The importance of prologue in play "Romeo and Juliet"

Introduction

Household grudges are not a thing of the present times only but existed even in the days of our forefathers. The prologue to the play, “Romeo, and Juliet” describes such ‘ancient grudges' in a chorus made up of a fourteen-line sonnet, describing two households that are always in disagreement. The chorus goes on to state that from the two families ‘star-crossed' lovers appear and later end up taking their own lives mending the conflict between the two families. Shakespeare gives away the tragic events of the play before it even begins for various reasons. Shakespeare in his play "Romeo and Juliet" uses the prologue to set the scene of the play, to serve as an introduction to the play and to build suspense and quicken the pace of the play. Through the prologue, the author prepares the audience for a drama of a conflicted love.

The prologue introduces the audience or the reader to the conflict in the story. The play begins ‘in the middle of the story' where we see the existing fight between the two households, the Capulets, and Montagues. Without the prologue, the audience would be lost before the play begins, but Shakespeare explains the ‘background story' to the events that happen in the first scene. He describes the two families as "Two households, both alike in dignity..." showing that the families were probably of same socioeconomic backgrounds. He also shows the enmity between the two families, ‘From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, / where civil blood makes civil hands unclean' and introduces the protagonists, Romeo and Juliet as ‘Star-crossed lovers' who are led to their premature death by the dispute between their two families. With such information, the audience can know why the two families on stage are fighting, the source of the fight, the place where the act takes shape, and the tragic ending of the play.

The prologue builds suspense and quickens the pace of the play. By the time the play begins, the audience already knows that it will end in a tragedy. The thing that they do not know is the events that will lead to the tragic ending and the reason as to why Romeo and Juliet die. The prologue reveals how the clash between their families continues to build Romeo and Juliet's love. The events within the story that lead to the death of both Romeo and Juliet unfold as the play goes on and creating the suspense makes the audience more involved as they know the result but not what causes the results. The fact that the audience is absorbed in their empathy and powerlessness makes it more dramatic, hence Shakespeare's use of the technique (prologue). The prologue also serves the purpose of tuning the feelings and emotions of the audience who would otherwise be disappointed at the point where Romeo and Juliet die if at all they had no idea about the same. The story is full of love, and romance and the emotions of the audience might lead to an assumption that the ending will be a happy ending, which is not the case in Shakespeare's, Romeo and Juliet, making it disappointing especially if the audience has no idea the protagonists are going to die.

Conclusion 

Giving away the tragic ending before the play is important in Romeo and Juliet as it is the only way to explain the background story to the play. The prologue as used by Shakespeare, explains about the two families in Verona, the enmity between them, the ‘start-crossed lovers', and how the rivalry among the families leads to the tragic end where Romeo and Juliet die. The above acts as an eye opener to the audience, enlightening them of what will happen in the play, what lead to events in the play and preparing their emotions to the events that will occur throughout the play, both the expected and the unexpected.

Reference

Shakespeare, W. (1913). Romeo and Juliet (Vol. 1). Lippincott. Retrieved from: http://www.epc-library.com/freeview/f_1866.pdf