# Gerald Crich — Women in Love character guide > Gerald Crich in Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Gerald, Gerald Crich, Mr. Gerald, Master Gerald, The Gerald **First appearance:** 0001-ii-shortlands ## Snapshot The handsome industrialist heir who accepts marriage as a doom and damnation, Gerald Crich is willing to be sealed in the underworld rather than pledge himself to any pure bond. ## Who they are Gerald is the son of Thomas Crich, a man of white flannels and easy command who moves through the Criches' social world with an air of doomed willingness. He feels Birkin's offer of alliance as strangely elating, yet cannot accept it — there is a numbness upon him, an absence of volition, and he is more glad to reject commitment than to make it. His entanglement with Gudrun becomes the novel's study of a man who has accepted the established order without livingly believing in it. ## In the story ### [Sisters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/i-sisters) Gerald appears at the wedding with his mother, striking Gudrun as northern, pure, and magnetically new, like sunshine refracted through ice. ### [II: Shortlands](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/ii-shortlands) Acts as host at Shortlands, engaging in a philosophical argument with Birkin about standards and individuality, revealing his desire for order and his hidden vulnerability. ### [Diver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/iv-diver) Swims alone in Willey Water, exulting in his isolation and physical mastery; waves to the sisters. ### [In the Train](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/v-in-the-train) Travels with Birkin, listens and responds with skepticism, revealing his pragmatic and materialistic outlook. ### [VI: Crème de Menthe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/vi-cr-me-de-menthe) Gerald enters the café, observes the bohemian scene, and becomes fascinated by the Pussum, feeling a powerful, almost cruel attraction to her. ### [VII: Fetish](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/vii-fetish) Wakes late, observes the naked men, debates art with Birkin, feels repulsed by the African statue, and later leaves after a hostile scene with Halliday. ### [VIII: Breadalby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/viii-breadalby) Arrives at Breadalby with Alexander Roddice, engages in debates on education and social relations, becomes excited by Gudrun's dancing, and later talks with Birkin about the Brangwen sisters. ### [IX: Coal-Dust](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/ix-coal-dust) Rides a red Arab mare to the crossing; forces the terrified horse to stand as the train passes, displaying a glistening, half-smiling look of fixed amusement. ### [X: Sketchbook](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/x-sketchbook) Rows the boat; retrieves the sketchbook; establishes a diabolic freemasonry with Gudrun, feeling compelled by her. ### [XII: Carpeting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xii-carpeting) Gerald is intrigued by Birkin's ideas about the dual will in horses, shows a flicker of excitement, and is challenged by Ursula for his treatment of animals. ### [XIV: Water-Party](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xiv-water-party) Takes charge of water amusements; after the drowning, he dives repeatedly despite his injured hand, appearing inhuman and driven. ### [Man to Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xvi-man-to-man) Visits Birkin, showing protective concern but also mistrust. He is attracted to Birkin's proposal of eternal union yet holds back, feeling limited and uncertain. ### [The Industrial Magnate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xvii-the-industrial-magnate) Gerald is portrayed as a ruthless industrial magnate who modernizes the mines, cuts costs, and removes old employees without sentiment. ### [Rabbit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xviii-rabbit) Returns to Shortlands and shares a moment of obscene recognition with Gudrun while handling the rabbit. ### [Gladiatorial](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xx-gladiatorial) Suffering from profound boredom and emptiness, Gerald finds temporary relief in Birkin's presence and suggests they wrestle. ### [Threshold](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xxi-threshold) Debates marriage and love with Gudrun, shares a sardonic understanding about his father's illness, and feels a subterranean desire for unrestraint with Gudrun. ### [Death and Love](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xxiv-death-and-love) Gerald is locked in a psychological battle with his father's slow death, feeling his own soul hollowed out. He turns to Gudrun as a desperate anchor, pursuing her with a strange, blank intensity. ### [XXV: Marriage or Not](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xxv-marriage-or-not) Wrestles with the idea of marriage, seeing it as a doom yet feeling unable to accept Birkin's alternative of a pure relationship with another man. ### [A Chair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xxvi-a-chair) Mentioned by Ursula and Birkin in the context of their desire for connection and the limits of their influence on him. ### [Flitting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xxvii-flitting) Mentioned as Gudrun's lover; suggested a group trip at Christmas, which Gudrun finds presumptuous yet appealing. ### [Gudrun in the Pompadour](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xxviii-gudrun-in-the-pompadour) Accompanies Gudrun to the Pompadour Café, watches the scene with satiric amusement, and follows her when she takes the letter. ### [Continental](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xxix-continental) Reveals his destructive passion for Gudrun, describing it as a 'blasting' experience, and engages in a power struggle with her. ### [Snowed Up](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xxx-snowed-up) Struggles with Gudrun's rejection and her alliance with Loerke; feels driven to thoughts of killing her. ### [XXXI: Exeunt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/chapters/xxxi-exeunt) Gerald is found dead, frozen in the snow; his body is brought home and viewed by Birkin. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/characters/gerald_crich - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/women_in_love_se/characters