Stereotypes In David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly

The characters Gallimard and Song, in David Henry Hwang’s play, M. Butterfly, depend on the influence of regional stereotypes, to fulfil their individual needs. Gallimard keeps “Butterfly” as “Oriental” and female as possible to fulfill his fantasy, while Song strategically manipulates Gallimard by portraying the submissive Eastern woman to gain secret war information. Gallimard’s masculinity and sexuality depend on Songs performance as the submissive Eastern woman. However, Song betrays Gallimard and destroys the illusion, leaving Gallimard in disarray. Enveloped in his fantasy, Gallimard takes on the role of Butterfly and kills himself to fulfil his allusion.

Gallimard desires the “Perfect Woman” who fits the submissive Oriental stereotype.

After Gallimard watches the opera, Madame Butterfly, he is attracted to Song, who portrays Madame Butterfly so purely, he feels automatically drawn to her. Her ability to convey the willingness of sacrifice for a man who does not deserve it demands Gallimard’s Western ability to protect her. He begins testing their relationship by observing her readiness to strip for him. Gallimard demands to see Song naked after being insulted and disrespected by his boss. In an attempt to regain his masculinity, he needs Song to prove that she will strip in front of him, but not actually reveal herself. Gallimard doesn’t require her to physically take of her clothes, he just needs to be reaffirmed that she would submit. Song expresses her unwavering love for him by saying “I am helpless before my man” (Page 47) allowing him to be the decider on whether or not to strip her. But, just knowing she is compliant is enough. After the play he explains “I believed her suffering. I wanted to take her in my arms- so delicate, even I could protect her” (Page 17). The opera awakens Gallimard’s desire to dominate, and he imagines Song as the woman who would allow him to do so, just as she conveyed in her portrayal of Butterfly. As Song says, he has a fantasy of “the submissive Oriental woman and the cruel white man” (Page 18).
Despite his weakness, Gallimard contains his masculinity inside, which can be seen in his longing for power. He believes, “We who are not handsome, nor brave, nor powerful” … “we deserve a Butterfly” (Page 13). But his confidence is lacking, which does not coincide with the traditional Western stereotype of being confident and powerful. He explains, in regards to women, “I’m afraid they’ll say no- the girls. So I never ask” (Page 12). Although he seems to be submissive, in his relationships with Helga for example, he actually uses her as a tool to gain masculinity. Because Helga’s “father was an ambassador to Australia” (16), he confesses “Hearing that brought me to the altar” (16). Gallimard married her only in order to climb up the career ladder. Gallimard perceives himself as the dominant figure in the fantasy. Gallimard believes “Perhaps it was better to end our relationship before it killed her” (Page 53). This power to end the relationship reinforces their roles as the stereotypical, fragile Easterner and supreme Westerner.
Helga questions Gallimard’s fertility, and ultimately his masculinity, but Song reassures his him and his role as the dominant male by saying “I know who is a man, and who is not” (Page 41).

Gallimard feels confident in his manhood and explains “Of course I didn’t go. What man would?” (Page 41). While in an affair with Renee, she outright tells Gallimard that he has a “nice weenie” (Page 43). He disregards her interpretation of a penis as a “weenie” or a “little flap of flesh” (Page 44) because these both describe the essence of his manhood as small, and feminine. He informs the audience that it “was simply unacceptable” (Page 44) to regard his penis in that sense. Renee acts as a foil character to Butterfly; she examines Gallimard’s penis, and discuses this without any shame or humility. Yet he continues with the affair for several months, only because of Butterfly’s suffering. She “knew the secret” … “But, unlike a Western woman, she didn’t confront me, threaten me, or even pout” (Page 43). He is reminded of the quiet suffering Butterfly endures in the play. Gallimard’s reason for continuing the affair, as he describes, is “her tears and her silence excited me, every time I visited Renee” (Page 44). It is Song’s portrayal of the Butterfly within Gallimard’s fantasy that allows him to continue an affair with an assertive woman Gallimard understands that the torment and sadness Song is going through cements her role as the submissive woman who would never have the courage to

