Comparing against the single-quote symbol '

[Nordlöw]

How do I explicitly compare against the single-quote symbol ' in emacs
lisp programs?

I thought I could use this expression
  (equal prefix \')

where the value the symbol `prefix' is
  \'

but \' is not allowed in lisp-code; it complains about void variable
\'

I also get extraordinary annoyed about the behaviour of (accidentally)
evaluating
  '(
It automatically hides the rest of the buffer and remembers this state
when I open it again. I think it has something to do with buffer
visibility.


Thanks in advance,
Nordlöw