what is breaking the fourth wall

Breaking the fourth wall occurs when the characters in a story address or directly acknowledge the audience.Depicting characters become conscious that they are in a story, adding another layer of wit and humor to the whole thing.This technique was first used in theater, where the 'fourth wall' is the invisible barrier between the actors on stage and their audience.

Take a seat, and I'll tell you about "breaking the fourth wall". It all begins with the world of theater. When you're on that stage, it feels like there's an imaginary wall - or the fourth one - separating performance from audience. If you're really caught up in the drama, naturally you never notice the fourth wall.

But sometimes the play may want to change things around! An actor turning to address the audience directly: You're sitting right in front of me; in fact we are both here at that theater down on Llagetia Street. Or You are noticing one character talking offstage Now we come to the rupture of it. The fourth wall is shattered.

Journey to the West, in cartoons, it's very popular. Take'The Simpsons," for example. Or serial characters such as "Batman" who enjoy a dose of reality with their fantasy. This gives the story an unfathomably attractive flavor that reads across national boundaries--erasing the boundary (if any) between viewer and presented world in a humorous self-aware way.

And usually, as one might expect, it tickles the audience pink. So, breaking the fourth wall--fellow fans is a shrewd twist in storytelling that makes active participants out of passive viewers.