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Alexis Sanchez

Professor Batty

English 102

18 October 2017

Butterfly The True Destroyer Of Men: A critical Analysis on the Play M Butterfly through a
postcolonial and Queer theory lens

The world is not simply black and white but has many grey areas, some that are harder to

see than other. It is easy to see the world in simple binaries. David H. Hwangs play M. Butterfly

calls into questions both gender and cultural binaries by viewing them from a postcolonial and

gender queer theory lens. A postcolonial lens involves viewing how European countries have

influenced the way we view colonized countries such as in this case, China or asia in general. An

important word to refer to a power extending influence to what the colonizer feels to be an

inferior power is called Imperialism.On the other hand, Queer theory challenges the validity of

traditional views of heterosexual sexuality and gender roles. That is, the traditional behaviors

that are associated with femininity and masculinity. Hwang criticizes these through intermingling

two plots: one from an italian opera and another from a true story. The play is based off of true

story of a French Diplomat Rene Gallimard who enters an affair for twenty years with whom he

thought to be a beautiful chinese women, only to find out she is actually a male spy using him

to receive sensitive political information. Hwang attempts fills in the blanks by making

Gallimard obsessed with the opera, Madame Butterfly, by Giacomo Puccini which is about a

submissive Geisha named Butterfly who kills herself for the unrequited love of an American man

named Pinkerton. This further implies how Gallimards view of asian women lead to his tragic
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fate. Some argue Hwangs play doesnt address the female plight, however, Gallimards gender

views, and imperialist mindset, tragically causes his conflicted identity.

One of the struggles that causes Gallimard's conflicted identity involves his narrow

minded view of gender binaries and what that means for him as a male. Throughout the play

Gallimards old friend Marc appears, but only in abstract flashback scenes where the audience

discovers Gallimards past. His past reveals that he had insecurities about his male identity and

sexuality because of his lack of looks and attention from girls. Furthermore, Marc amplifies these

negative thoughts that Gallimard has about himself by reinforcing male stereotypes such as being

sexually aggressive and treating women as objects. By this, Marc represents the societal

pressures that weigh on Gallimard to be a man. Liz Brent agrees when she writes, Marc

represents the cultural influences that encourage men to view women as sexual objects who can

be purchased for the purpose of male pleasure (Brent 1). Since Marc represents the cultural

influences that perpetuate these messages to men, his fluidity throughout the play is significant

because despite this friendship being in Gallimards past, Marcs views on sexuality and

masculinity continue to impact Gallimard throughout his adult relationship with Song. Thus,

depicting how mask an underlying insecurity in males such as Gallimard. Throughout

Gallimards life he continually feels the pressure to reinforce his role as a male which cause him

to do things that make him unhappy, but feed into the patriarchy. For example, Gallimard

pursues what he thinks to be a docile Chinese women, but once he wins her over he immediately

ignores her. When he finally receives attention from a beautiful women, in this case, Song he

ignores her completely until Song feels completely demeaned (Hwang 22). Admittedly, he says

I had finally granted power over a beautiful women, only to abuse it cruelly Even when
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Gallimard finally feels he got the women he deserved he is unable to fully immerse himself in a

loving relationship and instead feels the need to establish domination over her. Thus, depicting

how these patriarchal views negatively bled into the most personal aspect of his life rendering

from being true to himself.

Gallimards imperialist mindset of Western and Eastern powers also cause his identity

crisis. Another reason why Gallimard obsesses over Puccinis Opera is because of the fact that

the leading man is Western. Gallimard felt entitled to conquer Butterfly or Song because he is

a man, but also because he is a Western man. Moreover, the idea of Orientalism that Hwang

addresses in his play promotes the idea that European powers are more superior to Eastern

powers.Because this is so, Europeans often feel entitled to save the poor Orientals from

themselves in order to justify their superiority over them. Niel further elaborates on this notion,

Orientalism provided a justification for continued European colonialism based on the

construction of the Orient by the Occident as particularly inferior and therefore in need of

Western intervention (Niel 26) Gallimard identity rests on this notion to save an eastern

women because saving someone implies that one is more equipped than another. In the end, this

obviously does not work well for Gallimard because he is tricked which also proves that Hwang

wishes to discuss how also racial superiority is damaging as well. Equally important, Hwang also

aims to prove that gender binaries and orientalism are correspond. Since, the Occident or the

EUropean must view the Orient as inferior, they often associate the country with femininity.

