Oftentimes, the minor characters in a play can be vital and, among other things, function to further the action of the play or to reveal and illuminate the personalities of other characters. To help the reader understand a character with greater depth, writers sometimes use a literary device called a foil. A foil is a character that contrasts strongly with another. In Shakespeare's great tragedy Hamlet, Laertes, Fortinbras, and Hamlet find themselves in similar situations. …showed first 75 words of 1983 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1983 total…Leads." 7 Nov. 1999. http://www.mtsn.org.uk/staff/staffpages/cer/hamlet/Horatio_etc.html> (8 Oct. 2001). "Much Ado about Hamlet: A Study in Shakespeare." 2 Feb. 1999. http://copper.ucs.indiana.edu/~ammckee/shake-0.html> (27 Dec. 2000). Prosser, Eleanor. Hamlet and Revenge. London and Stanford: Oxford UP, 1967. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992. Weitz, Morris. Hamlet and the Philosophy of Criticism. London: Faber & Faber, 1972. Wilson, John Dover. What Happens in Hamlet. New York: Macmillan, 1936.