Since the origins of Greek drama, theatre practitioners have made use of the so-called "fourth wall," with the audience suspending their disbelief and accepting the "reality" of the closed in setting of the play. Even with deliberate attempts by playwrights from Shakespeare to Brecht to ˜break' the fourth wall, theatre audiences expect to focus their attention on what is happening within the set. But what about occurrences outside those confines? Could they have a crucial role in plot and character development? These aspects are clearly present in Ariel Dorfman's "Death and the Maiden" and Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House." This essay will be [ADD] An interesting instance of the interaction between the outside elements and the dynamics of the plot in both plays, is the gradual degradation of the physical features of the set effect and the deterioration of the relations amongst characters and of the life of the characters themselves. As these changes are visible, their symbolic significance is made absolutely clear to the audience and helps convey the extent of the dramatic features of the text. Thus, in both plays, the sets are the interior of rooms initially portrayed as flawless, comfortable households. This can clearly be seen in the opening stage of "A Doll's House," where the central room of the Helmer abode is described as being "a comfortable room, furnished inexpensively, but with taste. Similarly the Escobars' beach house in The Death of the Maiden contains "a terrace and an ample living room where dinner is laid out on a table ¦ with curtains blowing in the wind, Paulina Salas is seated in a chair on the terrace, as if she were drinking in the light of the moon . However, in both plays, as more elements from the outside interfere with their closed, initially perfect shelter and increases tensions between the couples which are central characters in them, the set decomposes alongside with their relationships. This can be perfectly exemplified by the second act of Ibsen's composition where, after the priorities of Nora's life has shifted from mere household tasks to greater complications involving the state's law and other outer characters we hear that in the very same room previously described as faultless, now "In the corner by the piano stands the Christmas tree; it is stripped and disheveled, with the stumps of burnt-put candles. Nora's outdoor clothes are on the sofa. And the state of t