Foil

Character Role Analysis

Denys

Denys may have been the love of Karen's life, and the film really focuses on their slow-burn romance. Part of what makes him such a great romantic interest is his ability to challenge her—to test her resolve like he does in that first scene with the lion—and see what she's made of.

Eventually, that drives them apart, since she's ready to settle down and he never will be. They never come to blows, and they end on a steamy note, but there's a fair amount of foil in our great white hunter: pushing the heroine to show us what she's made of.