Aside

An aside is a dramatic device in which a character speaks to the audience. By convention the audience is to realize that the character's speech is unheard by the other characters on stage. It may be addressed to the audience expressly (in character or out) or represent an unspoken thought. An aside is usually a brief comment, rather than a speech, such as a monologue or soliloquy. Unlike a public announcement, it occurs within the context of the play. An aside is, by convention, a true statement of a character's thought; a character may be mistaken in an aside, but may not be dishonest.

Examples

This technique is used by many playwrights, including William Shakespeare. For instance, in the play Macbeth, Macbeth has the following aside:

Time, thou anticipatest my dread exploits.

Here is another example in the Shakespeare play Hamlet:

A little more than kin, and less than kind.

This technique has frequently been used in film comedy, for example in the Bob Hope "Road" comedies, Woody Allen comedies and in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The Jean-Luc Godard film Breathless contains an early use of character aside.

More recently, it is used by Ian Richardson's character Francis Urquhart in the 1990 BBC mini-series House of Cards, as well as Kevin Spacey's character Frank Underwood in the 2013 Netflix original series of the same name.

Uses

Aside is used to gossip about characters or other characters without their consciousness, give audiences better understanding of matters, as well as make audiences laugh; this humour that may be generated is because the character or characters being talked about is or are not conscious of the fact they being spoken of.

See also

• "Breaking the fourth wall": Fourth wall

References

• Bevington, David (1962). From Mankind to Marlowe. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
• Cox, John D. and David Scott Kastan (Eds) (1997). A New History of English Drama. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Salingar, Leo (1972). Shakespeare and the Traditions of Comedy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.