Act 3 Scene 2

Non-stop drinking has given Stephano, flattered by the servile grovellings of his 'servant monster', illusions of grandeur which respond readily to Caliban's suggestions


Caliban is showing new depths to his baseness: his tongue had been liberated by the alcohol, and with vindictive impotence he urges Stephano to do what he himself  dare not do

• 'brain him'

Most of the seven deadly sins have been released in this single, initially comic scene:

• Anger, pride, gluttony, envy, covetousness, lust - and perhaps sloth too, in Stephano's lazy refusal to hear Trinculo's warning