Act 2 Scene 2
Act 2 Scene 2 opens with Caliban cursing Prospero. Caliban (hearing a noise) assumes it is one of Prospero’s spirits, coming to torture him once again. Caliban panics and pulls his cloak over his body, leaving only his feet on show. Unexpectedly the king’s jester, Trinculo, enters instead of Prospero. Trinculo is searching for shelter from the coming storm when he sees Caliban, who appears to be half man and half fish.
Trinculo immediately sees the business possibilities that this find presents. He can take this “monster” back to civilisation and charge admission to spectators who want to view it. Trinculo decides that Caliban is an islander not a creature. The storm begins to get louder so, Trinculo decides to join shelter Caliban under his cloak.
Stefano (The king’s butler) enters, clearly drunk. Stefano see a thing with four legs sticking out from under a cloak. Like Trinculo, Stefano immediately sees the business opportunities that such a creature offers. Stefano Caliban, who thinks that he is about to experience a new form of torture, beyond what Prospero has provided.
After pulling the cloak from Caliban’s head, Stefano begins to pour wine into Caliban’s mouth. Trinculo (relieved to find another survivor of the storm on the island) joins Stefano and Caliban in drinking wine.
Caliban (now drunk) watches the happy reunion of Stefano and Trinculo and decides that Stefano is a god. Caliban swears devotion to this new god, and the three exist of stage together, amid Caliban’s promises to find Stefano the best food on the island.
Plot Summary
The Tempest is a play about sprites magic, betrayal, love and learning to forgive. The play is set on an island near Italy where Prospero ( formerly Duke of Milan), and his daughter, Miranda, live with a sprite called Ariel and a strange creature called Caliban. Prospero is a magician who created a storm, ( known as a tempest), that sets the scene for the play. We see a plot to murder the King of Naples, a drunken scheme to kill Prospero and a romance between Miranda and the King’s son, Ferdinand. In the end everyone is forgiven and they all set sail for home.