Hamlet Character Foils What is a Character Foil

Hamlet Character Foils

What is a Character Foil?

A Character Foils is… �A character who provides a direct contrast to another character, and by doing so illuminates the traits of the other character. �Examples in popular culture: �Agent J (Will Smith’s character) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones’ character) in Men in Black �Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in Star Wars �Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy �Mercutio and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet

Character Foils in Hamlet �Which of these characters are foils to Prince Hamlet and why? �A) Prince Fortinbras �B) Laertes �C) Ophelia

They All Are! �Fortinbras is a clear foil since, like Hamlet, his father was killed and his uncle became King; he also bears his father’s name like Prince Hamlet. He stands in contrast because he, unlike Hamlet, is quick to take action and seek revenge. �Laertes is also a foil since he too loses a father and seeks immediate revenge. �And Ophelia is also a foil since she does actually go mad, which is contrast to Hamlet’s feigned madness.

Paragraph Frame In Hamlet, Shakespeare introduces character foils in order to ______. One example of a character foil, Prince Fortinbras, stands in sharp contrast because ______. Hamlet illustrates their differences in his soliloquy in Act IV when he states, “_____” ( ). From these lines the reader can conclude that, unlike Hamlet, Fortinbras ____. A second character foil to Hamlet is _____, who, in contrast to Hamlet, ______, as demonstrated by “_____” ( ). The importance of this foil is _____. These two foils truly help the audience to understand _____.

Frame Sentence �In Hamlet, Shakespeare introduces character foils to illustrate the character development of Prince Hamlet. The character of Prince Fortinbras is in sharp contrast with Hamlet, and therefore acts as a foil to Hamlet. Shakespeare presents this foil to illustrate _________. Hamlet witnesses some troops marching towards Poland in a soliloquy states, “____________” ( ). From these lines we the audience can conclude __________. Another character foil to Hamlet that Shakespeare presents is __________. When __________ realizes ________ he is quick to action and states “___________” ( ). Based on these two characters, Fortinbras and _______, there actions are in contrast to those of Hamlet particularly when it comes to ___________.