In Edvard Munch's "The Dance of Life," the two women on either side of the couple are believed to symbolize the stages of life. The woman on the left, who is standing alone, represents youth and innocence. She is depicted wearing a white dress and flowers in her hair, which are often associated with purity and freshness. The woman on the right, who is holding onto the arm of the male figure in the center, represents maturity and experience. She is dressed in a dark, red dress and is wearing a somber expression on her face, which symbolizes the weight of experience and the passing of time. Together, the three figures in the painting convey a sense of the cycle of life, with youth giving way to experience, which in turn leads back to the inevitability of mortality.