The history of the rise and fall of the fourth wall : The development and disruption of a theatrical convention, 1860-1930

Abstract

The present thesis traces the phrase ‘breaking the fourth wall’ back to a particular era of theatrical history, where stage-audience relations and audience expectations revolved around the presence of an assumed ‘fourth wall’. Although first conceived as an idea by Diderot in the mid-eighteenth century, the fourth wall took on a reality in theatres during the rise of the Naturalistic movement in the late nineteenth century. The first half of this study follows the developments in technology and theatrical practice which made the fourth wall convention viable, and the theoretical underpinnings of the ‘construction’ of the wall. Through an examination of the role played by the fourth wall in Naturalistic practice, this study explores the properties of the fourth wall, and argues that it was the symbolic embodiment of a particular set of expectations established between the stage and the audience. The second half of the thesis examines how the fourth wall, once ‘constructed’, was ‘broken’ by late nineteenth and early twentieth century anti-Naturalistic practitioners using various methods and strategies. These fourth wall breaks ranged from direct and physical traversals of the wall to indirect and metaphorical breaks of the ‘fourth wall agreement’. Such experiments repeatedly ruptured the fourth wall until its presence could no longer be safely assumed, gradually transforming the nature of the contract between the stage and the audience.