confront him for having an affair.
Song intentionally acts out the Oriental stereotype within the fantasy. He gains an advantageous position to exploit Gallimards knowledge about the war. He tells Gallimard what Gallimard wants to hear. For instance, when Gallimard is being questioned about his fertility Song says “I know who is a man, and who is not” (Page 41). By doing so, Song brings Gallimard back into his own fantasy. Song depends on the accuracy of his assumptions about men to trap Gallimard's into his fantasy. Song's revels the power of stereotypes, which is key to his behavior with Gallimard. For example, he is confident that "Men always believe what they want to hear. So a girl can tell the most obnoxious lies and the guys will believe them every time" (Page 61). He is convinved that his portrayal as the desired Oriental woman, he can predict his success of his espionage mission.
The Western portrayal of Gallimard is also challenged throughout the play. As a French diplomat, his image should encompass the ideal Westerner who is justified to rule over Oriental women. But ironically, Gallimard is depicted to be opposite of that ideal image. Gallimard doesn’t represent the ideal Western man, both in appearance and personality. Gallimard is not attractive or desirable: “Well, he’s not very good-looking” (Page 3). He is unconfident with women. As described in his first interaction with Song, “women do not flirt with me” (Page 22). He also lacks the impulsive, masculine libido. For instance, while in a room full of pornography his experience involved, “I’m shaking. My skin is hot, but my penis is soft. Why?” (Page 14). He feels emasculated by the woman in the magazine because she decides the next step in their imagined intimacy. She “lifts off her nightdress” (Page 14), and doesn’t allow Gallimard to control her sexual expression.
When Song takes on the role of a dominant man, Gallimard’s fantasy dissolves. By the end of the play, Song transitions into the stereotypical Western man. On the other hand, Gallimard, falls victim to Song’s manipulation and converts into an Oriental woman as means to continue in his fantasy. He says, “Yes- love. Why not admit it all? That was my undoing, wasn’t it? Love warped my judgment, blinded my eyes, rearranged the very lines on my face…until I could look in the mirror and see…nothing but a woman” (Page 68). Gallimard calling himself a woman describes the switch in stereotypes. He conveys “The devastating knowledge that, underneath it all the object of her love was nothing more, nothing less, than … a man”. The Oriental woman who has triumph is Westernized and masculinized while the Western man who is victimized turns into the Oriental woman. The plot holds that the strong and dominating one will always be masculine and Western, even though Song has taken on this role. Gallimard chooses to commit suicide in order to continue his fantasy, where his love for Butterfly remains undestroyed. He projects “Death with honor is better than life … life with dishonor.” Gallimard claims “my love a deception” … “my mind kept the knowledge at bay” (Page 65). He can’t think of loving a man. He rejects and even laughs at Song when he strips. “Slowly, we and Song come to the realization that what we had thought to be Gallimard’s sobbing is actually his laughter” (Page 65). Song is mocked by Gallimard about being “just a man” (Page 65). “I just think it’s ridiculously funny that I’ve wasted so much time on just a man” (Page 65). They cannot have a satisfying relationship because the West still considers the relationship hierarchal in which the West is always dominating.
However, by the end of M. Butterfly, a role reversal occurs. When Gallimard is humiliated, and stripped of his fantasy, he becomes the victim. Song compels Gallimard to face the fact that Song is a man. Gallimard reveals “You showed me your true self. When all I loved was a lie. A perfect lie, which you let fall to the ground” (Page 66). Gallimard is repulsed knowing “underneath it all, the object of her love was nothing more, nothing less, than… a man” (Page 68). Gallimard’s response mirrors the play, explaining that men prefer lovers who are submissive and obedient. That deep down, “The West believes, deep down, the East wants to be dominated- because a woman can’t think for herself” (Page 62). Song removes himself from the role of Butterfly, leaving Gallimard unsatisfied and unwilling to continue a relationship with him.
The Eastern woman stereotypically fits the role of Butterfly.

But when Song challenges Gallimard in the final scenes of the play, he is removed from their fantasy. Gallimard takes on the role as the submissive oriental woman, because he has become so invested in his fantasy that he is willing to die for it to continue. He explains “I once loved, and was loved, by the Perfect Woman” (Page 66). When Song begins dominating Gallimard he tries to convince her, “You have to do what I say! I’m conjuring you up in my mind!” (Page 58). But, their relationship was merely a fantasy, in which Gallimard was “a man who loved a woman created by a man” (Page 66). Song accurately describes the Western mindset as “Her mouth says no, but her eyes say yes” (Page 62) and “The West thinks of itself as masculine- big guns, big industry, big money- so the East is feminine- weak, delicate, poor…” (Page 62). These stereotypes allow each character to attain a certain level of satisfaction. When Song provokes Gallimard into believing everything can continue, Song becomes upset and explains he will “never put on those robes again” (Page 67) and that he will be sorry. Gallimard’s response is indicative of his transformation into Butterfly. He expresses he is “Exactly sorry…as a Butterfly” (Page 67). He reveals he has searched for an alternative ending, but he has “looked in the wrong place” (Page 68). He has a vision of the Orient woman, slender, clothed in kimonos, and most importantly would “die for

the love of unworthy foreign devils” (Page 68). This vision became his life and ultimately led him to is death.