Question

Read this excerpt from Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich:

Her attitude towards him and his diseases is still the same. Just as the doctor had adopted a certain relation to his patient which he could not abandon, so had she formed one towards him—that he was not doing something he ought to do and was himself to blame, and that she reproached him lovingly for this—and she could not now change that attitude.


"You see he doesn't listen to me and doesn't take his medicine at the proper time. And above all he lies in a position that is no doubt bad for him—with his legs up."


She described how he made Gerasim hold his legs up.


The doctor smiled with a contemptuous affability that said: "What's to be done? These sick people do have foolish fancies of that kind, but we must forgive them. . . ."


They all rose, said good-night, and went away.


When they had gone it seemed to Ivan Ilyich that he felt better; the falsity had gone with them. But the pain remained—that same pain and that same fear that made everything monotonously alike, nothing harder and nothing easier. Everything was worse.


Again minute followed minute and hour followed hour. Everything remained the same and there was no cessation. And the inevitable end of it all became more and more terrible.


Based on the excerpt, how is Praskovya Fedorovna a character foil to Ivan Ilyich?

Answer 1

She is emphasizing the traits of Ivan Ilyich

Step-by-step explanation:

This is in regards to his illness because she believes he is the cause of his slow recovery because she blames him for not taking the necessary steps needed for his recovery. This she is doing in a loving way, just to show her care

Answer 2

A character foil is a character that contrasts with another character, usually the protagonist. The main purpose of including a foil in a story is to highlight the qualities of the other character.

This is what Praskovya Fedorovna is doing for Ivan Ilyich in this passage. In the passage, Fedorovna has an attitude of indignation towards Ilyich and his disease. We learn that she believes him to be doing something wrong, and thus be unable to get better. This contrasts sharply with Ilyich's calm attitude. Moreover, Fedorovna has an air of falsity that she shares with the doctor, and which contrasts with the authenticity of Ilyich.