1. M. Butterfly

2. David Henry Hwang Born in 1957 in Los Angeles to immigrants Education
Stanford (graduated 1979)
Yale School of Drama ( )
Most Notable Works
FOB (Fresh Off the Boat) (1981 Obie Award)
M. Butterfly (1988; produced on Broadway; won a Tony)
1000 Airplanes on the Roof (1989)
M. Butterfly [the movie] (1993; debut as a screenwriter and executive producer)
Golden Gate (1994; screenplay)
Golden Child (1996/98; 3 Tony nominations)  
The Monkey King (2001; NBC miniseries)

3. Background: Madame Butterfly
Based on a story by John Luther Long, adapted for the stage by David Belasco
Giacomo Pucchini developed the opera version first performed in 1904 (Date to compare: Admiral Perry’s treaty signed in 1854)
Film versions
1932 Hollywood
1955 Italian/Japanese
1996 Italian/English
Inspired works
Miss Saigon
M. Butterfly

4. Madame Butterfly: Characters
“In Puccini’s opera, men are men, women women, Japanese Japanese, Americans American, as defined by familiar narrative conventions.”
-Dorinne K. Kondo
Characters
Lt. Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton
American, masculine, strong, commanding, cold, lustful, brutish
Cho-Cho-san/ Butterfly
Japanese, feminine, sacrificing, beautiful, submissive, humble, honorable, exotic

5. Background: Time Context
Keep in mind: The main scope of M. Butterfly takes place starting in Gallimard returns to Paris in 1968 and probably dies in 1970.
Second Indochina War,
*1954: France was forced out of Vietnam
*1954: Geneva Peace Accords: Division and reunion
*1960: Communist Party confirmed its use of revolutionary violence
*1968: Paris peace talks begin
*1973: Cease-fire signed in Paris

6. Themes and Ideas in M. Butterfly
How stereotyping…
Leads us to make assumptions about individuals
Provides us with roles/identities
Seduces us with ideals

7. Main Stereotype: The Feminine East vs. The Masculine West
The East
Feminine, traditional, exotic, submissive
“Orientals will always submit to a greater force”
“Here was a Butterfly with little or no voice– but she had the grace, the delicacy… I believed this girl. I believed her suffering. I wanted to take her in my arms– so delicate…”
“…protecting her in my big Western arms”

8. Main Stereotype: The Feminine East vs. The Masculine West
The West
Masculine, progressive, cruel, controlling
“The whole world over, the white man travels, setting anchor, wherever he likes. Life’s not worth living, unless he finds, the finest maidens, of every land…”
“Men always believe what they want to hear”
“[The international rape mentality is] basically ‘her mouth says no but her eyes say yes’”

9. Linked Stereotype: Gender Identity
“[Women’s roles are played by men in the Peking opera] because only a man knows how a woman is supposed to act.” -Song
M. Butterfly shows that gender roles provide people with an identity based on determining the “other” and being the opposite. Butterfly is Rene’s perfect woman, so he must be the perfect man.
The actual categories of what we consider to be male and female exist only in our minds as ways to identify ourselves. The “woman” that Song is referring to in the quote is not an actual woman but the male perception of one which is used to assert their own gender.
“I’m a man who loved a woman created by a man. Everything else– simply falls short.” -Gallimard

10. Role-playing
While is is obvious that Gallimard and Song took on specific stereotypes, what roles did some of the more minor characters take on in M. Butterfly?
Helga
Marc
Chin
Helga: “The pretense—going on your arm to the embassy ball, visiting your office and the guards saying, ‘Good morning, good morning, Madame Gallimard’—the pretense…was very good indeed.”
Marc: “There’re a lotta great babes out there. They’re probably lookin’ at me and thinking, ‘What a dangerous guy.’”
Chin: “You always tell me those kind of things, I felt very bad. But not now! Because what does the Chairman say? He tells us I’m now the smart one; you’re now the nincompoop!”
Ambassador’s wife
Indulgent white man
Loyal servant of Mao

11. Seduction by a Fantasy
At what points in the story was Gallimard most drawn to Song?
When he first visited her home
When she wrote the letter stating that she had given him her shame
After he was upset by Toulon and wanted “a vessel to contain [his] humiliation”
“There’s a vision of the Orient that I have. Of slender women in chong sans and kimonos who die for the love of unworthy foreign devils. Who are born and raised to be the perfect woman. Who take whatever punishment we give them, and bounce back, strengthened by love, unconditionally. It is a vision that has become my life.”

12. Transformation in M. Butterfly
Butterflies are a symbol of metamorphosis
What transformation took place by the end of M. Butterfly?
Gallimard and Rene have switched roles:
“My name is Rene Gallimard– also known as Madame Butterfly”

13. Talking points: Gallimard’s other affair
*Bold personality*
What purpose did she serve in the story?
-She served as a foil to Song
-Cheating on Song appealed to him because of Song’s submissive nature:
“It was [Butterfly’s] tears and silence that excited me every time I visited Renee.”
-Catapulted the relationship between Song and Gallimard to ‘something near love’

14. Talking points: Homosexuality
Was Gallimard gay?
Hwang: Since he probably had at least an idea that he was sleeping with a man, he was gay to an extent
The perception of homosexuality differs from culture to culture, showing that it too is a stereotype
Labels like “gay” or “straight” are clumsy

15. Talking points: Discussion Questions
Was Gallimard a sympathetic character? Can males today relate to him?
Hwang received some criticism from Asian groups regarding M. Butterfly. Why do you think this happened?
Do you think that ideas of Orientalism and femininity are changing? (Be honest– cheerleader example
What would we think of as the “perfect woman” in our society? What are conventional male fantasies? What do they tell us?
How do you personally relate to stereotypes such as Orientalism? How big of a part do they play in your life or the lives of those around you?

16. Bibliography
Alenier, Karren L. "M.Butterfly." Culturevulture.net. 9 Sept Dec
Deeney, John J. "Of Monkeys and Butterflies: Transformation in M. H. Kingston's Tripmaster Monkey and D. H. Hwang's M. Butterfly." MELUS, Vol. 18, No. 4, Asian Perspectives. (Winter, 1993),
"Hwang." Contemporary Theater and Drama in the U.S. 1 Dec
DiGaetani, John Louis. "'M. Butterfly': An Interview with David Henry Hwang." TDR Vol. 33, No. 3. (Autumn, 1989),
Hwang, David Henry. "M.Butterfly." Life Themes: Major Conflicts in Drama. Ed. Annie McGregor and Robert Barton. Mason, Ohio: Thompson,
Kondo, Dorinne K. "M. Butterfly: orientalism, gender and a critique of essentialist identity." Cultural critique. Fall
Lazere, Arthur. "Madame Butterfly - Giacomo Puccini." Culturevulture.net. 1 Dec
M.Butterfly. Videocassette. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, 1994, c1993.
Quillen, Carol. "Feminist Theory, Justice, and the Lure of the Human." Signs, Vol. 27, No. 1. (Autumn, 2001),
Sun, William H. and Faye C. Fei. "Masks or Faces Re-Visited: A Study of Four Theatrical Works Concerning Cultural Identity." TDR Vol. 38, No. 4. (Winter, 1994),
"The Wars for Viet Nam." Vassar College. 1 Dec