What Is an Aside? Definition and Examples of Aside

The definition of aside is when a character in a work of fiction addresses the audience directly for a moment to either express a truth, reveal a feeling, or comment on the events of the story. This device is commonly found in books, plays, television, and film. During an aside, a character may literally step aside to deliver commentary that cannot be heard by any other characters in the story, only the audience. The character may “break the fourth wall”—the implied plane that marks the “edge” of the onstage action—and address the viewers directly, or they may make brief comments to themselves that the audience overhears.

An aside is a dramatic and literary device used in literature and media that gives the audience a glimpse into the character’s thoughts. Asides can provide helpful context for scenes without interrupting the pace of the narrative. Here are some other purposes that an aside can serve in literature.

1. 1. Foreshadowing: An aside can help clue the audience in on an event that is about to unfold in the world of the text. Giving your audience a small glimpse of the conflict to come can ramp up anticipation and tension, making for a much more dramatic experience.
2. 2. Revealing a character’s intentions: Many villainous or crafty characters in literature will have asides to the audience that reveal their true motivations, inner thoughts, or feelings about another character. These moments can give the audience a better understanding of who this character is and what their goals are. It can also create a conspiratorial dynamic between a character and the audience.
3. 3. Revealing vital information: A main character may use an aside to reveal critical information to the audience that otherwise would not be revealed within the context of the play.
4. 4. Comic relief: Asides aren’t always used by villains for sinister purposes. Some literary asides simply meant to bring the audience in on a joke, creating an affable relationship between the viewer and the characters.

An aside is not spoken to the other characters on stage, which makes it more like a soliloquy than a monologue. But when compared to a soliloquy, an aside is typically very short. While soliloquies can contain long speeches and pages of text, an aside is reserved for a short commentary that the audience can still hear. While both asides and soliloquies are meant to be revealing either emotionally or toward the plot of the story, their main difference is their length. Asides are also often peppered into other stretches of dialogue between characters, while a soliloquy involves one character speaking for a long, uninterrupted amount of time.

The use of asides appears in various forms of writing and film. Some recognizable examples of asides include:

1. 1. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (1597): William Shakespeare often used asides in many of his plays. Juliet uses one in particular to reveal her true grief for Romeo rather than her own cousin Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet. In another moment, Romeo has his own aside where he debates whether he should interrupt Juliet’s soliloquy already taking place.
2. 2. Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1599): When we meet Hamlet’s villainous uncle Claudius in the play Hamlet, the protagonist quickly reveals his feelings for his relative in the middle of a line of dialogue, calling him “a little more than kin, and less than kind.”
3. 3. Othello by William Shakespeare (1603): In Shakespeare’s Othello, the villainous Iago has many asides where he reveals the true intentions of his actions and scheming. While some are soliloquies, others are much shorter and give a quick glimpse into this antagonist’s underlying motivations.
4. 4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847): In Charlotte Brontë’s famous Victorian novel, the titular narrator addresses the reader directly to very briefly mention her very recent wedding nuptials. Following this aside, the narration and dialogue between the characters resumes as usual.
5. 5. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986): Another example of an aside is the John Hughes’ comedy film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Ferris, a delinquent high school student who feigns sickness to get a day off from school, makes quick asides to the camera to unpack his schemes. These moments are sometimes used for comedic purposes, but also to reveal otherwise unknown information about his friends and their personal lives to the audience.
6. 6. House of Cards (2013): The political drama House of Cards makes liberal use of the aside, with the show narrated by the main character Frank Underwood. The ruthless American politician uses his frequent asides to the audience to unpack his menacing philosophy of power. The audience recognizes Frank’s ethical dubiousness, while being brought in as co-conspirators by these asides.
7. 7. Fleabag (2016): Phoebe Waller-Bridge wrote and starred in this television series about an emotionally troubled woman dealing with grief, loss, and relationships, as well as many other of life’s complexities. Though her backstory isn’t completely understood at first, she has numerous asides with the camera throughout the show that give the audience a peek into just the kind of character she is.

Become a better writer with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including David Mamet, David Sedaris, Amy Tan, Roxane Gay, Neil Gaiman, Walter Mosley, Margaret Atwood, Dan Brown, and more.