. The Tempest is generally classed as a comedy, although the classifications of Shakespeare’s plays (comedy, tragedy, history, etc.) are somewhat cloudy and few of the plays fit neatly into any of those traditional categories. During the course of the play Stephano and Trinculo appear together in all the scenes that contain them.
They do not know about the other survivors, who have emerged from the sea on a different part of the island. Stephano is washed up on the beach with the court jester, Trinculo. Each Shakespeare’s play name links to a range of resources about each play: Character summaries, plot outlines, example essays and famous quotes, soliloquies and monologues: All’s Well That Ends Well Antony and Cleopatra As You Like It The Comedy of Errors Coriolanus Cymbeline Hamlet Henry IV Part 1 Henry IV Part 2 Henry VIII Henry VI Part 1 Henry VI Part 2 Henry VI Part 3 Henry V Julius Caesar King John King Lear Loves Labour’s Lost Macbeth Measure for Measure The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer Night’s Dream Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles Richard II Richard III Romeo & Juliet The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus Troilus & Cressida Twelfth Night The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Winter’s Tale This list of Shakespeare plays brings together all 38 plays in alphabetical order.
0 kommentar(er)
