Foiled

"I'll be your foil, Laertes:
in mine ignorance
Your skill shall,
like a star i' the darkest night,
Stick fiery off indeed"
~ Hamlet, Act 5 Scene 2


I'll just dive right in without much introduction. Here is my favorite entry from my favorite literary reference:

A foil is literally a sheet of bright metal that is placed under a piece of jewelry to increase its brilliance. In literature, by extension, the term is applied to any person or sometimes thing that through strong contrast underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another.
~ A Handbook to Literature by C. Hugh Holman

Wikipedia adds:

A foil usually has some important characteristics in common with the other character, such as, frequently, superficial traits or personal history. The author may use the foil to throw the character of the protagonist into sharper relief.

The foil is not the same as the antagonist, who directly opposes the protagonist of a story as a rival or opponent. In fact, the foil is often the sidekick of the protagonist. Some examples come to mind:

• In Lucy Maude Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, consider the “bosom friends,” Anne Shirley and Diana Barry. What a contrast, right? Placed next to her dear friend, Anne’s imagination, intelligence, and independence are shown even more brightly.

• Felix Ungar! Perhaps he would have made a fine neat freak and hypochondriac without interaction with Oscar Madison, but make them roommates and see how the close quarters sharpen the differences . . . yes, a truly odd couple.

Those are just two, off the top of my head. Examples abound, though, and why is this? As with other literary devices (irony, metaphor, conflict, comedy, tragedy, etc.), what makes a foil so effective is the mirroring of reality. What is true in fiction is often true in life. Shakespeare said,

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts. . .

Sometimes we are the protagonist, and sometimes we are the foil on this big stage.

~ End Quote

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Little Note to Liz
You wrote, "I'm surrounded by schedule-oriented people, to be sure. How did that happen? Everyone I love and care for are A-OK with structure and predictability; in fact, they thrive on it. They can happily eat, think, do the same things every day and be perfectly happy - how can that be?? I'm dying just thinking about it." I am wondering . . . perhaps if you did not have so many foils surrounding you, being who you are in your "one percent" might not be so tough. I love you. ~Kev