| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
Like sequels, prequels may or may not concern the same plot as the work from which they are derived. Often, they explain the background which led to the events in the original, but sometimes the connections are not as explicit. Prequels often play on the fact that the audience knows what will happen next, using deliberate references to create dramatic irony.
The idea of a prequel is not new. Richard Wagner's opera Das Rheingold in his Ring Cycle was composed as a prequel to his earlier Siegfried. The Silmarillion contains prequels for The Lord of the Rings.
Another example of a prequel in C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, is The Magician's NephewThe Magician's Nephew is a fantasy novel for children by C. Although not the first in The Chronicles of Narnia series, it is the first in the internal chronology. It is an early example of a prequel. There are many links to the later The Lion, the Witch,, a prequel to The Lion, the Witch, and the WardrobeThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel for children by C. It was the first of the Chronicles of Narnia to be written, in 1950, and is the best known. The Magician's Nephew is thus a "prequel". The allegorical Christian message of the boo which was written first.
The term prequel is often misused to describe any work set before a related work. Those who misuse the term do not understand that "sequel" is one of the words used to create "prequel." To use a modern example, (1999) is a prequel to Return of the Jedi (1983), but not to Attack of the Clones (2002).