"She was a middle class girl
She was in over her head
She thought she would
stand up in the deep end"

Edvard Munch

Oil on canvas. 120.5 x 141 cm. The National Museum of Art, Oslo.

SUBJECT: Personal Function, Love, Sex, and Relationships.

SUBJECT MATTER: Two distraught lovers in a secluded forest.

FORM: Oil on canvas, 120.5 x 141 cm. Detailed woman in white looking forward contrasted by both the man in black with his head in his arm as well as the surrounding dark forest and earth tones.

CONTENT: The two lovers in this painting seem to be at the end of their relationship. Being in the forest at night would suggest that this was a secret hidden affair that had to come to an end. The top buttons on the girl's dress are undone and her hair is tousled suggesting that there may have been physical activity between the two in the moment before.

Considering that the man's head is down in his arm, he seems to have conceded to the reality that what once was can no longer be. If he were to speak, he might say softly, 'just go'. This is not easy for her either as she struggles to prevent causing any more pain to him or herself.