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A prologue (Greek πρόλογος prologos, from the word pro (before) and lógos, word) is an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Greek prologos included the modern meaning of prologue, but was of wider significance. Preface, like the Latin praefatio. In a book, the prologue is a part of the front matter which is in the on the facts related in the prologue. The importance, therefore, of the prologue in Greek drama was very great; it sometimes almost took the place of a romance, to which, or to an episode in which, the play itself succeeded.
It is believed that the prologue in this form was practically the invention of Euripides, and with him, as has been said, it takes the place of an explanatory first act. This may help to modify the objection which criticism has often brought against the Greek prologue, as an impertinence, a useless growth prefixed to the play, and standing as a barrier between us and our enjoyment of it. The point precisely is that, to an Athenian audience, it was useful and pertinent, as supplying just what they needed to make the succeeding scenes intelligible. But it is difficult to accept the view that Euripides invented the plan of producing a god out of a machine to justify the action of deity upon man, because it is plain that he himself disliked this interference of the supernatural and did not believe in it. He seems, in such a typical prologue as that to the Hippolytus, to be accepting a conventional formula, and employing it, almost perversely, as a medium for his ironic rationalismo.
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Many of the existing Greek prologues may be later in date than the plays they illustrate, or may contain large interpolations. On the Latin stage the prologue was often more elaborate than it was in Athens, and in the careful composition of the poems which Plautus prefixes to his plays we see what importance he gave to this portion of the entertainment; sometimes, as in the preface to the Rudens, Plautus rises to the height of his genius in his adroit and romantic prologues, usually placed in the mouths of persons who make no appearance in the play itself.
Molière revived the Plautian prologue in the introduction to his Amphitryon. Racine introduced Piety as the speaker of a prologue which opened his choral tragedy of Esther.
The tradition of the ancients vividly affected our own early dramatists. Not only were the mystery plays and miracles of the Middle Ages begun by a homily, but when the drama in its modern sense was inaugurated in the reign of Elizabeth, the prologue came with it, directly adapted from the practice of Euripides and Terence. Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, prepared a sort of prologue in dumb show for his Gorboduc of 1562; and he also wrote a famous Induction, which is, practically, a prologue, to a miscellany of short romantic epics by diverse hands.
Though less prevalent in the Elizabethan than in the Classical or Restoration periods, prologues of Renaissance plays are an interesting composite of styles and forms. As a direct audience from one actor to the assembled audience, the functions of the prologue were to quieten and appease the audience, introduce the themes and particulars of the play they are about to hear, and beg their indulgence for any imperfections in the writing and/or performance.[1] Bruster and Weimann further argue that the prologue of the Early Modern period serves as a liminal entity. Firstly, a prologue is at once the text which is spoken, the actor who speaks that text, and the performance given by the actor in speaking.[2] Secondly, in ushering the audience from the real world into the world of the play, the prologue straddles boundaries between audience, actors, characters, playwrights, the fiction of the play, the physical theatre and the outside world.[3] Ben Jonson has been credited with using the prologue as a means to remind the audience of the complex relationships between themselves and all aspects of the performance they are about to view.[4] In performance, the actor appeared dressed all in black. This is in contrast to the costume of the play proper, where elaborate and colourful costumes were worn, in the fashion of the day.[5] The prologue removed his hat and wore no makeup. He probably carried a book or scroll, or a placard displaying the title of the play.[6] He was introduced by three short trumpet calls, on the third of which he entered and took a position downstage. He made three bows in the current fashion of the court, and then addressed the audience.[7] The Elizabethan prologue was unique in incorporating aspects of both classical and medieval traditions.[8] In the classical tradition, the prologue conformed to one of four sub-genres: the sustatikos, which recommends either the play or the poet; the epitimetikos, in which a curse is given against a rival, or thanks given to the audience; dramatikos, in which the plot of the play is explained; and mixtos, which contains all of these things.[8] In the medieval tradition, expressions of morality and modesty are seen,[9] as well as a meta-theatrical self-consciousness, and an unabashed awareness of the financial contract engaged upon by paid actors and playwrights, and a paying audience.[10]
Prologues have long been used in non-dramatic fiction, since at least the time of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,[11] although Chaucer had prologues to many of the tales, rather than one at the front of the book.
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Time is the tenth studio album by British rock band Electric Light Orchestra (credited only as ELO) released in 1981 through Jet Records. It is a concept album which tells a story of a man from the 1980s finding himself in the year 2095 and trying to come to terms with being unable to return and adjusting to his new surroundings.
In 2001, the album was remastered and reissued on CD with three additional bonus tracks, two of which ("Julie Don't Live Here" and "When Time Stood Still") had already been released as B-sides of singles ("Twilight" and "Hold On Tight" respectively) from the original album, while the other ("The Bouncer") was originally released as the UK B-side of the 1983 single "Four Little Diamonds" from the follow-up album Secret Messages.
While the two preceding ELO albums, Discovery and Xanadu, were heavily influenced by pop and disco, Time is much closer to ELO's roots of progressive rock music. Songs like "Ticket to the Moon", "The Way Life's Meant to Be", "Rain Is Falling", and "21st Century Man" are reminiscent of material from the peak era of ELO, which produced albums such as A New World Record and Out of the Blue; while other tracks explore new influences such as new wave ("Twilight", "Yours Truly, 2095", "Another Heart Breaks", "From the End of the World", and "Here Is the News"), reggae ("The Lights Go Down"), and rockabilly ("Hold On Tight") with the core ELO sound.
Prologue is a grey market album by Elton John featuring music publishing demonstration recordings made in the 1960s. It features four songs with Linda Peters on vocals, who would later marry musician Richard Thompson. Elton sings the remaining titles. The CD is a copy of a promotional 1970 vinyl demo album for producer Joe Boyd's Warlock label. Only 100 of these original vinyl albums are purported to have been made, of which six are known to exist today. The CD is a poor quality copy of a damaged vinyl record. Stylistically, it is very similar to Tumbleweed Connection. The songs are all written by artists signed to Warlock, including Nick Drake and John Martyn.