The Battle called Love

Comparing The Dance of Life to other paintings of the Frieze of Life, one comes to notice that this painting also deals with, as Munch put it,

"the battle between man and woman that is called love".

Indeed, The Dance of Life seems to summarize works like Eye in Eye (c. 1894), The Kiss (c. 1897), Separation (c. 1896) and Jealousy (c. 1895). In a story like way, these paintings display the process of love,

"that moves from initial flirtations, to the ecstasies of physical love consummation, then to the anxieties of jealousy and rejection".

Thus, the young and innocent girl in white (from The Dance of Life) becomes the symbol of the joyous and lighthearted beginning of a relationship between man and woman.
The center couple displays the immense power of love over two beings. At this point, the couple seems unable to notice anything around them.
At the end, however, we see the old, disillusioned woman as a symbol for the fleetingness of feelings and for inevitable separation.

Eye in Eye (1984)

The Kiss (1894)

Jealousy (1895)

Separation (1896)