Definition of Prologue
The term prologue is used as an opening section of a literary work. It is also used to introduce the readers with the vital background information, setting or the thread of the work. The term comes immediately before the beginning of the first chapter and it usually takes place outside the main narrative.
Prologue provides context or event before the start of the narrative to help set the stage for the story that takes place subsequently. It may introduce a theme, give a clue to a character past, or even foreshadow future events.
History of Prologue
Prologues are found in ancient Greek and Roman drama as an introduction to the play. It provides background information of the story to explain important events that needed to be known by the audience before the action started.
The prologues were usually performed by a narrator or a chorus. Prologues remained popular in Medieval and Renaissance literature, both in plays to summarize the plot or deliver a moral lesson.
The popular writer William Shakespeare used prologues in many of his works to introduce the story and form a connection with the readers. With the passage of time, prologues developed into a dynamic literary tool used in novels, poetry and film to give audience significant information before the main story unfolds.
Purpose of Prologue
Prologue is used in a literary work for many purposes. It gives important information about the events that have already happened before the main story starts.
It helps the readers to understand the context, wherein the story takes place. Prologues introduce characters whose backstories are important to the plot, but aren’t covered in the main text.
The prologue sets the mood i.e. romantic, suspenseful, mysterious or tragic. It predicts the events in the story, and create a bit of tension or anticipation in the story.
Sometimes, the prologue is narrated by a character or from a different perspective from the main storyline, that adds another voice or allow deeper look at the narrative from another angle.
Examples of Prologue in Literature
Example#1
“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
“Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.”
The prologue in the play is a recap of the entire play. It is delivered in the form of a sonnet, which gives an account of the clash between the two noble families, and foreshadows the tragic conclusion of the two lovers.
The prologue reveals the end from the outset, introducing dramatic irony because the audience is aware about the ending, while the characters do not.
Example#2
“The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer
“Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye…”
The general prologue of the Canterbury Tales introduces the set of diverse pilgrims, as they prepare themselves for the long journey towards the Canterbury.
The prologue, which Chaucer uses, describes each character in detail, so a snapshot of 14th-century English society is given. The prologue is also dedicated to set up the storytelling competition driving the story forward.
See also: Examples of Prothesis in Literature
Example#3
“The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
“It is a little remarkable, that—though disinclined to talk over much of myself and my affairs at the fireside, and to my personal friends—an autobiographical impulse should twice in my life have taken possession of me, in addressing the public. The first time was three or four years since, when I favored the reader—inexcusably, and for no earthly reason, that either the indulgent reader or the intrusive author could imagine—with a description of my way of life in the deep quietude of an Old Manse. And now—because, beyond my deserts, I was happy enough to find a listener or two on the former occasion—I again seize the public by the button, and talk of my three years’ experience in a Custom-House. The example has been followed with natural piety and enthusiasm, by so many writers, that the prologue of a work of fiction is almost grown as necessary as the rest of the story.”
The prologue in “The Scarlet Letter” refers to as “The Custom-House”, which recounts a semi autobiographical account of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s time spent at the Salem Custom house.
The author uses this prologue as a frame to tell the story, who Hawthorne tells us arrived at old manuscript with Hester Prynne telling her tale. Through the prologue, a connection between the personal life of author and the fictional narrative has been created.
This prologue not only provides a lot more background and philosophical reflections but also allows the reader to hints at themes of guilt, sin and judgment of society that permeate the book.
Example#4
“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats—the hobbit was fond of visitors.”
The prologue in “The Hobbit” has not been explicitly tagged as such, it is in fact an introduction to the world and the main character, Bilbo Baggins. This opening passage springs the audience into Bilbo’s contented, unadventurous life in the Shire.
The author begins this peaceful description to contrast with a ordinary life and a life that is about to become extraordinary. It establishes the tone and helps with the setting before the main adventure starts, getting a glimpse of what Bilbo’s life going to leave behind.
See also: Examples of Plot Twist in Literature
Prologue vs. Epilogue
Prologue is a piece of writing that comes at the start of a literary work and is an introduction to the story. Sometimes, it provides background information, sets the tone, or foreshadows the key events.
In its traditional use, the prologue is an account in certain writing which the author has written and when the reader or audience read it they should understand the meaning of the main narrative they will be exposed to.
On the other hand, the epilogue is at the end of the story. It gives the closure to the story by telling what happens after the end of the main event of the story.
This foreshadows the consequences of the story, tie up loose ends, or give readers some sense of the future of the story’s characters. The prologue puts together the story, whereas the epilogue finishes it, as it should.
Prologue vs. Preface
A prologue is part of the world of the narrative. It is usually written as a kind of explicit introduction to the story, with characters or events from within the plot. For example, the prologue can establish key themes, establish backstory, or foreshadow future events.
The narrative is not complete with a preface and written by the author to the reader. Usually this happens before the story starts and provides a note on the author’s purpose, how he felt the book evolved, or the writing process he used.
On the other hand, prefaces usually tend to be more intimate, and give sometimes background on the book’s creation, its themes, or the author’s motivations.
See also: Literary Devices That Start With P
