Foil (narrative)

[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...").

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] In Emily Brontë's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights, Edgar Linton is described as opposite to main character Heathcliff, in looks, money, inheritance and morals, however similar in their love for Catherine.

In Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice, Mary's absorption in her studies places her as a foil to her sister Elizabeth Bennet's lively and distracted nature.

In Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune, Feyd-Rautha serves as the narrative foil to Paul Atreides.

Don Quixote and his sidekick Sancho Panza , as illustrated by Gustave Doré : the characters' contrasting qualities [ 1 ] are reflected here even in their physical appearances
Dr. Frankenstein and his monster