Feminism in M. Butterfly
In the 1989 drama M. Butterfly, the masterwork of contemporary American playwright David Henry Hwang, the topic of sexual politics underlies all other themes, and creates a tension between the genders that pervades throughout the text; moreover, Hwang subverts traditional thematic aspects of sexual politics by questioning the most fundamental unit of sex by considering the very nature of gender and what defines a male or a female. These elements unite and develop a penetrating examination of feminism, and an inspection of the role of females in both Western and Eastern societies as they relate to males, and an exposé of the inequalities of gender which are present, perhaps fundamental, in both cultures. The tug-of-war for control, both sexual and intellectual, between male and female characters, especially Rene Gallimard and Song Liling, is ubiquitous throughout the text, and culminates in the final scene where Rene commits seppuku, or Japanese ritual suicide. In M. Butterfly, Hwang views feminism from a variety of unusual lenses by looking at both genders, and serving to draw attention to the traits and qualities of both using dialogue, character study, and clever dramatic techniques.
Any discussion of feminism in M. Butterfly must be chronological, and show the development of the characters over time; this allows the reader and audience to mark the character study of the selves over duration of the drama. In the opening act the reader is introduced to a very feminine Song Liling, the character who first assumes the function of the female. Hwang acquaints the reader with Song dancing, and in female garb, in the stage directions of the first act; yet the audience can guess as early as two page...
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...ruitless and impossible way to establish a productive, working relationship between men and women. From the three gossipers to Gallimard and Marc, from Gallimard and Renee to Gallimard and Song, Hwang inspects feminism using a new and unusual viewpoint throughout the play, which he asserts in various ways. Hwang states that only as equals can male and female coexist in harmony; revealing underlying sexism in both the cultures of East and West, Hwang shows there is much room for improvement, and that education of gender would be a valuable thing. M. Butterfly is a strong and creative drama driven by strong and creative ideas, but none are as clear or as forceful as the inequalities between men (the errant need to control) and women (submitting to these controls) and their sources (male insecurities, fear of vulnerability), which he discloses, and ultimately, condemns.
Out from the kitchen and into the world, women are making a better name for themselves. Although humankind tends to be male dominated, men are not the only species that inhabit the world that they live on. In Julia Alvarez's novel In the Time of the Butterflies, the women of the Dominican Republic are expected to grow up to be housewives and lacking a formal education. Women may be cherished like national treasures, but they are not expected to fulfill their truest potentials as human beings.
In what ways and to what effect do female characters simultaneously enact and subvert Vietnamese gender roles.
(1800)Topic 2: A Literary Analysis of the Historical Differentiation of Patriarchal Culture and Female Gender Identity in the Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong and the Tale of Genji
Gender roles and inequality are still evolving and continue to change. It has only been not that long ago that women started to break out their outlined roles and looked at about the same or- almost the same level- as men on a wide scale basis. Indeed, some women in certain parts of the world are still represented in the same way as in both plays that will be compared in this essay. The characters in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll's House highlight the challenges of gender roles. The attention focused on points of comparison and contrast of men vs women's reactions in the course of both plays, which, allow the audience to think about gender identity and role conflicts. The other common shared view in both plays is that they are both showcased from a female perspective.
In “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell and “A Dollhouse” by Henrik Ibsen, the authors use symbolism to shed light on the way woman were once looked down upon by men. In both plays the woman face similar derisive attitudes from the men in their lives. Women are treated as property, looked down upon and only useful in matters pertaining to cooking, taking care of children, housework and sexual objects. The women’s marriages, socioeconomic and social status are completely different, but both women reach their emotional breaking point, and grow so discontent with their situations they are willing to take drastic actions.
Throughout the plays, the reader can visualize how men dismiss women as trivial and treat them like property, even though the lifestyles they are living in are very much in contrast. The playwrights, each in their own way, are addressing the issues that have negatively impacted the identity of women in society.
A work of literature often subtlety alludes to a situation in society that the author finds particularly significant. Susan Glaspell incorporates social commentary into her play Trifles. By doing so, she highlights the gender stratification that exists even in the most basic interactions and presents a way to use this social barrier to an acceptable end. Despite being written almost a century before present day, Glaspell’s findings and resulting solution are still valid in a modern context. Trifles demonstrates the roles of men and women in their everyday behaviour and interaction. The women use their ascribed positions to accomplish what the men cannot and have the ability to deliberately choose not to help the men with their newfound knowledge.
Beatrice's refusal to be controlled by men and Hero's subservience carries echoes of modern-day feminism. Comparing this novel to a contemporary society, women have made a substantial amount of progress in terms of gender roles. It is women like Beatrice, and the many others that choose to defy the expectations that are placed upon us by society, that help us progress to a more utopian civilization. This novel can be read by future generations to reflect back on how much we have changed and how much we have progressed, not only as women, but as humans in general. Additionally, this play also serves as one of the world's greatest odes to the single life known to man.
