Excerpt from Amy Gonzalez' Art Assignment   

            6-07-2009

          A pale, almost white moon illuminates the sea and sets the stage for a dance upon the deep green grassy shore. Moving to a melody only the painter can hear, the circle of figures represent the stages of  human life.  The focus becomes set upon the three female figures visible in the foreground of Edvard Munch’s painting The Dance of Life. Each female figure seems to represent a single stage in life, beginning, middle, and end.  The first female figure dressed in a flowing white and yellow gown expresses purity and innocence. Illustrated by her rosy red cheeks, golden flowing hair, and pink lips, she exudes a youthful appearance. A shade of deep pink and blooming, the flowers suggest a sense of young life, a life which is new to the world. Resembling a young child, she reaches for the flowers which grow only at  her side. Beside the youthful female dances a male figure with a greenish pallor and hallowed face which gives off an aura of evil and temptation. Her long blonde hair and soft features suggest  the second female figure to only be a few years older than the first (middle stage of life.) Rigid, and dripping in her blood red dress she dances with the ghostlike older looking male. Inexperienced and unknowing of any ill intent or danger, she allows the male to lead her in his dance. Skeletal facial features , pale and pasty looking skin, reveal the third female figures older age representing the final stages of life.  Draped in a matronly black gown, she goes unnoticed by the other dancers. Staring blankly at the two female figures, as if wishing for a life past long ago, she reflects a sense of mourning. Filling the gaps between the three female figures and continuing the cycle of life, the remaining  dancers are visible. Framed by the deep blue sky, the dancers appear destined to repeat the dance of life for all eternity.

Work Cited

Cerecy, Rene. "Edward Munch Paintings." http://edvardmunch.info-paintings/munch-paintings/Starry-Night-1923-              

      24.asp.2006. 08 june 2009. 10 Jun 2009

Cerecy, Rene. "Edward Munch Paintings." http://edvardmunch.info-paintings/munch-paintings/Dance-ofLife-1899-     

       1900..asp.2006. 08 june 2009. 10 Jun 2009

Lane, Jim. “Edvard Munch Biography”.

       http://humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=c&a=p&ID=100.05March2008.8 Jun 2009