Foil
Foil: A character whose contrasts with another highlight that character's qualities.
A foil is comparison staged as a person: set the cautious friend beside the reckless hero and both become visible without a word of narration.
Foil examples
"Hamlet even puns on the word to Laertes - 'I'll be your foil, Laertes' - naming the device they enact."
— Hamlet, Shakespeare
"Mercutio's mockery of love throws Romeo's romanticism into relief."
— Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare
"Watson's solid decency measures exactly how strange Holmes is."
— Sherlock Holmes stories, Arthur Conan Doyle
"Draco Malfoy shadows Harry as the boy the same world produced with opposite values."
— Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowling
Spot the Foil
Score: 0/0A character whose contrasts with another highlight that character's qualities.
"Hamlet even puns on the word to Laertes - 'I'll be your foil, Laertes' - naming the device they enact."
Which work is this from?
Explore every literary device in the poetic devices hub.
Foil: common questions
What is foil in literature?
A character whose contrasts with another highlight that character's qualities. A foil is comparison staged as a person: set the cautious friend beside the reckless hero and both become visible without a word of narration.
What is an example of foil?
A classic example is "Hamlet even puns on the word to Laertes - 'I'll be your foil, Laertes' - naming the device they enact." (Hamlet, Shakespeare).
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