Breaking the Fourth Wall
Breaking the Fourth Wall
• Definition: Speaking directly to or
acknowledging the audience. The “fourth
wall” refers to the imaginary “wall” at the
front of the stage in a traditional three-walled
box set in a proscenium theater.
Breaking the Fourth Wall Example: Timon acknowledges the audience
when he cuts off Pumbaa midsong: “Pumbaa, not in front of the kids!”
Movie Examples of
Breaking the Fourth Wall
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Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles and Spaceballs
Austin Powers
Ralphie in A Christmas Story
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
The Muppets
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Bert in Mary Poppins
Book Examples of
Breaking the Fourth Wall
• Jane Eyre at the conclusion “Dear reader, I
married him.”
• Don Quixote
• The Chronicles of Narnia
• At the beginning of The Christmas Carol
• A lot of Shakespeare’s plays
• Lemony Snicket books
Examples of Breaking the Fourth Wall
on Television
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Unhappily Ever After
30 Rock
iCarly
Boy Meets World
Doctor Who
House
Malcolm in the Middle
Function of Breaking the Fourth Wall
• It helps the audience to understand what is
going on.
• The character tells
– what they are thinking and
– why they are thinking that way.
• It might be used to explain why one of the
other characters is acting a certain way.
Homework
• Write down five examples of Breaking the
Fourth Wall.
• Pass them in next class.