Joshua Moreno

Revised December 9, 2017

Professor Batty, English 102

Western Guy, Eastern Butterfly

Some might say M. Butterfly is best 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. Although, Hwangs play depicts East versus West culture dynamic as the major point

in his play, I would have to disagree and that rather than it being about cultural differences M.

Butterfly is actually about subverting traditional gender norms in terms of power cross culturally.

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.

With regard to masculinity and the idea of being seen as masculine we are given this

portrayal in the character Gallimard. 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. This can be seen as a traditional response from submitting to pressure induced by

Marc onto Gallimard as was stated previously men are often easily influenced by other men, in

fact most males in early their age model after their fathers as the primary source for what it

means to be masculine and continually learn through experience and other males. Gallimard in

this case has had a coming to terms with his masculinity and views it as a device for his own

means of seducing Song and other women he sees fit to conquer. 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.

So we have seen Gallimard in the represented as empowered by traditional gender norms,

let us now analyze his turning point in which he seems to align himself to modern gender norms.

As 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. With regard to Songs character I would like to instead of referring to the

character as he/she, continue to refer to Song as zhe. Zhe is a gender neutral pronoun used

today so as to not offend or assume ones gender the effect it has is similar to someone referring

to someone else as it therefore offending them. However, by using the pronoun zhe negates

any negativity and further connects the character to modern gender norms. To continue my

analysis on Gallimard, he 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, zhe 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. (Balaev,
p.608) 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 as quoted by Balaev, "women must become, must 'be'

precisely what men are not and, in their very lack, establish the essential function of men"

(Butler, Gender Trouble) Men do not always have the strength to do what is right nor to act

accordingly as 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+