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EN 217: READING LITERATURE

June Abby P. Aranzamendez


Camille A. de los Reyes
John Paul C. Vallente
(MA ELLT)

Dr. Annette A. Soriano


October 5, 2015

The Power of the Imagination and the Oriental Feminine


(A Deconstructive Reading of M. Butterfly)
David Hwangs play M. Butterfly is a deconstruction of Giacomo Puccinis opera
Madama Butterfly (De Ornellas, par. 1, 1). In the said opera, the Oriental woman is portrayed
to be weak, submissive and loyal, while the Western man is powerful, aggressive and
deceitful. In M. Butterfly, the roles are reversed. Moreover, it emphasizes the distinction
between sex and gender. Thus, in the play, the Oriental feminine is strong, controlling, and
deceitful, while the Western masculine is clumsy, socially inept, and loyal. Throughout the
play, however, reversals between these binary oppositions continue to take place. In addition,
the play tackles the relationship of fantasy, or imagination, versus reality. Like the other
oppositions, they are continually dismantled and reversed as the play progresses. These
reversals allow further exploration in our beliefs about gender, race, politics, values, and
social systems. Through the deconstruction of the feminine/masculine, Oriental/Western, and
fantasy/reality binary oppositions, it will be discovered how imagination and the Oriental
feminine is powerful and triumphant.
The text opens with stereotypical concepts of Oriental and Western: Oriental is
associated with femininity, while Western is associated masculinity, as represented by Song, a
Chinese opera actress, and Gallimard, a French diplomat. It is significant to note, however,
that although Song is in truth a male Communist spy disguising as an actress for most parts of
the play, the character should be treated as a feminine one. Song/Mr. Shin himself believes
that regardless of gender, people of the East are stereotyped by the West as feminine,
claiming that the West thinks of itself as masculine . . . so the East is feminine . . . the
feminine mystique.
In the beginning of the text, however, it is established that the Oriental woman, Song,
is the deconstruction of Puccinis Madama Butterfly. Song is in other words a non-traditional
representation of an Oriental woman, as she is presented as a strong, intimidating, bold, and
outspoken woman specifically during her first meeting with Gallimard at an ambassadors
house. By contrast, the Western man, Gallimard, is clumsy, naive, foolish, and less
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aggressive. He is also depicted as generally intrigued by her assertive personality and deeply
attracted to her mysteriousness. The passionate desire of this flawed masculine towards the
perfect feminine is stressed by these lines of Gallimard in Act 1, Scene 10: I returned to the
opera that next week, and the week after that . . . she keeps our meetings so short perhaps
fifteen, twenty minutes at most. So I am left each week with a thirst which is intensified.
Nevertheless, Gallimard holds on to the idea of Songs strong demeanor melting in his
Western arms. This is especially since in one of their meetings, he senses the insecurity of
Song toward Western girls, suggesting that she is after all not as confident and strong as she
has portrayed herself to be. For him, there is always an area of weakness in the Orientals and
it would just be a matter of time before Song relented. Thus, in Scene 11, the established
impressions for each of the genders in the early part of the story suddenly shifts. Gallimard
decides, as an out-of-the-blue experiment, to stop wooing Song: Over the next five weeks. . .
I stopped going to the opera I didnt phone or write her . . . I felt for the first time that rush of
power the absolute power of a man. These lines from Gallimard further prove the reversal
of the previous binary opposition.Now the masculine becomes powerful and confident,
leaving the feminine vulnerable and weak as implied by Songs letters to Gallimard: Please
come-my audiences [and I] miss the white devil in their midst . . . Sometimes I hate you,
sometimes I hate myself, but always I miss you . . . I can hide behind dignity no longer. What
do you want? I have already given you my shame. This victorious state of the masculine is
maintained in Scene 12 when Toulon assigned Gallimard as the vice-consul in replacement of
LeBon. At this point, the man succeeds in the major areas of his life. Conversely, the
feminine stays submissive to the masculine, particularly in Scene 13 as soon as Song accepts
becoming Gallimards little butterfly. Song now plays the gentle, delicate, and modest
Oriental, effectively giving Gallimard a powerful position.
The real intentions of Song become more apparent in Act 2 of the play where she is
revealed as a Communist engaged in an espionage to gather political and military information
through Gallimards accounts. All along she is in control and deceptive, using modesty,
gentleness, and submissiveness to hold the power. Apparently, her scheming actions are
grounded on her theory on the relationship of the West and the East: The East (woman) wants
to be dominated, and once it submits, the West (man) is always ready to become generous.
Gallimard takes the bait, and blinded by Songs submission and his love, he becomes the
subject of deceit, falling for his own illusion of a perfect woman. This time, the feminine is
viewed as deceitful, the trickster, while the masculine is portrayed as foolish, the victim.
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This binary opposition is not deconstructed and keeps up until Act 2, Scene 6 in which
Gallimard meets Renee in a party at the Austrian embassy and eventually has an affair with
her: And so, I embarked on my first extra-extramarital affair. Renee was picture perfect.
With a body like those girls in the magazine. Gallimards illicit affair with Renee turns the
masculine figure into the deceitful trickster, thus making the feminine the foolish victim.
Songs helplessness and submissiveness as an Oriental woman are all the more highlighted
when Gallimard states, But I kept up our affair, wildly, for several months. Why? I believe
because of Butterfly. She knew the secret I was trying to hide. But, unlike a Western woman,
she didnt confront me, threaten, even pout.
The constant reversal of the binary oppositions existing in specific portions of the
play seemingly puts the masculine and feminine on equal footing in terms of power and
powerlessness. It is important to note, however, that this equality between the genders
becomes observable only in Act 1 and in the initial parts of Act 2. Most of the scenes in Act 2,
including major scenes in Act 3 (the final act in the play), magnify the Oriental feminine as
powerful and triumphant, leaving the masculine weak and futile.
