Trinculo and Stephano were primarily used for comic relief. Comic relief is very important because the story must be able to keep the audience interested. What better to make someone laugh than a pair of drunken servants? During the duration of the story, their drunkenness causes them to do things that normally they would not do. They blindly attempt to take on Prospero, a powerful sorcerer and scheme how to defeat and kill him. This is quite amusing because it shows us how incredibly foolish we act when we are drunk. Of course their attempt to take on Prospero proves to be pointless, instead they play dress up with his cloaks. When Prospero finally shows up, Stephano and Trinculo run for their lives and leave Caliban behind carrying the clothes they attempted to steal.
Trinculo and Stephano were also quite amusing by being drunk throughout the entire story; they even stated that they wouldn't drink anything else until the wine ran out. "Tell not me. When the butt is out, we will drink a drop of water, not a drop before."(III.ii.1-2)
Trinculo and Stephano also contribute to the play the idea that the evil in mankind shows no boundaries. While Antonio and Ferdinand are making a plot to kill the King, Alonso, for power, Trinculo and Stephano are doing the same towards Prospero. They were enchanted by the story that Caliban told them. He said that they would become in charge of the island once Prospero was disposed of. Another display of their lack to purity comes in the speech by Trinculo on finding the resting Caliban. Trinculo stated that if he were back home that he would have people pay to see Caliban. "Were I in England now, as I once was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver"(II.ii.28-30) He was trying to exploit Caliban. Afterwards, they fool Caliban into thinking they're gods and take more advantage of him.
Shakespeare used Trinculo and Stephano as comic relief primarily but also used them to demonstrate the evil in our nature. In a way, he seemed to have been condemning humans. This story is a prime example of the selfishness, egocentrism, and hunger for power that we see and deal with every day. Trinculo and Stephano were two characters used to show how wrong we human beings really are.
