“Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love” This quote from Reinhold Niebuhr tells of a human incapability to accomplish a deed of any sort without the assistance of love. In The Catcher in the Rye; Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little Brown and Company, 1991 and Jane…
A foil character is a character whose presence enhances the qualities of another character. A foil character isn’t that important but at the same time is very important because that character could be the cause of a dramatic ending. The play Much Ado About Nothing written by William Shakespeare, shows how misinformation led to a couple who were planning to get married ended up not going through with it. Don John and Don Pedro are two brothers but complete opposites of each other. Don John is a foil character to Don Pedro. Don John looked for any way to ruin Hero and Claudio’s wedding, while Don Pedro looked for any way to help Hero and Claudio get married.…
Jane Eyre grows throughout the novel. Other characters help her along her path of change, whether they are friend or foe. Jane is at first a young child that is completely dependent on others at and is trampled on and mistreated by the antagonists, Mrs. Reed and her son. Their mistreatment helps her to develop confidence and independence, because she finally has the courage to stand up for herself and realize that she is not below them. More noble characters in the novel such as Helen help Jane’s character development…
Character foils are when a character in a play or book bring out the characteristics of another character. Shakespeare uses this method of indirect characterization in many of his plays. In the play Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Hero and Beatrice are character foils because they have opposite personality traits, they react differently to certain situations, and they express emotions in different ways.…
A foil is a character who contrasts with another character; it is used to make the traits of the other character emphasized. Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby are completely opposite characters, and are developed as foil characters based on their characteristics, how they got wealthy, their goals in life, and their love they have for Daisy. In the novel “The Great Gatsby”, Tom is portrayed as a very brutal and cruel person. He is arrogant and extremely racist and treats women as secondary beings. He shows less respect towards women; He even sees his wife Daisy as an unimportant and less superior person than him. “Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with rather hard mouth and supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward… It was a body of enormous leverage – a cruel body” (Fitzgerald pg. 7), this quote gives a detailed description on how Tom Buchanan is portrayed in this novel. Meanwhile, Gatsby is very calm and gentle character who shows and treats every person with the same respect because he knew what it was like being in the low class or poor. He treats daisy like a precious diamond, he would do anything to get her and give up anything for her. Another reason why Gatsby and Tom are completely opposite characters is because how they got…
Victorian mores are the unspoken rules known and observed by society. In the eighteen-hundreds several mores were very important including justice, Christianity, high standards of honesty and morality, and women’s roles. All good people are part of a family, a Christian family and women are to serve men as they stand unequal to them. Marriage is simply a tool to gain more money and connections, and only people of the same social class are worthy of each other. Whichever social class someone is born into they remain in unless of course they are rich or beautiful, the poor and plain are simply there to be the butlers, maids and governesses of those who are high up. Several of these mores are demonstrated and contradicted in Charlotte Bronte’s 1847 masterpiece Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre is the life story of a young heroin that faces incredible odds and terrible situations and still manages to follow her heart and morals through an exciting life that leads her to a blissful ending. Charlotte Bronte uses her narrative to display several of the Victorian mores and demonstrate why they’re important, and alternately disprove the significance of others.…
Though Blanche, from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, thinks that opposites attract and thus that she will marry Rochester, Brontë has different ideas about foils. Near the end of the novel Jane marries Rochester effectively quieting Blanche’s ideas. However, Brontë does use foils in the novel for a different reason. She uses characters will opposite personalities to reveal more about them, and to keep the reader from overlooking many of the major characters’ traits. For instance, without Blanche, who is a foil of Jane, one may have thought Jane a simple and plain governess and nothing more. Similarly, without St. John the reader could have missed Rochester’s passionate side, or with no Mrs. Reed how supportive Miss Temple really is. Using foils, Brontë reveals more about the personalities of the major characters, and keeps the reader from overlooking many traits. One can see that Jane and Blanche are opposites from before they even meet. While Jane is rather plain and unattractive on the outside, Blanche is described as beautiful with, “the noble bust, the sloping shoulders, the graceful neck, the dark eyes and black ringlets” (183) Even Jane cannot deny that Blanche is beautiful. In addition, Blanche grows up in a rich noble family while Jane is an orphan who was sent to a lowly boarding school. The opposites do not stop at their looks and backgrounds, for even Jane and Blanche’s personalities are completely different. Jane is an independent, passionate, and respectful young woman, although she often seems very practical and rational. Blanche flaunts herself, gossips, talks about marriage, and can be very rude as shown when she says “she (Jane) looks too stupid for any game of the sort” (194). While Jane was in the room, Blanche speaks loudly and rudely of her without a second thought. In addition, Blanche only wants Rochester as her husband for his money, and for the title of a wife. She likes the fact that he is not handsome because as a…
