A character that might parallel yet contrast another is said to be a foil. A foil is used to clarify character traits as well as issues in stories and plays. An example of this would be Iago and Othello from the Shakespeare play Othello. Othello is a trustworthy and upstanding individual who has a slight problem as far as spontaneity is concerned. Iago, on the other hand, is deceptive and manipulative, but Iago thinks things out thoroughly. Shakespeare uses these two characters against each other to further bring out their good and bad traits. This idea of a foil seems to be a recurring tool that Shakespeare uses in his plays. Shakespeare clarifies character traits in Hamlet by the use of foils.
             One of the best examples of foils in the play is Hamlet against Laertes. At the beginning of the play, we all know that Hamlets father was killed. He has this trait in common with Laertes later on in the play when his father Polonius is killed by Hamlet. At this point, both me are seeking vengeance for a fathers death. This shows perhaps, Hamlet's "fatal" or "tragic" flaw. Hamlet hesitates at every opportunity he has to kill Claudius with Laertes is willing to seek vengeance immediately. Laertes says:
             "How came he dead? I'll jot be juggled with:
             To hell, allegiance! Vows, to the blackest devil!
             Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit
             That both the worlds I give to negligence,
             Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged
             Most thoroughly for my father."
             At this point, we really see that Laertes is ready to die and that he does not care about what will happen to him in the next life. Hamlet is plagued by this idea of what will happen next and thus cannot fulfill his task. Another thing these two men have in common is Ophelia. Both men love her only in different ways. Hamlet loves her as a man would love a wife and a Laertes loves her as a brother would love his sister. When she die...