Epilogue

The epilogue is the concluding part of a work that comes after the denouement and reports the further fate of the characters, the consequences of the depicted events after a certain interval of time, or contains an authorial summing-up, generalization, or reflection. The epilogue is not an obligatory element of composition; it is used when the author seeks to outline a further perspective, to give the events a historical or philosophical completeness, and to close the fictional time. For example, an extensive epilogue marks Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, where the fates of the heroes are shown years later and a philosophy of history is set out. In Ukrainian literature the function of the epilogue — a look into the future, a summing-up generalization — is often fulfilled by the final parts of large epic works, which show the consequences of social changes for the destinies of the characters and give the narration historical perspective and completeness.