Trinculo

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Trinculo Character Summary

Trinculo is King Alonso’s jester and provides the audience with coarse humour that was popular at the time.

Comic relief

On stage, he would have worn a colourful costume that would have left the audience in no doubt about his position.
In Act 4, Scene 1, the two men are distracted from their plot to kill Prospero by the clothes and trinkets put on stage by Ariel.
This highlights their inability to be good rulers and the ridiculousness of such a notion. This implies that the divine order is needed to maintain order in society.
At court, Trinculo is very low level.

Prose vs verse

Even when Caliban is speaking about an opportunity for the two men to gain power by overthrowing Prospero on the island, Trinculo cannot avoid mocking Caliban. It is not often that the jester would have somebody he could look down upon in this way.
Both Stephano and Trinculo typically speak in prose as opposed to the verse used by other members of the royal party. This highlights their lowly status.

Drunkenness

They are also seen as drunk on stage, demonstrating common conceptions of the lower classes who were seen to waste the little money they had on alcohol.
Even though Caliban would have been seen to be lower than the jester and butler within the Jacobean social ranking system, the presentation of Trinculo and Stephano on stage would make us question this.
- This presentation reflects up and coming ideas about whether the natives were really the ‘cannibals’ they were stereotypically made out to be or not!

Key Quotations - Trinculo

Here are three key quotations that highlight aspects of Trinculo's character:

'Thou liest, most ignorant monster'

'Thou liest, most ignorant monster: I am in case to / justle a constable. Why, thou deboshed fish thou, / was there ever man a coward that hath drunk so much / sack as I to-day? Wilt thou tell a monstrous lie, / being but half a fish and half a monster?'
- Trinculo viciously attacks Caliban - it makes us feel sorry for Caliban, that he is being mistreated by a comedic and laughable figure like Trinculo.

'A most perfidious and drunken monster'

Trinculo: 'By this light, a most perfidious and drunken / monster! when 's god's asleep, he'll rob his bottle.'
Caliban: 'I'll kiss thy foot; I'll swear myself thy subject.'
- Trinculo is a ridiculous and drunken figure, so it seems laughable that Caliban would 'kiss' his foot and swear his loyalty to him. This highlights Caliban's vulnerable state and the comedic role of Trinculo.

1Key Words

1.1Key Words

1.1.1Key Words 1

1.1.2Key Words 2

1.1.3Key Words 3

1.1.4Key Words 4

2Context & Overview

2.1Context & Overview

2.1.1Overview

2.1.2Context

3Act 1

3.1Act 1 Analysis

3.1.1Overview

3.1.2Scene 1

3.1.3Scene 2

4Act 2

4.1Act 2 Analysis

4.1.1Overview

4.1.2Scene 1

4.1.3Scene 2

5Act 3

5.1Act 3 Analysis

5.1.1Overview

5.1.2Scene 1

5.1.3Scene 2

5.1.4Scene 3

6Act 4

6.1Act 4 Analysis

6.1.1Overview

6.1.2Scene 1

7Act 5

7.1Act 5 Analysis

7.1.1Overview

7.1.2Scene 1

7.1.3The Epilogue

8Key Characters

8.1Major Characters

8.1.1Prospero

8.1.2Miranda

8.1.3Caliban

8.1.4Ariel

8.1.5Ferdinand

8.1.6Alonso

8.2Minor Characters

8.2.1Antonio

8.2.2Stephano

8.2.3Sebastian

8.2.4Gonzalo

8.2.5Trinculo

9Themes

9.1Major Themes

9.1.1Power

9.1.2Magic

9.1.3Status, Race & Pronouns

9.1.4Comedy

9.1.5Freedom vs Servitude

9.1.6Revenge

10Authorial Method

10.1Authorial Method

10.1.1Genre & Time

10.1.2Music & Illusion

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