Foil (narrative)
In any narrative, a foil is a character who contrasts with another character, typically, a character who contrasts with the protagonist, in order to better highlight or differentiate certain qualities of the protagonist.[2][3][4] A foil to the protagonist may also be the antagonist of the plot.[5]
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.[6]
A foil usually either differs dramatically or is an extreme comparison that is made to contrast a difference between two things.[7] 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...").[8]
Etymology[edit]
The word foil comes from the old practice of backing gems with foil to make them shine more brightly.[9]
Shakespeare refers directly to the origin of the term "foil" in Henry IV, Part 1. Prince Hal says that when he starts behaving better, the change will impress people:
"And like bright metal on a sullen ground/
My reformation, glittering o'er my fault/
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes/
Than that which hath no foil to set it off."[10]