The power of women is different than that of men. Women display a subtle and indirect kind of power, but can be resilient enough to impact the outside world. In Trifles, Susan Glaspell delivers the idea that gender and authority are chauvinistic issues that confirm male characters as the power holders, while the female characters are less significant and often weak. This insignificance and weakness indicated in the play by the fact that the women had the evidence to solve a murder, but the men just ignored the women as if they had no value to the case at all. This weakness and inability of the female to contest the man’s view are apparent. According to Ben-Zvi, “Women who kill evoke fear because they challenge societal constructs of femininity-passivity, restraint, and nurture; thus the rush to isolate and label the female offender, to cauterize the act” (141). This play presents women against men, Ms. Wright against her husband, the two women against their spouses and the other men. The male characters are logical, arrogant, and stupid while the women are sympathetic, loyal, and drawn to empathize with Mrs. Wright and forgive her crime. The play questions the extent to which one should maintain loyalty to others. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale try to withhold incriminating evidence against Mrs. Wright, and by challenging the reader to question whether
Who is stronger? The East or the West? Do the Oriental people truly succumb to the threats of the western white man? Based on the views of the non-oriental people, the Oriental people secretly want to get dominated by a stronger force, comparing them to a woman, or just simply calling their race feminine. The show M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang is able to express different issues regarding the theory of Orientalism by hiding it amongst several conversations between characters. The play can be seen as highly political because of topics it chooses to discuss despite the fact that the lead character is a diplomat. Though somewhat unrelated; M. Butterfly can even have a certain Brecht-esque quality to it. Because it contains several moments that can make the audience member question what is going on and the story itself, Brecht would be happy. The show can confuse the audience and make them think. Gallimard and Song also talk to the audience directly at certain points which in a way can distance them from the story because it can make it known that they are, indeed watching a play. M. Butterfly holds many political and Brechtian qualities that prove many issues that go on today. Seeing these representations of foreign races views on one another can hopefully help to get the countries to realize their harsh judgments.
The issue of cultural stereotypes and misconceptions thematically runs throughout David Henry Hwang’s play M. Butterfly. The play is inspired by a 1986 newspaper story about a former French diplomat and a Chinese opera singer, who turns out to be a spy and a man. Hwang used the newspaper story and deconstructed it into Madame Butterfly to help breakdown the stereotypes that are present between the East and the West. Hwang’s play overall breaks down the sexist and racist clichés that the East-West have against each other that reaffirm the Western male culture ideas. The stereotypes presented in the play revolve around the two main characters, Gallimard and Song. The play itself begins in the present with Gallimard, a French diplomat who has been incarcerated in a Beijing prison. He relives his fantasies for the past with his perfect woman and shares his experience with the readers throughout the remainder of the play. Upon Gallimard’s arrival in China, he attends the opera and meets Song, and Gallimard immediately describes Song as his “butterfly”. Gallimard falls in love with the “delicate Oriental woman” that Song portrays (22). He then buys into the Western male stereotype that Eastern women need protection by strong, masculine Western men. Gallimard ends up falling in love with Song and has an affair with her to fulfill the stereotypical idea of a dominant Western male controlling an Eastern woman. Throughout Gallimard’s relationship with Song, the readers discover that Song is in reality a male spy for the Chinese government. Song had manipulated his looks and actions to mirror those of the ideal Chinese woman in order to earn Gallimard’s affection. M. Butterfly’s main issue arises from the cultural stereotypes of the masculin...
Judith Butler’s concept of gender performativity suggests that there is a distinction between “sex, as a biological facticity, and gender, as the cultural interpretation or signification of that facticity” (Butler, 522). Performing certain actions that society associates with a specific gender marks you as that gender. In this way, gender is socially constructed. Alfar defines the societal expectation of women as the “constant and unquestioning feminine compliance with the desires of the masculine” (114). Considering Macbeth from a modern perspective and taking this distinction into account, it is necessary to determine if the play is concerned with sex or with gender. Before the action of the play even begins, the audience is warned that “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (1.1.11). The first scene of the play casts the world of Macbeth as a land where everything is opposite or disordered. This line at the very start of the play cautions audiences to not take the play at face value because things are not always as they appear to be. Because of this, “all the binaries become complicated, divisions blurred. Thus the binary nature of gender identities, male/female, is eliminated” (Reaves 14). In the world of Macbeth, the typical gender constructions are manipulated and atypical. If the play does not deal with sex, the qualities of Lady Macbeth cannot be applied to all women but rather, representative of society’s construction of gender, “the patriarch, and the limited, restrictive roles of women” (Reaves 11). Within this reading of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare’s examination and questioning of gender construction allows modern day readers to recognize the enduring relevance of
For example, in Act 1, Scene 1 of “Trifles”, when Mrs. Wright is being held accountable for her husband’s death and she worries over the state of her jars of jam, Mr. Hale makes the observation, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” (Act 1, Scene 1). In this excerpt, we determine this play portrays women as their stereotypical stay-at-home figure whose significant worries in life are mere trifles, hence the play’s name. Moreover, in comparison to “Trifles”, the women in “M. Butterfly” are portrayed as tractable females in the eyes of a man. For example, in Act I, Scene X, Gallimard assures himself of Song’s involuntary infatuation for him by stating, “She is outwardly bold and outspoken, yet her heart is shy and afraid. It is the Oriental in her at war with her Western education.” (Act 1, Scene X). Gallimard perfectly outlines the stereotypical feminine attribute: timidness. Here, Gallimard is asserting the attributes of shyness and fear are reminiscent of Oriental’s; a cultural stereotype Gallimard believes due to the perceived submissiveness of his Oriental mistress:
The films message to viewers about gender and power is that women are meant to take care of the home and play the supportive role, while men go out to their jobs and provide. Men are strong and burly and women are naïve and domesticated. Women need men and men always come to the rescue to save women and give them a happy ending. Power is portrayed in the film both visually and through the film’s script and dialogue. The common idea that women are inferior to men is placed subtly in this movie throughout the plot and how these charac...
In Amy Tan 's Two Kinds, Jing-mei and her mother show how through generations a relationship of understanding can be lost when traditions, dreams, and pride do not take into account individuality. By applying the concepts of Virginia Woolf, Elaine Showalter, and the three stages of feminism, one can analyze the discourse Tan uses in the story and its connection to basic feminist principles.