RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

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As for the affair between Gudrun and Gerald, we share the
same point of view: it is a sado-masochistic relation. The
episode of the Arab mare is the starting point of their violent
impulse toward aggression in love.
The description of the scene
is also an indication of Gerald's attitudes as
a lover. The description has insistent sexual
overtones... the scene is an intimation of the
imperious need for dominance, the desire to bend
the other to [Gerald's] will, that characterizes
Gerald's relation with Gudrun (p.154).
Gudrun also oscillates between domination and submission.
She
and Gerald exchange roles.
Daleski's view is again similar to
mine in What refers to the episode of Gudrun's dance in front of
Gerald's bullocks:
Gudrun dances her desire for dominance, matching
her will against that of the bullocks and testing
her power... Her victory over Gerald's cattle
almost at once releases her desire for violence
against him, and she suddenly strikes him on the
face with the back of her hand (p.156).
Gerald after this blow, instead of being angry with her, says he
is in love with her.
These two symbolic scenes, Daleski says,
culminate with the scene of the rabbit which is a "passion of
sadistic cruelty which is at the same time masochistic" (ibid).
The three scenes, according to the critic, were deeply linked in
Lawrence's mind.
He concludes that "These three powerful and
original scenes suggest the nature of Gerald and Gudrun's
relationship and testify to the rich effectiveness of symbolic
action as a technique" (p.157).
Gerald's death at the end of the novel, in Daleski's
viewpoint, represents the destruction of what Gerald stands for
as a man and is the outcome of his affair with Gudrun.
Their
love leads to destruction.
As Gerald is strong only on the
outside but weak inside he is bound to be destroyed.