Meshes of the Afternoon are a short movie produced and directed by Maya Deren and her husband in 1943. Throughout the movie, a flower is a dominant object that appears in several scenes. This follower is attributed to different meanings in the film. First, the flower appears at the film’s onset when an unknown person leaves the flower, which she picks up while heading home. Here the flower represents love or marriage; the flower in this sense is feminine, and it is given to her as a sign of love or marriage proposal of which she accepts (Deren, 1943). After reaching home, she takes a nap and, in a dream, sees a figure with a mirror for a face taking away the flower she was given. Here the flower is again vividly seen in the hands of the figure with a mirror for a face. The figure is taking away the flower; this shows the woman’s power and happiness before marriage has been taken away by a dominant figure, probably a man.
Maya follows the figure which tales the flower and places in her bed. Placing this flower in Maya’s bed symbolizes the role of a woman in a marriage. The flower in bed symbolizes a woman’s sexual life meaning that a woman belongs in the bed pleasing a man sexually. On the same note, when the flower reaches the bedroom, it shows how a woman is the most trusted by man. The flower is, therefore, a representation of women and sexuality, the role of a woman in her marriage, and the duty of a woman in the marriage. On the other hand, when the figure with the mirror for a face leaves the flower on the bed where the knife was, it represents masculinity and femininity. The knife dominates the flower in the bed, and this shows that masculinity dominates femininity in society.