Prologue

An introductory speech or section that prepares the audience for the main action.

An opening speech that introduces a work’s action or concerns.

Before the action begins, the Chorus announces in the Act 1 Prologue: “A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;”. The audience already knows the ending. Suspense therefore concerns how and why the catastrophe will happen, rather than only whether the lovers survive.

An opening speech or section that introduces a dramatic work before its main action begins.

Use the Prologue to explain dramatic irony: the audience knows the tragic destination while the characters experience hope.

Explain audience responses using what spectators already know. The Prologue reveals the lovers’ deaths before the action begins.

An introductory speech that establishes the setting, situation or themes before the main action begins.

“Two households, both alike in dignity,” opens the Chorus's speech in the Act 1 Prologue. The households are the Montagues and the Capulets, families of equal social standing in Verona. “Dignity” establishes their respected position, but their violence undermines that respectability.

An opening speech or section that introduces a work. The opening Prologue of Romeo and Juliet announces the lovers’ deaths.

The Chorus announces in the opening Prologue that ‘A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;’. The lovers’ deaths are therefore known before the audience meets them. Suspense centres on how this ending will happen, rather than whether they will survive.

An opening speech that introduces a work’s situation, themes or forthcoming events.

The Prologue is a fourteen-line Shakespearean sonnet, principally in iambic pentameter. A poetic form associated with love introduces a tragic ending. Revealing that ending shifts attention towards how the disaster happens and creates dramatic irony: spectators recognise danger while the lovers still hope for happiness.

An introductory speech before the main action of a play, often establishing its setting, concerns or outcome.

An opening speech that introduces a play or an act and frames the audience’s understanding of its action.

Definition

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AQA GCSE English Literature · 8702

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Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0

OCR GCSE English Literature · J352

Eduqas GCSE English Literature · C720