M. Butterfly

1. M. Butterfly Master or Madam is the Identity? 9642022 廖千瑀

4. Outline of my presentation • Introduction of David Henry Hwang and M. Butterfly. • Gallimard’s personality and his relationship with other western women. • Image of Gallimard’s ideal woman and the stereotype of oriental women. • Song’s personality of being a homosexuality or not? • The connection between the Revolution and the hegemonic position in their relationship. • The inverted power-position of race and gender from Gallimard’s suicide.

5. David Henry Hwang • David Henry Hwang was born in Los Angeles, August 11, 1957, and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University.

6. The outline of M. Butterfly • The French diplomat, Gallimard, met Chinese opera diva, Song Liling, when she actedMadam Butterfly. • Gallimard was attracted by her performance as an obedient oriental woman. Therefore, he fell in love with Song without knowing Song’s real social identity as a spy and her sexual identity as a man.

7. When having intimacy, Song persuaded Gallimard against stripping off her clothes by emphasizing Chinese women’s modesty. • In Frence, Song and Gallimard were accused of spy, and Gallimard committed suicude in Madam Butterfly’s costume in the prison while Song was repatriated to China.

8. The Issues of M. Butterfly • Hwang showed three main controversial issues in the play: racism , sexism, and imperialism • Racism: the stereotype of Chinese in westerners’ eyes. • Sexism: the stereotype presented by Madam butterfly and Song. • Imperialism: the diplomacy relationship between Chinese, France in Vietnam War.

9. Gallimard’s personality • In western opera, female characters always played by “huge” women, but in Peking Opera, female characters always played by delicate men. • In the different sexualities with three western women, Isabelle, Renee and Helga, Gallimard was the passive one. • He showed his man subject position only when being with Song.

10. The ideal female in Gallimard’s opinion • Owing to his feminine character, He yearned for the dominant position not only between sexual relationship but racial relationship; as a result, he gained superiority from Song’s obedience and tenderness. • What he loved is his fantasy toward the oriental women’s virtue rather than Song’s unique character. • As a result, when knowing the truth, he objected to acknowledge his adoring Song in person.

11. Homosexuality? Heterosexuality? • Both Gallimard and Song qualified some feminine character, but Song’s delicacy was artificially presented and Gallimard was not. • Gallimard needed a “woman” to fulfill his hegemonic position, so he could not accept the “male Song Liling”, who had all his ideal conditions about woman. • Song loved Gallimard as his real identity and even had sex with him.

12. China Government’s attitude toward the West • In the China Revolution, those revolutionists advocated devastating all Chinese old traditions and erecting new customs, and this was also the standpoint of Chinese government. • However, the strategy Chinese government adopted to defeat the west imperialism was a woman in the most traditional and conservative appearance. • Chinese government gained the triumph over France, but is that a real triumph?

13. Gallimard’s death • The male Chinese spy led to Gallimard’s death, and it also represented the downfall of the superior gender, race and social-status. • Compared with Madam Butterfly, Hwang reversed the victim from female to male. • Gallimard killed himself in Madam Butterfly’s identity, and in my opinion, he is the person playing Madam Butterfly in the whole lifetime.