Fourth wall

The term fourth wall applies to the imaginary invisible wall at the front of the stage in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. While the origin of the term cannot be confirmed, the concept is generally presumed to have begun in the twentieth century with the advent of theatrical realism.

Origin and meaning

Although it originated in theatre, where conventional three walled stage sets provide a more literal "fourth wall", the term has been adopted by other media, such as cinema and literature, to more generally refer to the boundary between the fiction and the audience.

Related Topics:
Cinema - Literature

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The fourth wall is part of the suspension of disbelief between a fictional work and an audience. The audience will usually passively accept the presence of the fourth wall without giving it any direct thought, allowing them to enjoy the fiction as if they were observing real events. The presence of a fourth wall is one of the most well established conventions of fiction and as such has led some artists to draw direct attention to it for dramatic effect. For instance, in A.R. Gurney's The Fourth Wall, a quartet of characters deal with housewife Peggy's obsession with a blank wall in her house, slowly being drawn into a series of theatre clichés as the furniture and action on the stage become more and more directed to the supposed fourth wall.

Related Topics:
Suspension of disbelief - A.R. Gurney

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