Jealousy made in 1895 by Edvard Munch is a narrative based painting that tells the story about a love triangle involving Munch, as himself; Strindberg, one of Munch’s colleagues; and Dagny, the woman both of them were competing for. Strindberg was a Swedish refugee that Munch met in 1892 and the two became very close friends due to their mutual love of painting. The two intellectually collaborated and shared different insights on how they painted different subjects. Both were jealous of each other not only for their talent in painting but also with their affiliations with Dagny. They then decided to collaborate and paint the same theme which was appropriately, jealousy (Prideaux,141) .
Stylistically, this painting does show jealousy and betrayal in its purest form. Munch painted the woman Dagny under the Edenesque tree wearing a red robe. The bright red color on her robe signifies the soiling of purity and sin; the ability to see her nakedness under her robe shows the exposure of the bare truth under her lies. Munch also paints himself with Dagny under the tree and in the foreground he has painted Staczu Prybyszewski, Dagny’s former husband, twisted in jealousy (Prideaux, 147).
Thematically, this painting does show betrayal in not only the details of the painting but also the story behind it. Munch portrays Dagny under what is a symbol for the garden of Eden which shows a reference to the betrayal of Adam and Eve towards God. Also the discomfort in her former lovers face shows the hurt that betrayal can cause.
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