Answer:
Based on the excerpt, the two main purposes of this prologue are:
* It creates an ominous mood that hints at the conflicts of the play.
* It recaps past events that happened in the play or offstage.
Explanation:
The question is not complete since it does not provide the prologue to refer to the answer, here is the prologue:
Read the prologue for act II of William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet:
CHORUS: Now old desire doth in his death-bed lie,
And young affection gapes to be his heir;
That fair for which love groan'd for and would die,
With tender Juliet match'd, is now not fair.
Now Romeo is beloved and loves again,
Alike betwitched by the charm of looks,
But to his foe supposed he must complain,
And she steal love's sweet bait from fearful hooks:
Being held a foe, he may not have access
To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear;
And she as much in love, her means much less
To meet her new-beloved any where:
But passion lends them power, time means, to meet
Tempering extremities with extreme sweet.
The prologue gives the audience the idea of something dark coming in the future but it does not foreshadow what exactly will happen to the characters, it also talks about how they just fell in love which is an event in the past, and how because of their families' past they can not be together, it gives the audience a reference to what is to come and where is it coming from.
