BUC-EE's Complete Practice Test 2026

An aside is a brief remark spoken by a character that the audience hears but the other characters on stage do not. It lets the audience glimpse the character’s private thoughts or feelings without those thoughts being shared with the people on stage, creating a sense of dramatic irony and insight into who the character truly is. Typically short, it contrasts with a soliloquy, which is a longer speech about inner thoughts delivered as if the speaker is alone, and with a monologue that is addressed to others on stage. This distinction helps explain why the described option— a short speech by a character to express true feelings or thoughts—fits as the best definition of an aside.