The Use of Foils in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations

Everything is relative. In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Dickens uses foils to show off the characters' good and bad characteristics. Foils make characters more 3-dimensional and interesting. They make the young men, young women, and older men in this novel more realistic.

In this novel, four young men foil for each other: Pip, Herbert, Startop, and Drummle. Physical foils, like Pip's description of Startop and Drummle emphasize differences in appearance. "Heavy in figure, movement, and comprehension, he was idle, proud, niggardly, reserved, and suspicious. He came of rich people who had nursed this combination of qualities," (739) Pip recalls about Drummle. Pip has a more favorable description of Startop. "Startop had been spoiled by a weak mother and kept at home when he ought to have been at school, but he was devotedly attached to her and admired her beyond measure. He had a woman's delicacy of feature" (739). While the old proverb states that a book shouldn't be judged by its cover, Dickens intends to. Although pampered by rich parents as a child, Bentley distrusts all people. Startop, on the other hand, raised only by a poor mother, has a much better disposition than Drummle, despite his upbringing. Drummle and Startop foil for each other in the way Herbert and Pip behave towards them. While trying to decide who to take to help navigate Magwitch's getaway boat, Herbert says, "Take Startop. A good fellow, a skilled hand, fond of us, and enthusiastic and honorable" (803). Pip and Herbert have exactly the opposite opinion of Drummle. When Pip realizes that Drummle has intentions of marrying Estella, he pleads, "Put me aside forever ... but bestow yourself on some worthier person than Drummle" (789). In contrast to their opinion of the popular Startop, Pip and the others dislike Drummle with a vengeance.

In addition to Drummle and Startop, Pip and Herbert also serve the purpose of foiling for each other. When Pip tells Herbert to stare his bills out of countenance, Herbert replies, "So I would Handel, only they are staring me out of countenance" (757). As Pip reflects on Miss Havisham's intentions, he concludes that, "She has adopted Estella, she has as good as adopted me, and it could not fail to be her intention to bring us together," (747). Herbert categorizes himself as a realist because he knows that just "staring his bills out of countenance," fails to make them disappear. At the other end of the spectrum, Pip's idealistic views contribute heavily to his ruination. He believes Miss Havisham wants him to marry Estella without having any evidence what-so-ever. Estella, herself, foils for a couple of characters in this novel.

Estella, Biddy, and Clara contrast each other, both physically and in their dispositions. These first two characters appear at the beginning of Great Expectations and immediately exhibit drastic differences. After Pip's second visit to Miss Havisham's, Pip reflects on Estella's behavior, and later on Biddy's. "Sometimes, she would be quite familiar with me; sometimes, she would tell me energetically that she hated me," (703) Pip relates about Estella. However, he later realizes, "Biddy was never insulting, of capricious, of Biddy today, and somebody else tomorrow" (717). In spite of the fact that, all her life, Biddy has toiled and received nothing in return, she remains stable and lovable. Though constantly showered with praise and jewels by a wealthy woman, Estella's unpredictability seems inevitable. Estella and Biddy share many foils, including how clothing reveals their character. "In her furred traveling dress, Estella seemed more delicately beautiful than she had ever seemed yet," (754) Pip reveals about Estella as she steps off the train. At Mrs. Joe's funeral, Pip describes Biddy. "Biddy, looking very neat and modest in her black dress, went quietly here and there, and was very helpful" (758). These two young women obviously have very different views on life. Biddy does not try to look beautiful, but prefers altruism as evidence of her true beauty. Meanwhile, Estella's main goal in life is making herself beautiful. When introduced to Clara, it seems that she highly resembles Biddy, and so must obviously be a foil for Estella. Their manners reveal much about their character. When Pip first meets Clara he observes, "There was something confiding, loving, and innocent in her modest manner" (793). When Estella says, "Moths and all sorts of ugly creatures ... hover about a lighted candle. Can the candle help it?" (767) she reveals a definite lack of modesty, unlike Clara. Dicken's supplies other foils which emphasize differences in both age and sex.

Male foils dominate in this novel. Joe, Mr. Jaggers, Compeyson, and Magwitch contrast on matters of opinion and outward appearance. Opinion towards the value of money is the basis of Joe's and Mr. Jaggers' foil. When Jaggers asks if Joe wants money compensation for the loss of Pip's services, Joe replies, "Pip is welcome to go free with his services, to honor and fortun'...But if you think as money can make compensation to me for the loss of the little child" (720). However, when Pip loses Magwitch's money, he remembers that: "Mr. Jaggers was angry with me for having let it slip through my fingers, and said we must try at all events for some of it" (816). The honest, hardworking Joe values love much more than money. Mr. Jaggers has no one to love, and so he cares only about money. The other two older men who foil for each other are Magwitch and Compeyson. They share the penchant for criminal behavior but have no other discernible similarities. After Magwitch's capture by the soldiers, he confesses, "I took some wittles, up at the village over yonder ... From the blacksmith's" (682). Magwitch has this recollection about the hallucinating Arthur. "Compeyson's wife was a-having pity on him ...and Compeyson was a-having pity on nothing and nobody" (784). Compeyson doesn't take pity on anyone, but Magwitch sees himself in Pip's situation, realizes Pip's fears, and takes pity on him. Their appearances also differ strongly. At their trial, Magwitch remembers, "What a gentleman Compeyson looked, wi' his curly hair and his black clothes, and his white pocket handkercher" (785). Magwitch also recollects, "I was so miserable poor that I sold all the clothes I had except what hung on my back, afore I could get Jaggers" (785). At the end of the trial, Compeyson receives only seven years, while Magwitch ends up with fourteen. His appearance, Magwitch realizes, caused this. The categories of opinions and outward appearances serve as good vehicles for the furthering of foils in this story.

Dickens uses foils to make a point that foils don't only exist in storybooks. Everywhere one looks, people contrast each other. Everything looks good until it's compared to something else. How true this seems when related to everyday life. To sum it all up, Dickens uses foils to show that differences add spice to life.