Foil (literature)

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Foil (literature)

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A foil is a character that contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) and so highlights various facets of the main character's personality. A foil usually has some important characteristics in common with the other character, such as, frequently, superficial traits or personal history. The author may use the foil to throw the character of the protagonist into sharper relief.

A foil's complementary role may be emphasized by physical contrasts. Dreamy and impractical Don Quixote

Don Quixote

, fully titled is an early novel written by Spain author Miguel de Cervantes. Cervantes created a fictional origin for the story based upon a manuscript by the invented Moors historian, Cide Hamete Benengeli....
is thin; realistic, practical Sancho Panza

Sancho Panza

Sancho Panza is a fictional character in the novel Don Quixote written by Spain author Miguel de Cervantes in 1602. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote, and provides comments throughout the novel, known as sanchismos, that are a combination of broad humor, ironic Spanish proverbs, and earthy wit....
is fat. Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of Scotland-born author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle....
is tall and lean; Doctor Watson

Doctor Watson

Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character, the friend, confidant and biographer of Sherlock Holmes, the fictional 19th-century Detective fiction created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle....
, although at first, on his return from Afghanistan, is described as lean, he is later described as "middle-sized, strongly built."

In some cases, a subplot can be used as a foil to the main plot. This is especially true in the case of metafiction

Metafiction

Metafiction is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction. It is the literary term describing fictional writing that self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in posing questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, usually, irony and self-reflection....
. One example of a plot being used as a foil can be seen in the graphic novel Watchmen
Watchmen

Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins . The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form....
, in which a comic book within the Watchmen universe presents a story similar to that of one of the main characters.

The "straight man

Straight man

Straight man may refer to:* Straight Man, a novel by Richard Russo* A member of a double act who plays a foil in theatrical comedy* A heterosexual male...
" in a comedy duo is a comic foil. While the straight man portrays a reasonable and serious character, the other portrays a funny, dumb, or simply unorthodox one. The humor in these partnerships derives from the interactions between these drastically different personalities.

Origins

The term foil refers to the practice of putting polished foil

Metal leaf

Metal leaf, also called composition leaf or schlagmetal, is a thin foil used for decoration. Metal leaf can come in many different shades....
underneath a gemstone to make it shine more brightly.

It is also likely that widespread use of the word "foil" in literature comes from the play Hamlet
Hamlet

Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle King Claudius, who has murdered King Hamlet, the King, and then taken the throne and married Gertrude ....
by Shakespeare, in which Hamlet says that "I'll be your foil, Laertes: in mine ignorance / Your skill shall, like a star i' the darkest night, Stick fiery off indeed" (Act 5 Scene 2)

Other examples of foil characters in Shakespeare's King Lear are: Oswald and Kent, Edmund and Albany, and Cornwall and Gloucester.

Foil (literature)

Origins

See also