The moment Song introduces to Gallimard the idea of her being pregnant, as an
intelligent diversion from the latters request to see her naked, the binary operation of the
masculine above the feminine rapidly overturns, completely collapsing the domineering
image of the male. The masculines flaws are then presented, one after the other, exulting the
female figure in effect: Gallimard thinks of divorcing Helga, his legal wife, to marry and live
with Song in France; he is removed from his post as the vice-consul and is sent home; he still
accepts Song in his small flat in France despite the fact that she left him with their makebelieve baby in China and insists on registering the child by the name she wants; he submits
to Songs urging and gets a job as a courier handling classified documents, which Song would
photograph and pass to the Chinese embassy. These events in the text confirm how Gallimard
becomes completely subservient to Song, even compromising his career and married life,
and, worst, damaging his masculine prideand all because of his fantasy of loving and being
loved by a Perfect Woman.
When he is eventually sent to prison for treason, he continues to live in his world of
fantasy, which has had a grip on him since the first day he met Song. For one thing, he
considers himself a celebrity as he pines away in a French prison cell. In his view, the guards
give him special treatment because when he wants to eat, [he] is marched off to the dining
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roomhot, steaming slop appears on [his] plate, and when he wants to sleep, the light
burns itself offthe work of fairies. Moreover, he sees his cell as a strong shelter against
autograph hounds, and those who might beg him to share the secrets on how to be loved by
the Perfect Woman. In this fantasy, Gallimard fancies himself to have fame and wisdom. In
reality, however, he is notorious, foolish, and shamed. People around Paris talk about him not
because he is a celebrity, but because he has been involved in a trial that reveals his lover for
20 years, Song Liling and the Perfect Woman, to be (1) a Chinese spy, and (2) a man.
It is this truth that Gallimard denies. As he narrates his story in the play, he only
recounts those memories that make him happy and fulfill his fantasy. It took the other
characters, such as Song and Comrade Chin, to show the audience that Song is not the
Perfect Woman, as she is a clever and deceitful spy. For instance, in Act 2, Scene 3, Songs
ally Comrade Chin appears suddenly and Gallimard backs away in disgust and fear. Song
then proceeds to say, Rene, be sensible. How can they understand the story without her?
This shows Renes denial of what he already must have known but refused to acknowledge.
In the next scene, Gallimard comes back only after Comrade Chin leaves. He then continues
to narrate his ideal version of the story. At the end of Act 2, however, he is faced with the
truth. Song, once again, insists that she must reveal the truth, but Gallimard begs her, So . . .
please . . . dont change. In Act 3, Song then reveals his true selfan intelligent and clever
man.
In these instances, Song can be perceived as the voice of truth in the play. On the one
hand, she provides the reality of Gallimards circumstances. On the other hand, she is the
embodiment of fantasy, as she played the Perfect Woman. Gallimard, however, becomes a
tragic character. It is through fantasy that he is able to cope with reality. His fantasy makes
him happy and content. It is here that he comes face to face with an ideal life and his ideal
woman, which is very much inspired by his favorite fantasy opera Madama Butterfly. In
contrast to his real life, wherein he is a clumsy and socially inept man, his fantasy has
allowed him to live a life with love and beauty. His relationship with Song makes him feel
powerful and successfulas what a Western man should be. It is therefore very hard for him
to let this situation go, even if the truth or the reality of the situation creeps in little by little.
At the end, he still pines for Song Liling, his Perfect Woman, even if he has seen the
naked truth with his own eyes. He relishes the past with her, yet he acknowledges that there
will be no future with her anymore. He says, You showed me your true self. When all I loved
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was the lie. Thus, he fantasizes once more, but this time putting himself in the role of the
loving and loyal Japanese woman from Madama Butterfly. In a sense, he puts himself in the
role of the Perfect Woman, who he has been searching for. And as the Perfect Woman should,
he commits suicidean honorable sacrifice made for love. It is only through this fantasy that
he is able to face the reality he has a hard time accepting. At the same time, however, it is
because of his fantasy that causes him to ignore reality.
The play of fantasy and reality then between these two characters show how
conventional concepts about these two are reversed. Reality, instead of being truthful, is
actually deceiving. Song has deceived and betrayed Gallimard throughout the play, while
Gallimard deceives himself with his fantasies. Fantasy, on the other hand, is helpful,
influential, and redeeming. The Perfect Woman, as an Oriental fantasy created by man, gives
Song the role to attain victory over the West, and gives Gallimard happiness and redemption
at the end.
By having a full grasp of each binary opposition, which either comes out singly or
occurs in interplay with other prevailing contrasts in the story, ones conventional beliefs on
gender, race, politics, values, and social systems are challenged, disintegrated, and in the
process of deconstruction, renewed, then again, go through the same process once more.
Thus, the powerless becomes powerful, the otherwise submissive becomes domineering, and
the progressive West is not necessarily superior to the exotic East. Challenging gender and
racial stereotypes and breaking traditional roles thus function as the overarching goal of the
play, as reflected in the title itself. Whereas the original opera addresses the titular role as
madame, representing the weak, delicate personality of the character, Hwangs play addresses
the character as monsieur, M. being an abbreviation of monsieur, to represent what the entire
text is aboutdeconstruction.

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WORK CITED:
Hwang, David Henry. M. Butterfly. New York: Dramatist Play Service, 1988.
Oh, Seiwoong and De Ornellas, Kevin. M. Butterfly. Encyclopedia of Asian-American
Literature, Second Edition. 2013. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.
<https://books.google.com.ph/books?
id=H5pbAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false>.

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