Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo

From the beginning of the play it is presented to the audience that the pair is used as a source to provide humour in the play and to provide a form of light relief from the seriousness of the play itself. Evidence of this is shown in Act 3 Scene 2 where the three characters, Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo, are drunk and this presents that the group is laughable, flippant and seemingly only there to provide a comedic effect due to this and several other quite comedic scenes.

On the other hand, the pair could be used to make the original plot more serious and this is shown throughout the sub-plot of the pair usurping against Prospero with Caliban. This is not only used to create a more serious original plot but to also increase the understanding of the characters such as Caliban and what motives they have, for example, why Caliban wishes to kill Prospero.

Finally, Stephano and Trinculo could also have the purpose of presenting the darker and negative side of civilization and the weakness of humanity in contrast to Prospero. This is shown throughout the play as Stephano and Trinculo are both drunks and seemingly uneducated, while plotting against Pospero. This contrasts with Prospero who is presented as a very knowledgeable character and is used to show the contrasts between humanity and how there is both a light and dark side to it.