D.H. Lawrence used the elements of suspense and romance
borrowed from popular forms of literature but to different ends other
than keeping his audience enthralled to an old fashioned formula. In the
penultimate chapter of The Virgin and the Gipsy,
the figure of the
Damsel in distress as embodied in his female character Yvette is
involved in a life threatening situation whereas his male character, the
Gipsy, is proactively involved in rescuing her life. However, the end
result of the rescue scene is to see Yvette through on her way to selfrealization.
Conversely the male figure dwindles into oblivion at the end
of the novella when his mission as a catalyst is over. Nothing remains of
the male persona except the prosaically English name of Joe Boswell at
the end of a letter addressed to Yvette. The dark figure of the exotic
Gipsy is reduced to a name, which Yvette realizes, to her surprise, he has
had all the time.