Epilogue

Epilogue Definition
An epilogue, or “epilog,” is a bankruptcy on the end of a work of literature, which concludes the work.

Epilogue, Prologue, and Afterword
Epilogue is the alternative of prologue, which is a piece of writing at the beginning of a literary work. An epilogue isn't the same as an afterword, in that it is a part of the primary story, taking place after the climax, and revealing the fates of the characters. An afterword is commonly written by way of a person aside from the creator, and describes how the e book came into being.

Usually, an epilogue is ready a few hours after the principle body of the story, or a long way into the future, where the writer speaks to the readers indirectly, through the factor of view of a exclusive character. In an afterword, on the alternative hand, an writer speaks to the readers directly. In it, a creator might also offer a cause for writing the e book, and detail the research that has long past into writing the book.

Sometimes, a author may additionally hire an epilogue to cowl free ends of his story, resolving the ones issues that have been added up by means of the writer within the tale, however were now not resolved within the climax.

Epilogue in Greek and Elizabethan Stage Plays
Epilogue examples are considerable in Greek and Elizabethan level plays, for the reason that along with epilogues on the end of the plays become a common exercise amongst their playwrights. After the cease of the play, an actor would step forward, talking at once to the audience, offering his gratitude to them for watching the play patiently.

In comedies, epilogues uttered by the ones actors had been regularly used to reveal the primary characters of the plays taking part in a satisfied and contented existence after experiencing the disorder at some stage in the play.

Similarly, in tragedies the actors narrating the epilogue advised the audience about the tragic hero’s final suffering, as a result of his poor moral choices. Moreover, the speaker of an epilogue would at once describe the lesson or moral the audience must have discovered from the tale.

Epilogue in Horror and Suspense Novels
In contemporary horror and suspense novels and stories, the epilogue is purposefully used to hint at a danger that still looms massive on the horizon. The monster or villain is believed to have been performed with, but the epilogue suggests that the danger isn't always over and still looms over them. Therefore, it provides to the horror and mystery of the paintings of literature, as the readers get the concept that the characters are not safe, even though they might believe so. In some cases, epilogue can also be used to affirm that a narrative is not over, and there may be still more to the tale. It offers the readers an idea that there can be a sequel.

Examples of Epilogue in Literature
Example #1: Romeo and Juliet (By William Shakespeare)
Consider the following epilogue that is spoken in William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet:

“A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The solar for sorrow will no longer display his head.
Go for this reason to have greater communicate of these sad things,
Some will be pardoned, and a few punished,
For never changed into a tale of extra woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

A post-play description of the play is given in a most poignant fashion, describing the gloomy ecosystem after the tragedy passed off the two ardent lovers, Romeo and Juliet.

Example #2: As You Like It (By William Shakespeare)
Notice a carefree type of epilogue that marks the give up of yet some other of Shakespeare’s plays, As You Like It, spoken with the aid of Rosalind:

“… and I price you, O men, for the love you endure to women — as I understand by using your simpering, none of you hates them — that among you and the ladies the play may additionally please. If I were a woman, I would kiss as a lot of you as had beards that pleased me, complexions that loved me, and breaths that I defied not. And I am positive as many as have accurate beards, or true faces, or sweet breaths will, for my kind offer, after I make curtsy, bid me farewell.”

It in reality shows how satisfied and contented Rosalind is.

Example #3: Animal Farm (By George Orwell)
We observe George Orwell appending an epilogue to his novel Animal Farm, as Chapter 10. He, in his epilogue, presents the state of affairs of the Manor Farm after many years have passed, describing the destiny of the characters who participated inside the revolution. He says:

“YEARS passed. The seasons got here and went, the short animal lives fled through. A time got here when there was no one who remembered the old days earlier than the Rebellion, besides Clover, Benjamin, Moses the raven, and some of the pigs.”

Similarly, Orwell tells us approximately the evolution that has taken place inside the dominating pigs which might be still at the helms of power. He says:

“Twelve voices have been shouting in anger, and they have been all alike. No question, now, what had came about to the faces of the pigs. The creatures out of doors appeared from pig to guy, and from guy to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it changed into impossible to mention which was which.”

Function of Epilogue
Writers of notable examples of epilogue show how useful this device is to reap the following ends:

To satisfy the readers’ curiosity, by way of telling them about the destiny of the characters after the climax
To cowl loose ends of the tale
To hint at a sequel or subsequent installment of the story
Epigraph Epiphany