The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. The idea of the fourth wall was made explicit by philosopher and critic Denis Diderot and spread in 19th-century theatre with the advent of theatrical realism, which extended the idea to the imaginary boundary between any fictional work and its audience. Speaking directly to or otherwise acknowledging the audience through the camera in a film or television program, or through this imaginary wall in a play, is referred to as "breaking the fourth wall" and is considered a technique of metafiction, as it penetrates the boundaries normally set up by works of fiction. This should not be confused with the aside, a dramatic device often used by playwrights where the character on stage is delivering an inner monologue, giving the audience insight into his or her thoughts.The Fourth wall is also used for comedic purposes.
Read more about Fourth Wall: Convention of Modern Theatre, Outside Theatre, Fifth Wall
Famous quotes containing the words fourth and/or wall:
“‘Tis said of love that it sometimes goes, sometimes flies; runs with one, walks gravely with another; turns a third into ice, and sets a fourth in a flame: it wounds one, another it kills: like lightning it begins and ends in the same moment: it makes that fort yield at night which it besieged but in the morning; for there is no force able to resist it.”
—Miguel De Cervantes (1547–1616)
“I make myself this time
Of wood or granite or lime
A wall too hard for crime
Either to breach or climb....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)