In order to highlight important traits in a primary character, authors sometimes include a secondary character who contrasts in important ways with the former. This secondary character is referred to as a foil. These characters are sometimes similar in many ways, thereby making their differences even more pronounced in comparison. The relationship between these characters can be used to bring important personality traits to life.…
Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre was produced in the Victorian era, when social elitism was in its prime and there was great segregation between the upper and lower estates. The former was composed of the clergy and nobility and was defined by wealth, privileges and lavish lifestyles. The middle class, conversely, were the most frustrated by the exclusiveness of the upper estate. Possessing skill, intelligence and assertiveness, they believed that rank and power should derive from talent and merit, rather than from noble birth. Through the demonisation and infliction of a tragic downfall upon “Master Reed”, Brontë condemns the life of pleasure and honour, the lifelong inactivity so heavily indulged by those born into the aristocracy. By characterising Mr Brocklehurst as excessively and hypocritically pious, Brontë highlights the upper clergyman’s propensity to masquerade as a great nobleman, rather than to exercise the competence and benevolence integral to his role. Finally, Brontë implements a love of “servitude” and disdain for a “still … doom”, as well as the ambiguous social position of a governess in her protagonist, Jane Eyre, rendering her an agent for the middle class’ philosophy on worthiness of privilege. Ultimately, Brontë’s Jane Eyre calls for the reformation of the Victorian social structure as the extremities involved in social elitism ignore the inherent needs of man.…
Charlotte Brontë uses Jane Eyre and Helen Burns as foils to each other in her novel, Jane Eyre. To the audience, the two characters appear to be complete opposites due to the stark differences in the philosophy they have on life and in their actions. Despite not having much in common, Jane and Helen become good friends and Jane even learns some very important life lessons from her friendship with Helen. Furthermore, Helen Burns acts as the representation of an ideal Christian child, which has the potential to receive a wide variety of responses from readers of different centuries. Charlotte Brontë used the qualities of Helen Burns that could be considered an ideal Christian child as a foil to Jane Eyre, thus highlighting the meaning of their…
Present throughout Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, is the idea of marriage and contrasting viewpoints on the matter. Elizabeth retains her romantic view of the subject, despite pressure from societal forces. Her good friend, Charlotte Lucas, however chooses security over emotional fulfillment, showing in a sense a societal norm at that point in time. Through Charlotte's friendship with Elizabeth, her dialogue that echoes the views of society regarding wealth and marriage, and her eventual choice to marry Mr. Collins, she serves as a stark contrast to Elizabeth; further emphasizing Elizabeth's own idealized views.…
Jane Eyre is an orphan adopted by her aunt. Jane is treated very cruel by her aunt her three children. Her aunt, Mrs. Reed, never listened to Jane. Her cousins always tormented her because they knew she would be punished. Her aunt branded her as a liar.…
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre illustrates the significance of self-respect, confidence, and integrity in overcoming several predicaments. Bronte portrays this through Jane, who possesses both a sense of self-worth and dignity, which are continually tested and depicted throughout the novel. These attributes are illustrated when she refuses St. John’s hand in marriage, leaves Rochester after discovering his secret that he is married, and when she bravely stands up to Mrs. Reed.…
Nick: A foil is two characters with opposite traits to highlight their differences. So for instance, William Roper is a man of wavering morals, he changed from Catholicism to Lutheranism and then back to Catholicism again. But More is a man of constant morality, he refused to speak his mind about the marriage under the idea of silence giving consent. Another example could be Richard Rich and Sir Thomas More. Richard Rich believed that every man has his price- meaning that everyone can be bought off, however, Sir Thomas More didn’t have a price. He refused to fold from the threats made by Thomas Cromwell and he refused to fold to his family and friends desire for him agree to the marriage.…
In Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Bronte’s use of foils to reveal Jane’s true character enriches the reader’s interest when reading the novel. Characters in the novel such as Georgina Reed, Blanche Ingram, Helen Burns, Bertha Mason and Mr. Rochester show a meaningful contrast to Jane’s personality.…