In the Greek tragic drama, Antigone, by Sophocles Ismene is a foil of her sister. There are many characteristics that exhibit this, such as, Ismene’s lack of courage, how she chooses to follow civil laws over the laws of the gods, and finally, how Ismene cannot stand up for herself. There are many instances in the play where these traits are are exhibited. One way that Ismene is a foil of Antigone is because she lacks courage. This flaw of Ismene is shown at many points in the play, but perhaps the instance where this trait is the most prevalent is when she refuses to help Antigone bury their slain brother. This happens at the very beginning of the story right after Eteocles has been given a proper obsequey, and Polynices will be left unburied. Antigone begs, “Will you help me? Will you do something with me? Will you? Would you help me lift the body . . . you and me?” (pg. 507). In response to this Ismene says, “You cannot mean . . . to bury him? Against the order? May the dead forgive me, I can do no other, but as I am commanded; to do more is madness” (pg. 507-508). Ismene is afraid to help her sister give their brother the funeral that he deserves because she is not brave enough, and rightly so. The consequences of doing this are …show more content…
Someone who I believe is my foil, is my younger brother Sam. There are many things that support this, but the most significant difference is while Sam likes to have everything go just his way, I prefer to sit back and make sure that everyone is happy. Sam is more of a “my way or the highway guy”, while I just go with the flow. This shows you aren’t always going to agree with everything that someone believes in, or do the same things that they do, or follow the same rules as they do, even if you are related to them. Everybody has their own ideas on how they think their world should be, and how the people living in them should