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Fatima Arriola

Professor Batty

English 102

17 October 2017

The Love That Caused an Awful Tragedy

David Henry Hwang's play M. Butterfly is dependably studied by fictional critics to be

work involving of symbols and metaphors that, together, similar a relationship between two men

(one, a seemingly heterosexual male; the other concealing themselves in the appearance of a

female) and the power of the West over the East. Critics normally conclude that Hwang was, in

fact, emphasizing these metaphors to represent this image of an entire Western culture over the

supposedly unassuming Chinese culture. However, he's focusing on different images and giving

a diversity of meanings to each representation, but at the same time, it tells a beautiful story

about two lovers who technically are homosexual. While not disregarding the strength of these

opinions and concepts, my argument instead focuses on the idea that the separate homosexual

identities of the characters of Song and Gallimard by playing a crucial role in understanding the

burdens of gender roles in a mainly heterosexual world and context. By contrast, it is Song's

sympathetic of Western men, which shoot from actual knowledge and observation, which allows

him to deceive Gallimard. Song and Gallimard both share the conventional idea of how a person

can live two lives in one body without even knowing.

Hwang jumps off the play by allowing Gallimard to give a monologue to the viewers

about his current difficulty and how the name of the play came about. The title, M. Butterfly, he

says, comes from Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly in which a white, American man falls for a
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young Asian woman. They start to have romantic relations and ultimately marry the young

woman who has a child that's technically his; the American then leaves for three years, only to

his return to tell his earliest that he has married an American woman. Discouraged, the young

Oriental commits suicide and leaves her child with the American (Hwang 12-19). Many critics

such as Irmscher surround their main argument this point: Hwang is using this similarity of

Puccinis opera with his own story of homosexual lovers to clear a carriage f Western

imperialism over Eastern cultures (623-624). Irmscher sees continuously more thing in the play

than ever before. For example, Hwang, though using the suggestion to indicating western

dominance, could also suggest another resolution for its use: to observe the separate sexualities

of Gallimard and Song and the ways they are shaped by a society which is required

heterosexuality.

As we get taken back to Gallimard's earlier life, we see that Gallimard, a French

ambassador in China, has fallen in love with an Asian "woman" who's beyond beautiful by the

name of Song, while he was in his job. He describes her as a "butterfly" due to her playing this

role in Asian Theater and becomes obsessed with her, which leads to ultimate desire and a 20-

year love affair. Eventually, we learn that Song is a spy who has disguised himself as a woman to

collect information for the Communist Party; Gallimard cannot handle this exposure and

commits suicide creating yet another similar to Madame Butterfly (Hwang 69). At this moment

of death is when the second purpose of that opera's title becomes important in connection to the

issue of homosexuality. Close to the beginning of the play, Gallimard defends the Oriental

woman's suicide in Madame Butterfly who quotes, "Death with honor/ Is better than life/ Life
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with dishonor," (Hwang 17). This quote can be connected with Gallimard's suicide as he views

homosexuality as a shame to himself and mankind, and feels the only outflow is death.

The serious problem that keeps both the reading and the analysis of this play is pointed

to the political monarchy of the hidden lookout that people (specifically Americans) will view

the play in a mostly heterosexual, white, protestant field that creates this type of "tunnel dream"

which gives us an incomplete lookout. What most people tend to disrespect, is the extraordinary

matter of whether Gallimard is a homosexual or not. In a 1989 Hwang had an interview with,

Don Digaetani who asked him a question about the relationship that Gallimard and Song had in

his story. In his respond, Hwang chose to leave the open-ended question saying, "On some level,

he knows he's gay yet he lived in a homophobic period," Hwang then debates the issue of

homosexuality in different cultures and tries to inhabit into describing an obedient East (Hwang

and Digaetani 145). It is interesting to see Hwang answer such question in a very informal way.

The play was out in the late 1980's when homosexuality was beginning to become more open,

but in many places, it was still a debatable topic. As a result, Hwang likely did not want to risk

an obvious respond as it could lead to a disaster in the audience numbers. We can still see,

through Hwang's writing, the indication that shows a gay Gallimard and Song, especially in the

character descriptions and stage directing. According to Hwang, when directors are casting Song,

they should, "Preferably find a man," and if they choose a woman to play Song instead they "run

the risk of abusing the very sexual domination it pursues to judge," (Hwang 89). Critics such as

Zamora argue that Hwang uses this "American-based theme to instill a political and cultural

reformation," (35). However, Hwang is not only trying to send political notions of the

overlapping East/West theme but possible also to change cultural attitudes towards
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homosexuality. Song's make-up on stage, for example, is stark white, to represent the western

values of beauty. It also can be to serve the domain of thought as a female perspective; after all,

Song is trying to cover up the exile of being a homosexual by masking himself with a white,

heterosexual body. Now that we have discussed Hwang reason of writing such story, let's move

on to how these characters represent homosexual.

Gallimard's homosexual nature and character, are several symbols that lead to the statement

that Song and, more importantly, Gallimard are gay. First, we have the jail cell in which

Gallimard is kept. This space represents Gallimard's inside sexuality, as the heterosexual world

outside cannot accept his homosexuality, and therefore, he has to restrict this "difference" to a

separate monarchy of thought. These homosexual thoughts are becoming Gallimard nightmares

just how his desires are gone away from the heterosexual world. This symbol relates directly to

Glover and Kaplan's analysis of Queer Theory as they try to "define queer" and categorize it as a

"desire beyond the regular confines of heteronormativity," (132-133).

Hwang's theme of Western imperialism over Eastern cultures conveys with it the concept

of the heterosexual privilege. As an outcome, both audience members and critics fail to see the

actual importance of Gallimard and Song's relationship. Their internal struggle is a straight result

of the heterosexual world's feminization and dominance of the obedient homosexual society. Just

as in Western dominance has led to colonization and submissiveness of the Eastern world,

heterosexual dominance has firmed and continues to further failure the domain of homosexual

culture and closets "queer" sexualities. Especially in the society we live in, I feel disgusted every

day by the hate that homosexual get. It's a disappointment to see people reactions toward others,

which is why I think Song and Gallimard story is calling them into questions. The audience will
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always have different opinions even if the authors are trying to persuade a mortal lesson in his

story.
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Works Cited

Glover, David, and Cora Kaplan . Genders. 2nd. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.

Hwang, David Henry. M. Butterfly. New York, N.Y.: New American Library, 1989.

Print.

Hwang, David, and John Digaetani. M Butterfly: An Interview with David Henry

Hwang.TDR; 33.3(1989):141-153.

Irmscher, Christoph. The Absolute Power of a Man? Staging Masculinity in Giacomo

Puccini and David Henry Hwang." Amerikastudien / American Studies; 43.4

(1998): 619-628. Print.

Zamora, Maria C., and Inc ebrary. Nation, Race & History in Asian American Literature:

Re-membering the Body. New York: Peter Lang, 2008.