A common fictional concept is that the characters are unaware of the fact that they're in a story. This is the
Fourth Wall: the glass on the front of the TV tube, the invisible wall at the front of the stage play set.
This separation between the characters and the audience helps to preserve
Willing Suspension Of Disbelief: When the fictional characters act like their story is
Real Life, it's easier for the audience to treat it the same way.
See
Three Wall Set for the production implications of this concept.
The Couch often faces the
Fourth Wall.
Straight uses of this trope are too numerous to list and a lot less interesting than
Breaking The Fourth Wall or when there is
No Fourth Wall. The exploration and subversion of the
Fourth Wall is a common trait of
Post Modernism.
See also
Sliding Scale Of Fourth Wall Hardness
