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Examples Of Foil Characters In Julius Caesar

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Foil Characters Create Protagonist Complexity
A foil character is a device used by authors to oppose or reflect another character, oftentimes the protagonist. When correctly adopted, it can highlight the morality or traits of a protagonist. An example of this literary device is found in the timeless series of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson foil each other. Watson’s empathy and compassion highlight Sherlock’s neurotic and insensitive tendencies. Another example of foil characters is found in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, with the characters of Mark Antony and Brutus. The creator of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare, strategically develops contrasting points of view through foil characters.
Shakespeare uses foil characters to develop different perspectives and reveal the …show more content…

Ostensibly, Shakespeare reveals traits of a foil character, Antony through his speech. While discussing Caesar’s will with his triumvirate, Antony adumbrated decreasing the amount of money that will be given to his people: “Bring his will here, and we’ll figure out a way to reduce his bequests to the people”(Shakespeare,155). Fueled by a rapidly increasing cupidity for power, Antony implies lessening the number of funds Romans receive from Caesar’s fortune to keep it for themselves. This suggests that Antony has become progressively greedy and selfish. These traits reflect Brutus’s charity and magnanimous nature. Moreover, Antony’s greed and thirst for power, combined with Brutus’s trust in him, reveal that Brutus is more gullible and confiding than he may seem. These traits further flesh out Brutus’ personality and give him dimension. If Shakespeare had not developed Antony’s traits as a foil character, audiences would not have viewed Brutus as a multi-dimensional

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In almost every book ever written, there are characters that bring out the differences of others. Whenever the author, rather than plainly stating the characteristics, uses other characters to imply the traits of another character, it is called a character foil. In “Much Ado About Nothing,” there are many people that act as foils of each other. In the book “Much Ado About Nothing” written by William Shakespeare, Beatrice is a foil to Hero because of their differing personalities, actions, and opinions. Beatrice and Hero are foils to each other because of their contrasting personalities.

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A foil is a character in a book who erodes the identity of another character. One example of a foil is Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer is Huckleberry Finn’s foil throughout Mark Twain’s book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck and Tom each have their own individual character, but when Huck is around Tom’s character his character falters. Others however believe that neither Tom nor Huck have good character.

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A foil is either a character who is opposite to the main character or nearly the same as the main character. The purpose of the foil character is to emphasize the traits of the main character by contrast only. The author adds these characters in his novel so that the reader can better understand the main characters and the story. The character foils being presented are about Amir and Hassan, their foils are shown when they are both still children and their differences clearly reflect one another.

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To be a Foil Character is defined as being purposely written to accentuate a specific quality of another character. In his short story, Killings, Andre Debus writes the protagonist, Matt, as a fifty-five year old man, aged and passive, but shown with angry undertones. However, as Dubus describes Matt’s son, Frank, he is displayed quite differently, as young and masculine. Frank, a symbol of masculinity and youth, an ideal man with much more to live for, is used as a foil character by Debus to Matt, being well past his prime, to emphasize the complexities of Matt’s grief.

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Some say that opposites attract; in some cases they do and in some they do not. A foil is a character who is opposite of another character in order to highlight certain characteristics in both characters. An example of foils in a play that Shakespeare wrote, Romeo and Juliet, including rambunctious Tybalt and the tranquil Benvolio. Another example is the obnoxious funny Mercutio and the lovey dovey Romeo. Romeo and Juliet was a Shakespearean play written 1595 by William Shakespeare.

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A foil is a character who contradicts and contrasts another character. A foil is used in literature to emphasize or accentuate certain qualities of a character. Shakespeare uses foils in most of his famous works such as Romeo and Juliet where Mercutio, kinsman to the prince, is a foil to Romeo, Lord Montague’s son. Mercutio is the direct opposite of Romeo. Romeo is a romantic, serious teen who falls recklessly and easily in love.

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While Brutus spoke well, but had no real factual standpoint, Antony gave many examples of Caesar’s achievements. In his speech he uses Pathos, Logos, Ethos, and Situational Irony to sway his audience. He uses Brutus’ and Cassius’ precious honor and Caesar’s achievements against them, saying, “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept./ Ambition should be made of sterner stuff./ Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,/ And Brutus is an honorable man” (3.2.90-93). In this statement and many other statements following the same pattern Antony degrades the honor and the arguments of Caesar’s ambition that were made by Brutus and the other conspirators.

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