A short line in a play delivered directly to the audience; by dramatic convention, the other characters onstage are presumed not to hear it Popular in the works of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and of the Restoration period, the aside has made a comeback in recent years and is used to good effect, in conjunction with the longer direct address, by contemporary American playwrights such as Lanford Wilson (born 1937) and Neil Simon (born 1927)
When the character breaks away from the situation to talk to the audience without being heard by the other characters
In drama, a few words or a short passage spoken by one character to the audience It is a theatrical convention that the aside is not audible to other characters on stage Compare with soliloquy, below
in reserve; not for immediate use; "started setting aside money to buy a car"; "put something by for her old age"; "has a nestegg tucked away for a rainy day"
On, or to, one side; out of a straight line, course, or direction; at a little distance from the rest; out of the way; apart
- a character's speech heard by the audience but supposedly not by other characters
In drama, a speech directed to the audience that supposedly is not audible to the other characters onstage at the time When Hamlet first appears onstage, for example, his aside "A little more than kin, and less than kind!" gives the audience a strong sense of his alienation from King Claudius See also soliloquy
on or to one side; "step aside"; "stood aside to let him pass"; "threw the book aside"; "put her sewing aside when he entered"
Something spoken aside; as, a remark made by a stageplayer which the other players are not supposed to hear
An incidental remark made quietly so as to be heard by the person to whom it is said and not by any others in the vicinity