M Butterfly

Butterfly David Hwang the author of M. Butterfly has been able to through his writing viaduct the past and culture of two very different worlds. Being based on a true story adds further strength to the book. The inspiration behind the writing comes from a real espionage scandal that amazed the world when it happened In the process of writing David Hwang has reflected on the different human weakness, psychosis, and insecurities. M. Butterfly also depicts the Western fantasies of Asian that led to the debacle of Vietnam.

To women the stigma of being physically and mentally weaker has always been attached. They are considered only capable of caring for herself to a certain extent. Passivity is thought of as a female trait, and is admired when a woman displays it. Through the book David Hwang attacks these very traditional views Westerns have held for Asian women. Mainly the book revolves around two characters, the French diplomat, Rene Gallimard who is suffering from a borderline case of schizophrenia and Song Liling, the beautiful Chinese diva and opera performer.

Rene Gallimard who moves to China on deputation along with his wife. Unlike most men in his form of service he has never ventured into adultery. Song Liling is the first real women outside marriage to actually catch his fantasies. He makes a few trips to the opera to sit audience to her and eventually decides to "try and experiment" (Hwang).

When thinking up his experiment he recollects a memory of Madame Butterfly in which "Cio-Cio-San fears that the western man who catches a butterfly will pierce its heart with a needle, then leave it to perish"(Hwang). Rene Gallimard has similar feels, that he has caught a butterfly who will "writhe on a needle" (Hwang). This butterfly for which he fears is his mistress Song Liling. Rene Gallimard experiment was his effort to essentially play hard to get, and in the process have Song Liling initiate a relationship.

His experiment successfully exposed Song's desire to enter into a relationship. It is this relationship that the book centers on which lasted for a period of twenty and eventually lead to the down fall of Rene Gallimard. During these two decades Rene Gallimard remained unaware of the fact that Song Liling was actually a Communist spy and a man. The book does not progress forward but is rather a recollection of the past of Rene Gallimard.

It opens with him in the cramped prison cell where he is being held captive by the French government. The French are not alone in holding him imprisoned. His illusions also incarcerate him. In confinement he reflects on his life and love. In series of recollections Rene Gallimard, recalls and in the process relives the twenty-years of his affair. The memory is all too clear from the first temptation to the actual seduction and consummation and how it all finally tarnished his own and Song.