Foil

Character Role Analysis

Wilhelm Fliess and Sigmund Freud

The way Freud talks about Wilhelm Fliess throughout The Interpretation of Dreams, you'd think the buddies were Calvin and Hobbes.

All the same, despite Freud's repeated avowals of his strong affection and esteem for Fliess, scholars have noted that Fliess's frequent appearances in Freud's dreams have a lot to say about Freud's own professional anxieties and concerns. We can think of Fliess as Freud's "foil" because Freud's doubts and concerns about his friend often reveal self-doubt and concern for himself.