WoW: 4/18/05

This week's "word" is technically two words, but I'm allowed to do that because this is my blog.

Word of the Week for 4/18/05:
fourth wall, noun /fohrth wahl/
*The space separating the audience from the action of a theatrical performance, traditionally conceived of as an imaginary wall completing the enclosure of the stage.
*By extension, the "boundary" between characters in a story/film/play and the reader/viewer of that work
*Thus, when characters acknowledge that they are in fact in a story, they are said to be "breaking the fourth wall."
Example: When Puck addresses the audience at the end of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," he is breaking the fourth wall.