Eduard Munch :: essays research papers

Eduard craunch (1863-1944) was a Norse painter, engraver, and printer. He is often reputed to have been a l starr and a misogynist. many an(prenominal) of his hits revolve around a motif concerning women and their obscene vulgarity. The dickens works that will be described here are vampire (1893) and Jealousy (1896). These deuce depict women as creatures of temptation, petty provokers of pain, and selfish enslavers of undefended men. To just marginally understand Munchs hatred of women, one must read upon his tragic past. Tuberculosis killed his mother when he was entirely five years old it killed his sister, Sophie (whom Munch felt closest to), social club years later. In addition to these tragic events were his unsuccessful love affairs which all together bludgeoned his faith in women. In Vampire, Munch displays a scene in which a woman seems to be embracing a man. She appears to be kissing him on the neck, but the title of the work diminishes that meaning. Although Munch intended the action of the work as just a kiss, he later changed the name to Vampire, possibly to capitalize on the 19th one C literary obsession with vampires. The intense switch in meaning plays on the mind of the viewer very curiously. It turns from compassion for the two lovers to sympathy and suffer for the victimized man. The womans red hair becomes almost mephistophelian and the dry lands darkness transforms from a sorrow-filled unity between the two figures to a desolate ambiance of confusion. The dark green in the background is tranquil, but the viewers knowledge of the situation happening to the conquerable man leaves the viewer in a state of ambiguity. A nonviolent image is portrayed, but the woman is literally sucking the life forth of the man. The red hair can be seen as a rainwater of blood emasculating the victim. The man has been deceived into finding love where there is unhappiness. He has tack the tortures of being in love. The distorted and tangled strok es in the whole work represent the mans faith in love being distorted and tangled. The strokes can also portray the womans deception, which is so fabricated by her loving embrace. Jealousy also carries the tormented-man motif. In this scene, a woman is chatting with and exposing her body to a man as her husband stands by, swallowing his odious jealousy. The husbands face is close-up and facing the viewer, demonstrating his quiet enragement.