Foil: Difference between revisions
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[[Literary Terms]] | [[Literary Terms]] | ||
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Revision as of 10:25, 10 November 2004
A dramatic character who enhances or deflates another character by contrast. Based on the literal jeweler’s foil, or black velvet cloth held behind a piece of jewelry to allow it to shine in contrast. Horatio, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, represents the definitive foil to Hamlet.