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{{about|a character foil|other types of foil|Foil (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Quixo-panza.jpg|right|thumb|[[Don Quixote]] and his sidekick Sancho Panza, as illustrated by [[Gustave Doré]]: the characters' contrasting qualities<ref name="Corwin1978">{{cite book|last=Corwin|first=Norman|title=Holes in a stained glass window|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_zIhR7dRjOEC|accessdate=3 March 2013|date=1978-04-01|publisher=L. Stuart|isbn=9780818402555}}</ref> are reflected here even in their physical appearances]]

In [[fiction]], a '''foil''' is a character who contrasts with another character —usually the [[protagonist]]— in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/211951/foil |title=foil | literature | Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Britannica.com |date= |accessdate=2015-02-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/72433?rskey=H1lv7r&result=1# |title=Home : Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=Oed.com |date= |accessdate=2015-02-18}}</ref><ref name="Auger2010">{{cite book|last=Auger|first=Peter|title=The Anthem Dictionary of Literary Terms and Theory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pweHrSjCQrgC&pg=PA114|accessdate=3 March 2013|date=August 2010|publisher=Anthem Press|isbn=9780857286703|pages=114–}}</ref> In some cases, a subplot can be used as a foil to the main plot. This is especially true in the case of [[metafiction]] and the "[[story within a story]]" motif.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cramster.com/definitions/foil/509 |title=Chegg Study | Guided Solutions and Study Help | Chegg.com |publisher=Cramster.com |date= |accessdate=2015-02-18}}</ref> The word foil comes from the old practice of backing gems with foil in order to make them shine more brightly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=foil |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |date= |accessdate=2015-02-18}}</ref>

A foil usually either differs dramatically or is extremely similar but with a key difference setting them apart. The concept of a ''foil'' is also more widely applied to any comparison that is made to contrast a difference between two things.<ref name="dictionary.com">{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/foil?s=t |title=Define Foil at Dictionary.com |publisher=Original publisher, Collins World English Dictionary, reprinted at Dictionary.com |accessdate=3 March 2013}}</ref> [[Thomas F. Gieryn]] places these uses of literary foils into three categories, which Tamara A. P. Metze explains as: those that emphasize the ''heightened contrast'' (this is different because ...), those that operate by ''exclusion'' (this is not X because...), and those that assign ''blame'' ("due to the slow decision-making procedures of government...").<ref name="Metze2010">{{cite book|last=Metze|first=Tamara Antoine Pauline|title=Innovation Ltd.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rEuiswdy-_UC&pg=PA61|accessdate=3 March 2013|year=2010|publisher=Eburon Uitgeverij B.V.|isbn=9789059724532|pages=61–}}</ref>

==Examples from literature==
In ''[[Frankenstein]]'', by [[Mary Shelley]], the two main characters: [[Victor Frankenstein|Dr. Frankenstein]] and his "creature" are both together literary foils, functioning to compare one to the other.

In [[Jane Austen]]'s ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'', Mary's absorption in her studies places her as a foil to her sister [[Lydia Bennet]]'s lively and distracted nature.<ref name="Leverage2011">{{cite book|last=Leverage|first=Paula|title=Theory of Mind and Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tvgViy7acjkC&pg=PA6|accessdate=3 March 2013|year=2011|publisher=Purdue University Press|isbn=9781557535702|pages=6–}}</ref>

Similarly, in [[Shakespeare]]'s play ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]'', the character Brutus has foils in the two characters Cassius and Mark Antony.<ref name="Marrapodi2011">{{cite book|last=Marrapodi|first=Michele|title=Shakespeare and Renaissance Literary Theories: Anglo-Italian Transactions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FYLz55bOV88C&pg=PA132|accessdate=28 February 2013|date=2011-03-01|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=9781409421504|pages=132–}}</ref>

In the ''[[Harry Potter (franchise)|Harry Potter]]'' series, [[Draco Malfoy]] can be seen as a foil to the [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]] character; [[Severus Snape|Professor Snape]] enables both characters "to experience the essential adventures of self-determination"<ref name="Heilman2008">{{cite book|last=Heilman|first=Elizabeth E.|title=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ltSc0DZNlBwC&pg=PA93|accessdate=3 March 2013|date=2008-08-05|publisher=Taylor & Francis US|isbn=9780203892817|pages=93–}}</ref> but they make different choices; Harry chooses to oppose [[Lord Voldemort]] and the Death Eaters, whereas Draco eventually joins them.

==See also==
* [[Sidekick]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Fiction writing}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}

[[Category:Counterparts to the protagonist]]

Foil (literature) - Revision history

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