# The Inca — Short Plays character guide

> The Inca in Short Plays by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** the Inca, The Inca, The Inca Schinkenburg, Schinkenburg, Snooks, The Inca Snooks, Inca

**First appearance:** 0043-the-inca-of-perusalem

## Snapshot

A German emperor disguised as a waiter and calling himself Snooks, the Inca of Perusalem stalks through Shaw's satire with the wounded dignity of a ruler who has misplaced his throne.

## Who they are

He is the play's central absurdity, a monarch reduced to odd jobs and aliases, negotiating with an English princess who mistakes him for a servant and a fortune-hunter. His pride and his poverty collide in every scene, and the comedy turns on the gap between the imperial self-image and the shabby reality of a hotel corridor. He matters because through him Shaw stages the whole farce of deposed majesty, asking what a crown is worth when its wearer must borrow a coat and a name.

## Relationships

### [Ermyntrude](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters/ermyntrude)

_family_

Ermyntrude is the daughter of The Inca, and their relationship is marked by his overbearing control and her rebellion.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters/the_inca
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters