Stephano : How now shall this be compassed? Canst thou bring me to the

1.	Stephano : How now shall this be compassed? Canst thou bring me to the partyCaliban : Yea, yea, my lord. I’ll yield him thee asleep, Where thou may’st knock a nail into his head.Ariel : Thou liest, thou canst not.Caliban : What a pied ninny’s this! Thou scurvy patch! I do beseech thy greatness, give him blows, And take his bottle from him : When that’s gone He shall drink naught but brine; for I’ll not show him Where the quick freshes are.(i) Who is Stephano? What is the “this ” that is to be “compassed”? (ii) Who is Caliban speaking about when he says “I’ll yield him thee asleep”?What is the reason for Caliban’s hatred towards that person? (iii) Who is Caliban calling “a pied ninny”? Explain the terms “a pied ninny” and “scurvy patch ”? (iv) What is Ariel’s intention in being a part of this conversation? (v) What is the plot Caliban outlines before Stephano a little later in the scene?
Answer» (i) Stephano is Alonso’s butler. “This” is the purpose of Stephano becoming the king of the island. (ii) Caliban is speaking about Prospero. Caliban hates Prospero because he believes that he is the real owner of this island, being the son of Sycorax, the witch. Prospero had taken this island from him by his power of magic and Prospero also ill-treated Caliban and punished him in many ways. (iii) Caliban calls Trinculo a ‘pied ninny’. ‘Pied ninny’ means a fool who wears striped clothes and ‘scurvy patch’ means a diseased clown. (iv) Ariel wants to deliberately cause a quarrel between Stephano and Trinculo. Then he wants to inform Prospero about the conspiracy that is being plotted against him. (v) Caliban outlines the plot that Prospero goes to sleep in the afternoon; “there thou mayst brain him, having first seiz’d his books; for without them he’s but a sot, as I am”. Stephano can then kill Prospero easily, marry his daughter, and become the king of the island.

Stephano : How now shall this be compassed? Canst thou bring me to the partyCaliban : Yea, yea, my lord. I’ll yield him thee asleep, Where thou may’st knock a nail into his head.Ariel : Thou liest, thou canst not.Caliban : What a pied ninny’s this! Thou scurvy patch! I do beseech thy greatness, give him blows, And take his bottle from him : When that’s gone He shall drink naught but brine; for I’ll not show him Where the quick freshes are.(i) Who is Stephano? What is the “this ” that is to be “compassed”? (ii) Who is Caliban speaking about when he says “I’ll yield him thee asleep”?What is the reason for Caliban’s hatred towards that person? (iii) Who is Caliban calling “a pied ninny”? Explain the terms “a pied ninny” and “scurvy patch ”? (iv) What is Ariel’s intention in being a part of this conversation? (v) What is the plot Caliban outlines before Stephano a little later in the scene?

Answer»

(i) Stephano is Alonso’s butler. “This” is the purpose of Stephano becoming the king of the island.

(ii) Caliban is speaking about Prospero. Caliban hates Prospero because he believes that he is the real owner of this island, being the son of Sycorax, the witch. Prospero had taken this island from him by his power of magic and Prospero also ill-treated Caliban and punished him in many ways.

(iii) Caliban calls Trinculo a ‘pied ninny’. ‘Pied ninny’ means a fool who wears striped clothes and ‘scurvy patch’ means a diseased clown.

(iv) Ariel wants to deliberately cause a quarrel between Stephano and Trinculo. Then he wants to inform Prospero about the conspiracy that is being plotted against him.

(v) Caliban outlines the plot that Prospero goes to sleep in the afternoon; “there thou mayst brain him, having first seiz’d his books; for without them he’s but a sot, as I am”. Stephano can then kill Prospero easily, marry his daughter, and become the king of the island.

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