In Act 2 Scene 2 of “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare, Trinculo uses Imagery, and comedy, to convey his hostility towards Caliban. In the early parts of the scene, Trinculo finds Caliban covered by a cloak on the beach. At first glance Trinculo is confused with Caliban, he has no idea what lays before him under the cloak, he uses his opening monologue of the scene to convey his confusion, stating, “What have we here? a man or a fish? dead or alive? A fish: he smells like a fish; a very ancient and fish-like smell” (24-27). Trinculo goes on poking fun of Caliban and his hideous form until he comes to the conclusion that Caliban is a man, so he exclaims “This is no fish, but an islander, that hath lately suffered by a thunderbolt” (34-36). …show more content…
After Stephano and Trinculo rejoice together after realizing they are alive, the three of them begin to talk, and Stephano realizes Caliban can be of assistance to them as he knows the island much better than either of them and can help them survive. The three continue talking, and each begins to drink hard alcohol that Stephano has brought. The Alcohol gets each of them quite drunk and Trinculo and Stephano begin to make fun of Caliban, for his drunkenness, and how much of a monster he truly is. For example, Trinculo berates Caliban when he says, “A most ridiculous monster, to make a wonder of a Poor drunkard!” (160-161). Even though the two are constantly bullying Caliban, he is too drunk to take it personally and allows Trinculo to throw foul words at him. As they talk Caliban goes on about he can help them, on the island, however, Trinculo, continuing as the jester he is, simply continues to make fun of Caliban. Showing that he is not concerned with his situation on the Island, he is more concerned with keeping his spirits alive and exclaiming his newfound hatred for this monster. It is unclear why Trinculo, immediately holds this hostility towards Caliban, but he makes it quite clear to Stephano, that there is no love between him and the drunken