Songs character also acts as a vessel to prove this notion. For example, towards the end of the

play Song is before the court bearing witness of her and Gallimards relationship Song explains

that her understanding of Gallimards imperialist mindset bleeds into gender roles,
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The West has sort of an international rape mentality towards the East. ...Basically, 'Her

mouth says no, but her eyes say yes.' The West thinks of itself as masculine -- big guns,

big industry, big money -- so the East is feminine -- weak, delicate, poor... The West

believes the East, deep down, wants to be dominated -- because a woman can't think for

herself (Hwang 82).

When Song says this, he reveals his final motives and proves that he used Gallimards views on

East vs. West were equally important as gender binaries deceive him. Also, equating rape

mentality to colonization of the East also proves how Imperialism is a Patriarchal idea. East and

Women are closely associated and must not only be objectified, but also saved because the

Western man knows bes as Gallimard thought.

Gallimards death explains the complex struggle with his inner identity as a man and as a

Westerner. In the very end of the play Hwang uses costuming in order to create a powerful

image. During the last scene of the play Gallimard dresses up as a Japanese woman and stabs

himself in the chest before he dies he dies (Hwang 91). Gallimard dressing up as a geisha

represents he is now taking on the role of butterfly himself, since his chances of ever being

Pinkerton are shattered after being tricked by Song. He admits this when he says, My name is

Rene Gallimard- also known as Madame Butterfly (Hwang 99). This reversal of roles happens,

because of his narrow view of binaries. Gallimard cannot accept fluidity, he only accepts clear

cut binaries because living in a world that he cannot categorize is completely foreign to him.

Rather, he chooses to go from one extreme to another. This action reflects a deep root self hatred

of a man who is scared of his own complexity. Morris agrees,writing, His visage resolves itself

into its Other (in terms of both gender and race) and he becomes an Oriental woman: the very
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reflection of his desire (Morris 1). Morris opens up the conversation to also note that this

symbolizes both reversal of gender and race. Gallimard's inability to accept himself goes beyond

his life and depicts the dangerous By doing so, Hwang is subverting cultural and gender binaries

by reversing roles by depicting how these binaries damage men and women.

Some critics believe that M Butterfly focuses too much on Gallimard's struggle and not

enough on the womens plight, "focusing on male pathos and male self-pity, M. Butterfly is

intermittently anti-feminist. (Lye 1) It is true that this play does explore Gallimards self pity

and emotional history, however it does so not because it only wants to shows one side of the

problem, but aims to show how gender binaries are destructive for everyone. In fact, this play

proves that patriarchy is a form of self destruction. The patriarchy is what ultimately killed

Gallimard because of his inability to fit in a binary world. Also, Hwang proves the power of

femininity through Song. Song held no power as man, he had to disguise as a women in order to

destroy Gallimard. Thus, showing the power of femininity, A girl could tell the most obnoxious

lies and a man will believe her every time (Hwang 81) This also proves that as long as we feed

false narratives of superiority self destruction is inevitable.

Overall, Hwang intermingles ideas of gender roles and imperialism in his play in order to

illustrate how closely related they are. By doing so, he shows how they both promote the idea of

superiority and inferiority and how this is simply a false narrative that not only hurts the

inferior power, but also the superior one as well. By viewing the world in the way Rene

Gallimard views it we rob ourselves in understanding the true complexity of the world. We also

run a danger in teaching that we must all fit into roles and if we dont we are better off not

existing at all.
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Works Cited

Bilotta, Neil. "Orientalism and Congolese Unaccompanied Refugee Minors in the Global North."

Journal of Pan African Studies 8.2 (2015): 22-40. Ebsco Host. Web.

Brent, Liz. "Drama for Students." Critical Essay on 'M. Butterfly 11 (2011): n. pag. Gale

Literary Sources. Web.

Lye, Colleen. "M. Butterfly and the Rhetoric of Antiessentialism: Minority Discourse in an

International Frame." Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Contemporary Literary Criticism 196

(2005): n. pag. Gale Literary Sources. Web.

Morris, Rosalind. "M. Butterfly: Transvestism and Cultural Cross-Dressing in the Critique of

Empire." Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Contemporary Literary Criticism 196 (2005): n. pag.

Gale Literary Sources. Web.