Joshua Moreno

10/10/17

English 102

Western Guy, Eastern Butterfly

Some might say M. Butterfly is known for its east versus west dynamic. Western man

comes to Asia finds unsung oriental woman and falls in love so to speak. For what purpose?

Well because he is a western man, a conquer, he is Gallimard the one who rules in the natural

order of the world. He gets what he wants, but it is not all what it seems. As the woman Song

was everything he wanted and more. I agree this play depicts politics regarding Eastern and

Western cultures; however, the real story of the play is in how it handles gender norms and

subverts these norms. Therefore, making East versus West a dynamic rather than plot device, as I

believe Hwang calls into question the traditional dynamics of power between masculinity and

femininity.

M. Butterfly was penned and inspired after a news story in the late 80s about a French

diplomat who was giving government secrets to his wife whom was actually a spy for

communist China. Written to be a tragic comedy it was widely praised for its characters

dynamics regarding the now LGBTQ community. Our lead R. Gallimard falls in love with

antagonist Song after seeing a production of Madame Butterfly cheating on his wife with him

and having a marriage for the next twenty years from 1960-1980. Unfortunately for Gallimard,

his fantasy is broken at the end of the play when it is revealed to all that Song is a spy and was

using him for secrets, however this doesnt appear to be why Gallimard is broken. He ultimately

kills himself to be with his fantasy in death to be with his Butterfly.

 According to the text, Gallimard has not always been the strong, embolden conqueror he

was towards Song. Gallimard is portrayed as passive and gentle in Act 1 Scene 4. It can be

inferred do to his lines, Marc I cant ... Im afraid theyll say nothe girls. So I never ask. He

was respectful and honest in his decision here due to being fearful, and powerless to the opinions

and actions the girls may show towards him. Being fearful, can be seen as something effeminate

to other men as in most cases they will continue to lean into them. In this case it comes from his

friend Marc whom calls him a wimp. So, how did Gallimard turn from fearful, respectful,

wimp to this power seeker? Well another quality of being masculine is being easily influenced

upon and whom better to influence Gallimard then Marc himself. Act 1 Scene 9 shows Gallimard

and Marc discussing his encounter with Song. To which Marc professes, We dont have to be

respectful. Were foreign devils. (P.29, Hwang) As foreign devils they have power in any

country they are in so to speak. Again, the idea comes from that of a conqueror, They fear us,

Rene. Their women fear us. (P.29, Hwang). Gallimard is influenced by this and thus feels like

hes entitled to do whatever he pleases and have whomever he pleases.

Act 1 Scene 13 shows, this new-found power in which he attempts to dominate Song, by

reciting her letter, Ive already given you my shame. (P.37, Hwang) Using this to elicit a

response from Song he now has power over her and gives into his masculinity in having passion,

while cheating on his wife. Typically, men do cheat on their wives its not uncommon for this

behavior and is more fulfillment for those to secure other women then their marital partners. It is

a game Gallimard will continue to play as he courts another woman.

However, by the end of the play, Gallimard can be considered gender-queer as Song

reveals himself. He clearly shows expressions of disbelief as he addresses Song saying,

Butterfly? Butterfly?. He is lost in his disbelief that he chooses fantasy, however this is still
Song, meaning hes still choosing him with the idea of her. According to Shimakawa, Song is

successful in seducing Gallimard precisely because she understands what the Oriental (woman)

looks like to his Western, essentializing eye and can reproduce it for him. So, Gallimard is only

looking for his ideals within Song, and because zhe plays the role so eloquently it confuses into

not knowing exactly what he wants. As Gallimard feels like he has an identity crisis with himself

throughout the play going from passive effeminate male, to masculine player to revaluation, it

can be inferred that this leads to his demise as the power of masculinity has left him and gone

into the hands of Song.

As for Song, he is a man under the guise of a woman. However, Hwang handles this

character very well as in Act 3 scene 1 when Song establishes whats wrong with the western

male. Stating The West has sort of an international rape mentality towards the East. (p.67,

Hwang) and believes the East, deep down, wants to be dominatedbecause a woman cant

think for herself. (p.67, Hwang) Whats ironic about these statements is that it holds true for all

males not just western/eastern males. As noted by Chong-Suk and Ayers "The sexually

marginalized Asian man who has grown up in the West or is Western in his thinking is often

invisible in his own fantasies. Song himself does appear to have fantasy about Gallimard in the

final act of the play, however this was not something zhe had planned to have and was ultimately

rejected by Gallimard. I believe this is because zhe had dominion over Gallimard for so long that

he became blind to it, missing an opportunity for Song to have Gallimard as a life-long partner as

can be implied by Songs final line, Butterfly? Butterfly? exactly the same line as Gallimard.

