M butterfly blog

            The play “M Butterfly”, by David Henry Hwang, says a great deal about the ideology of the east and west.  As the Judge questions M. Song about his relations with M. Gallimard, Song exposes the rape mentality of the West, “The West thinks of itself as masculine—big guns, big money—so the east is feminine—weak, delicate, poor...but good at art, and full of inscrutable wisdom—the feminine mystique.” (Act 3, scene 1, pg. 83)  This quote sums up what the play is about.  M. Gallimard never thinks of himself as a very masculine man.  Even when he is presented with the opportunity to take advantage of girls at his friend’s pool, he is shy and self-conscious.  However, once he arrives in China his inhibitions seem to slowly but surely melt away. The more time Gallimard spends in China the more his western masculinity manifests itself.  He describes the feeling of power he feels when he makes Song wait on him while he works, and when he has an extra-extramarital affair with a French student. 

            Gallimard’s western masculinity complex also affects his physical relationship with Song.  Song describes his and Gallimard’s physical relationship, stating, “I did all the work.  He just laid back.”  This quote reveals how, in time, Gallimard transformed from a relatively weak man to the dominant partner in his relationship.  Gallimard, in his mind, is living how a western man should live; he works hard and comes home to a loving “wife” who does everything for him.  In his mind he is finally utilizing the big guns and big money that coming from the west gives him.  In a seemingly more feminine society Gallimard is able to unleash the inner man and find a suitable, submissive chinese woman.