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M. Butterfly by Hwang. From year to year it is a tendency that peoples thoughts and emotions have been becoming more complicated. These causes contrasts and illusions, modern life is full with. And in his great work M. Butterfly Hwang explores all the illusions of life; not only between a Western man and Oriental woman, but also the illusions of power, illusions between the East and the West, sexual illusions.
So vivid and sensitive main points can be presented only by a person with both with eastern and western roots. And thought Hwang was born in America and lived there, but in his childhood he was told the stories of the old country. Thats why his works plays with ideas and illusions on a great scale. Wen-hsiang Su said: M. Butterfly challenges our ideas of gender, identity and love in a world where nothing is what it seems. It proves that nothing is real in this world, because everything exists only as we want to perceive it.
This is reinforced by the entire proceedings of the plays being played out entirely in Gallimard's mind as he presents his story to us, the audience, as he wants us to see it. And in the end, Gallimard chooses the ultimate illusion. It has been said that the mind is the theatre of conflict. But what happens when perceptions clash and heads butt?
In the play M. Butterfly, by David Henry Hwang, he uses the title as his primary metaphor, but he convolutes the play by having too many themes working around it which can distort the reaction of the audience. Looking at the metaphor M. Butterfly, one is able to extract a vast spectrum of ideas.
But how we see them is only what our eyes want to see. Gallimard's, the main heros, passion can be considered as a flight of fancy. It sparked the most vigorous emotions of his life. M. Butterfly drew both acclaim and criticism. Several reviewers applauded its ambition, richness, and drama, while others found its characterizations and plot twists unbelievable.
But I am firmly sure that one cannot considers the play narrow, as a personal tragedy. And even the fusion of politics and humanity is not the mane idea, depicted by Hwang. The play shows a great struggle between illusions and reality. Only in real life could love become so unreal.
And only in such a dramatic tour de force do we learn how a fantasy can become a man's mistress - as well as his jailer. If you hold a piece of string between your hands you have an "end" in each hand, but in more ways than one each end can also be called a beginning. It depends on our view of life and problems. Rene wishes that he could become a more aggressive and popular person - Song uses acting to become different people while performing: Rene believes many stereotypes about Asian culture, particularly about Chinese women - Song uses Rene's love for her in order to get secrets from him. So, Rene became the victim of his own illusions! Karren L.
Alenier points in his article that: The character Gallimard is pulled into M. Butterfly's trap because he is enthralled with the modern western education and values she has, which he considers to be in conflict with her "Oriental" soul. This play dives deep into the pool of stereotypes and makes every turn imaginable. While the Eastern/Western dichotomy is presented with stereotypes of both sides, roles are soon reversed which gives the dichotomy a whole new meaning. Gallimard, initially portrayed as the Western dominant male, and Song, initially portrayed as the compliant Asian woman, will both eventually reverse their sexual roles although their ethnic identities remain in tact. Gallimard evolves from the controller to the controlled, while Song proves his power and control as his masculinity is revealed.
All of this role and sexual confusion causes us to re-examine the stereotypes. Are they socially constructed or are they inherent in the person? The heart of the story is in the evolution of the love affair - and the seduction, manipulation and passions that determine its evolution. The crash of illusions drives him finally and fatally deep within the fantasy with which, over the years, he has held the truth at bay.
We witness unfolding before our eyes the union of reality and fantasy, male and female, heterosexuality and homosexuality, East and West' Hwang also tears at the other social illusions that are often created - the divide between the genders, for example. If Gallimard truly loved Song for who she is as a person, why would he love her any less just because she turns out to be a man? Did he therefore only love Song because she was a woman? Complex human emotions and world-changing political events are brought to life on a stage that had no sets to contribute to the understanding of time and place. By the play's unpredictable end, we see what happens when all the roles are reversed -- when man becomes woman, East becomes West. Clearly, Hwang intended to play upon an inversion of modern-day stereotypes in this work and does so quite well.
From this work, the readers are forced to question the myth of the standard gendered roles and ethnic markers. Hwang set out to write a play that would deconstruct the race and gender illusions that the West has adopted in its dealings with Eastern culture. In conclusion it should be said that everything in our life can be turned into illusions. We can fight for freedom, but what kind of freedom do we need. We believe in truthful love, but will it be so important after some time? The main question in somebody's life should be: how strong he believes in these illusions.
And frankly speaking, we cannot live without illusions. We need them like the air. Our life is in them. There are a lot of to think about ion the play, but I am sure that Gallimard got much more then he had ever been expected for.
Bibliography: Wen-hsiang Su. The Destruction of the Western Ideology: Multiple Voices in David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly, 2004. Karren L. Alenier.
M. Butterfly David Henry Hwang: Washington, 2004.
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