Foil

Character Role Analysis

Rodolfo to Eddie

Eddie and Rodolpho are way different. Eddie is a hardworking longshoreman from the gritty streets of Red Hook. Rodolpho is a fun-loving jack-of-all-trades from the sunny isle of Sicily. Eddie is middle-aged and cynical. Rodolpho is young and idealistic. Everything about Rodolpho freaks out Eddie. The boy sings, sews, dances, cooks, and, worst of all, he's blond! We wonder what would've happened if Rodolpho had been more of a traditionally masculine guy like his brother Marco. Would Eddie have approved of his relationship with Catherine or would he just have found new reasons to dislike him?

Marco to Eddie

Eddie and Marco have a lot of similarities. We know that's a funny way to start an entry about a foil but bear with us. OK, similarities: Each could be described as a "man's man." Their main concerns in life are work and family. These similarities make their differences stick out even more strongly. Eddie is stubborn. Marco sees both sides of most issues. Eddie is aggressive. Marco tries for most of the play to make peace.

Of course, Marco is not much of a peacemaker at the end of the play, when he's howling for Eddie's blood. Even in this last fight, though, we see that these men are way different. Both want their honor back. Eddie, however, doesn't deserve it. He's guilty. Marco only told everybody the truth about him. The Italian is fighting for what he sees as justice. We can see his point. Eddie may very well end up being responsible for the deaths of Marco's entire family. You could say that, in the end, Eddie is fighting to preserve a lie, while Marco is fighting for the truth. If that's not a foil relationship, we don't know what is.