In a dark cave, festooned with phallic stalactites and stalagmites, cluster together several classically draped women. They are being menaced in their prison by shadowy dragons, from whose sight three of the women are hiding their eyes. There appears to be no escape. This could be seen as a metaphor of sexual menace, but could also be viewed as an allegory of hope and purity, while another two are unafraid – one is standing seeming to beat off the evil dragons and be moving upwards towards the light and the other is almost ready to stand. The three former women cower and appear overwhelmed by despair. The woman on the left-hand side seems to have accepted the advance of a dragon as inevitable, as it creeps under her guiding arm. The message is of the physical, moral and spiritual danger of the world – we must not allow the evil of the world to overwhelm us, but must struggle and fight.