You are being provided with a book chapter by chapter. I will request you to read the book for me after each chapter. After reading the chapter, 1. shorten the chapter to no less than 300 words and no more than 400 words. 2. Do not change the name, address, or any important nouns in the chapter. 3. Do not translate the original language. 4. Keep the same style as the original chapter, keep it consistent throughout the chapter. Your reply must comply with all four requirements, or it’s invalid.
I will provide the chapter now.

PROLOGUE
This story ends in blood.
Every story begins in blood: a squalling baby yanked from the
womb, bathed in mucus and half a quart of their mother’s blood. But
not many stories end in blood these days. Usually it’s a return to the
hospital and a dry, quiet death surrounded by machines after a heart
attack in the driveway, a stroke on the back porch, or a slow fade
from lung cancer.
This story begins with five little girls, each born in a splash of her
mother’s blood, cleaned up, patted dry, then turned into proper
young ladies, instructed in the wifely arts to become perfect partners
and responsible parents, mothers who help with homework and do
the laundry, who belong to church flower societies and bunco clubs,
who send their children to cotillion and private schools.
You’ve seen these women. They meet for lunch and laugh loudly
enough for everyone in the restaurant to hear. They get silly after a
single glass of wine. Their idea of living on the edge is to buy a pair of
Christmas earrings that light up. They agonize far too long over
whether or not to order dessert.
As respectable individuals, their names will appear in the paper
only three times: when they’re born, when they get married, and
when they die. They are gracious hostesses. They are generous to
those less fortunate. They honor their husbands and nurture their
children. They understand the importance of everyday china, the
responsibility of inheriting Great-Grandmother’s silver, the value of
good linen.
And by the time this story is over, they will be covered in blood.
Some of it will be theirs. Some of it will belong to others. But they
will drip with it. They will swim in it. They will drown in it.

In David Garrick’s prologue to “She Stoops to Conquer,” we are introduced to a scene filled with melancholy and a sense of impending loss within the theatrical world, articulated through the character of Mr. Woodward. Dressed in somber black, Mr. Woodward embodies the mourning and despair prevalent among actors at the time, signifying not just a personal state of sorrow but a communal crisis within the realm of comedy. Mr. Woodward’s lamentation begins with a poignant revelation that his tears are not for mere show nor solely because of his mourning attire; they stem from a deeper, irremediable grief: the decline of the Comic Muse. This personification of comedy, on the brink of death, encapsulates the existential threat faced by actors specialized in the comedic arts, including Woodward himself and his contemporaries.

The prologue cleverly addresses the audience directly, blurring the lines between performance and reality, and highlighting the performers’ dependency on comedy for their livelihoods and identity. Woodward’s fear is not just of financial ruin but of a loss of purpose, underscoring the vital role of the Comic Muse in their lives. The introduction of sentimentality and moralizing in theatrical performances is criticized as a poor substitute for genuine comedy, indicating a shift in public taste that threatens the traditional craft.

Woodward’s attempt to adapt by adopting a moralizing tone is both humorous and tragic, illustrating his discomfort and ineptitude with this emerging form of drama. This juxtaposition of comedy and tragedy within the prologue serves as a meta-commentary on the state of theatrical arts and its audience’s expectations.

The closing of the prologue introduces a glimmer of hope in the form of a Doctor, a metaphor for the playwright or perhaps the theatre itself, who offers a remedy to revive the ailing Comic Muse. This medicine, a blend of humor and performance contained in “Five Draughts,” represents the play “She Stoops to Conquer” itself. The audience is entreated to open themselves to this comedic elixir, thereby participating in the potential revival of the Comic Muse. The prologue concludes on a note of cautious optimism, suggesting that the success of this theatrical endeavor depends not on the performers alone but on the audience’s willingness to embrace the comedic cure being offered, emphasizing the reciprocal relationship between actor and spectator in the survival of comedy.