Why? Either this was done to affirm Songs victory over the western foreign devil or perhaps it

was Song calling out for his Butterfly falling in love with Gallimard.
 So how does Song subvert this balance of power? By dominating over her western

oppressor. Song uses his feminine side to his advantage winning over Gallimard disproving the

assumption East is feminineweak, delicate, poor (p.67, Hwang). Song is an exceptional

example of how femininity has more power over masculinity as is said in one of his lines, Men

always believe what they want to hear. So a girl can tell the most obnoxious lies and the guys

will believe them every time (p.66, Hwang) Song, did exactly this to Gallimard and was thus

able to avoid his advances while still keeping his interests. According to Balaev, Song, the man-

as-woman Opera singer, embodies the Perfect Woman for Gallimard because Song knows what

kind of woman he wants: passive, sexually timid, weak. Song supports these myths. Because of

this Song is able to fill Gallimards mind with wish fulfillment shifting the power to Song, and

leaving him open to following Songs every demand.

Fulfilling Gallimards fantasy of finding his dream woman in a man is also quite

interesting, as if Hwang is saying that men dont know what they want and what they want may

be found in another man. As throughout the play Gallimard was happy being with Song, enough

to leave his wife and start another marriage to him for twenty plus years as well as having a

child. This seems especially smart for Hwang to have written these external details into Songs

character in giving him a more effeminate backstory, however Song is actually the real

masculine character in this story. Again, he has Gallimard wrapped in his fantasy and bending to

his will, with this he has conquered over the western male as an eastern woman. In fact, Song

had hoped that Gallimard had learned something over the course of their marriage and

experience with him as is said in his line, I thought youd become something more. More like ...

a woman. Why would Hwang state such a remark like this? I believe his idea was to show that

women are not weak or as docile as they may seem, in fact they can be quite ruthless or rather
cruelly. Well according to Butler & Balaev, "women must become, must 'be' precisely what

men are not and, in their very lack, establish the essential function of men" Men do not always

have the strength to do what is right nor to act accordingly they are flawed just as Gallimard is.

Putting this into perspective, being considered a real man means to be truthful to themselves as

well as embrace the hardships that women also endure; we cant spell woman without man

as each accommodate their strengths and weaknesses. This is why Song is so successful in his

transformation of becoming a woman, because he understands what it means to be masculine

taking control of every situation, every move Gallimard had made; But also giving him the

opportunity to experience twenty years of being a woman, gave Song more power than he could

imagine as if he was without weakness.

M. Butterfly should be known mostly for its political take on the traditional powers of

masculinity and femininity rather than it being an East v. West story. As it happens the story is

more grounded in the fact that Masculine males seem to have all the power in this world,

however all men are incomplete. Therefore, the only way to be a real man is to embrace ones

feminine side just as Song had done. Power is not for the men, it is for the women that control

everything a man does, for the women who open them to new found power; regardless of which

side of the world they are from. This is a mans world no longer, it is open to all who will one

day rise to power over another.

 Works Citied

Ayers, Tony Quote in Gay Asian-American male seeks home "The sexually marginalized Asian man

who has grown up in the West or is Western in his thinking is often invisible in his own fantasies.

Balaev, Michelle. "Performing gender and fictions of the nation in David Hwang's M. Butterfly."

Forum for World Literature Studies, vol. 6, no. 4, 2014, p. 608.

Butler, Judith. "Gender Trouble", "Performing gender and fictions of the nation in David Hwang's M.

Butterfly." Quote women must become, must 'be' precisely what men are not and, in their very

lack, establish the essential function of men

Han, Chong-suk. "Gay Asian-American male seeks home." The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide,
vol. 12, no. 5, 2005, p. 35+..

Hwang, David Henry. M. Butterfly. Dramatists Play Service, 2008

Shimakawa, Karen. "'Who's to say?' or, making space for gender and ethnicity in 'M. Butterfly.'."

Theatre Journal, vol. 45, no. 3, 1993, p. 349+