Excessive Themes in David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly
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. The tenor is the butterfly and the vehicle is the M, now the problem with this is that the tenor and the vehicle imply too many things, making it far too abstract to make a clear description of reality. The interaction between the vehicle and the tenor yields nothing except confusion to an audience that is simply stimulated by the superficial layers of the play.
Looking at the metaphor M. Butterfly, one is able to extract a vast spectrum of ideas which Hwang suggests, for example: East vs. West, man vs. woman, sexuality, power relations, race, gender, class, stereotypes, fantasy… etcetera. Now, from a mathematical point of view the metaphor has many variables in the equation, making the problem much more difficult to solve. In other words, Hwang's butterfly metaphor is too ambitious and the audience can have a head full of themes that don't seem to connect to each other. For example, a secondary metaphor which feeds into the butterfly metaphor is when Gallimard says; "I knew this little flower was waiting for me to call, and, as I wickedly refused to do so, I felt of the first time that rush of power-the absolute power of a man" (Hwang, 32). This example implies a power relationship as the tenor and the vehicle is Song, but the number of themes that this metaphor suggests is too many: Power relations, stereotypes, east vs. west, and man vs. woman, race...
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...Post…We all simply concluded that the gentleman was possibly insecure about his own sexual orientation and therefore found the play threatening" (97). Oh well, if that's the case than I'm in big trouble with Hwang.
So there you have it, not only did Hwang's metaphors fail to describe reality effectively to the audience, but the hubris of a Tony award winner has been illuminated by a part-time college misfit. However, the audience was most certainly stimulated by the most obvious sexual aspects of the play, but when looking at the metaphor as a whole the only thing one can do is go cross-eyed because the play is too potent with themes to make quality connections. It's safe to say that gravity works even on an "elevated" play such as M. Butterfly.
Sources Cited
Kroll, Jack Newsweek. 6 Nov. 1988
Hwang, David H. M. Butterfly. New York: Penguin Books, 1989.
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all, Song has deceived a somewhat intelligent individual for over twenty years. I saying , Song :"Rule One is " Men always believe what they want to hear." ( 82 ) I don't think that is entirely accurate,but Song has proven it to be throughout the play in dealing with Gallimard. So basically in that area Song's "rule" applies. Gillimard wanted to believe his "love" was indeed a young , Oriental woman. He refused to acknowlege otherwise because that was his " fantasy". However, I must disagree when "Rule One" also states, Song: " So a girl can tell the most obnoxious lies and the guys will believe them every time--" (82 ) Again, as far as Song's relationship with Gillimard is concerned, it is again truthful. However, I think that would be an extreme exaggeration in speaking of "men" in general, even in terms of "men" in this play. I don't think Song could have fooled Marc for very long. I think perhaps we see some of Hwang's own experiences in his life poking through into the play.
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Unfortunately this disease is passed down from the parent to the child genetically. “If both parents have sickle cell trait (each have one normal hemoglobin gene and one sickle cell gene), the child has a 50% chance of inheriting sickle cell trait (one normal gene, one sickle cell gene), 25% chance of inheriting sickle cell disease (two sickle cell genes), and 25% chance of not inheriting either the trait or the disease (two normal genes) (Harvey)”.
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The problem is that sickle cell anemia affects about 72,000 Americans in the United States. Sickle cell anemia is an inherited disease in which the body is unable to produce normal hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein. Abnormal hemoglobin can morph cells that can become lodged in narrow blood vessels, blocking oxygen from reaching organs and tissues. The effects of sickle cell anemia are bouts of extreme pain, infectious, fever, jaundice, stroke, slow growth, organ, and failure.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sickle cell disease (SCD) affects millions of people worldwide and predominantly affects descendants from sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central America, the Caribbean, Saudi Arabia, India; and the Mediterranean. Sickle cell disease is a genetic disorder of the red blood cells where the red blood cells comprises of predominantly hemoglobin S, an abnormal type of hemoglobin (2011). Two most common types of sickle cell disease seen in the clinical setting are Sickle Cell Anemia (SS) and Sickle-Hemoglobin C Disease (SC) (Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, 2014, para.1).
of it. The play deals with the social intolerance of gay men and unfit women.
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