By Act III, it is apparent that Song is a man. What I think is still unclear, however, is what his sexuality is. He discusses with the Judge in Scene One the difference between the West and the East and how Western people feminize the East. He says, "The West believes the East, deep down, wantsto be dominated--because a woman can't think for herself" (83). He uses this as an answer to the question about how he believes Gallimard was fooled for twenty years by his sex. He continues to show the ways that the East has been gendered as feminine to the judge, and even that the West has a "rape mentality" (82) toward the East.
He uses all of these gendered descriptions of the East and the West, but more specifically he is speaking of the role he played with Gallimard for twenty years. Ironically, however, he got the best of Gallimard, as he was spying on him all along, and Gallimard is the one that ended up being dominated. This twist is furthered with Scene Two as the two men try to decipher their feelings for one another. There is a power struggle, as Gallimard initially refuses to look at Song the same, and then ends up laughing at him. Song wants Gallimard to admit that he "adores [him]" (89, I assume to gain power in the relationship.
Finally, in Scene Three, Gallimard admits that he loved an ideal--the stereotype of "Oriental" women. He was living in this fantasy, and enjoying what he believed to be power and the submission of an Asian woman. With one final ironic twist, the gender roles of the play are again diverted from, and Gallimard becomes Butterfly, abandoning the dominating, Western role of Pinkerton. He kills himself, identifying with the role of Butterfly, saying that he cannot live with (and finally looking at Butterfly's perspective differently)knowing that "the object of [his] love was nothing more, nothing less than...a man" (92).
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I think you bring up many valid points. The confusing thing to me is identifying not only Song’s sexual orientation, but the orientation of Gallimard as well. As you stated Gallimard kills him self because "the object of [his] love was nothing more, nothing less than...a man" (92). However, I believe Gallimard just cannot face the fact that he did love song and therefore was a homosexual.
ReplyDeleteI believe that both Gallimard and Song have confusion with their sexuality and are struggling to have an identity as they may have feelings to be one way, but cannot accept the label it creates. A perfect example of this is when Song speaks of Gallimard saying, “…He wanted more than anything to believe that she was, in fact, a woman” (83). It is beyond belief that Gallimard would have really not known that Song was a man, but he kept telling himself it was a woman because being in love with a man is wrong and unacceptable in the western world.
Something else I found interesting is the quote you pointed out where Song wants Gallimard to say he "adores [him]" (89). Song turns Gallimard in while in the courtroom and accuses Gallimard. He makes a fool of him yet deep down does love him and wants Gallimard to admit his love for him too. By this time my confusion really grew.
So at this point I believe that they are both gay, but fear to accept it as they will be shameful to their countries. In a discussion between Chin and Song, Song admits, “I shamed China by allowing myself to be corrupted by a foreigner…” (70). When looking at the overall cultural context I think foreigner doesn’t simply mean a western man, but a homosexual as well. Song understands that by having sexual encounters with another man is shameful to his people and is scared as he “engaged in the lowest perversions of China’s enemies!” (70).
In the end Gallimard finally states the true gender of Song, “A—a man” (87). However, he refuses to accept his sexuality as non-heterosexual and therefore would rather die than live a life with no acceptance from society.
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ReplyDeleteDavid Henry Hwang’s play follows the concept of the dialectic – thesis, antithesis, synthesis. Act I serves as the thesis, the establishment of the central character and his persona. It is a sketch of the West. Here, we see upon what foundations Gallimard has been built. His approach to relations with the East is like Pinkerton’s from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and we, the audience, are retold this play to establish our view of Gallimard. Aside from the opera, we get a glimpse deeper into Gallimard’s personality. We learn his childhood has been plagued with awkward situations, he has been a social outcast, weak, sensitive, and shy when confronted with sex. Thus, he idolizes this figure of Pinkerton, as well as Marc; but he is very much in conflict with these characters. His role is that of mimicry.
ReplyDeleteAct II is the antithesis. Here, the events of the first act are continued but with more emphasis on establishing Song’s character, the antagonist to Gallimard. The focus is all on her. Song even takes control over Gallimard’s fantasy at this point, and her…his intentions are fully revealed in scene 3. She is a man, and moreover a Communist spy in disguise! We can safely say that Song’s role in the play is that of mimicry as well. What is important is that both Gallimard and Song are “unfit” for their realities; they fall through the cracks of established norms but attempt to be normal. Gallimard believes himself to be overpowering, domineering, the one in control, whereas Song is passive and dominated. Act II, the antithesis, reverses all of these qualities.
Act III is the synthesis of Acts I and II. It begins in a courtroom, a place where all information is directly, almost literally, synthesized. And the events are synthesized by Song; and so, he is, in a way, reborn, shedding the notion of mimicry. However - Gallimard, and this is the tragedy - does not realize that his true sensitive, passive, qualities call for him to be dominated. He has been living an illusion shaped by stereotype, and he cannot see beyond this. He has been in love with an “ideal,” like Megan’s quote says. He was in love with the stereotype of the “Oriental” woman to the point that he subconsciously wanted to become this stereotype. His factual, feminine-like characteristics restrict him from being a masculine ideal, and a “lie” restricts him from being true to himself.
If we look back, there is not one moment when Gallimard actually asserts his active dominance over Song; Song’s submissiveness beats him to it every time. What I mean is that Song’s submissiveness is active, not passive. And it is true when she says to Gallimard, “I take the words from your mouth. Then I wait for you to come and retrieve them.” (III.iii.p86) Not even the series of letters in Act I go against this. It seems that Gallimard asserts his dominance then but, in fact, he does exactly nothing. He is passive. He simply does not respond. And so, it turns out that he was being dominated the whole time by Song, and that he actually loved it to the point of not being able to see 0the facts. But because his identity crisis was shaped by established, cultural norms of heterosexuality, he could not concede to this love when all the outside factors misshaping it were done away with.
And I think this is the answer to Megan’s question directed at Song’s true sexuality. Song is the one who is able to shed the heterosexual norms of society, and be truly who he wants. Song admits his love for Gallimard: “Well maybe, Rene, just maybe – I want you.”(III.ii.85) And when he does drop trou, revealing his true self, he gets no similar revelation from Gallimard. Gallimard has synthesized the information through the filter of a “lie.” But nevertheless, he switches roles, becoming the butterfly, the center of his obsession and fantasy, and plunges the phallic knife into his body, killing the Western ideal of a man.
I completely agree with Megan about the questionable sexuality of Song. Yes, we know he is a man. However, throughout the play it is unclear about whether or not he is truly attracted to women or men, or if he is only with Gallimard because it is his job. Song was reminded by Comrade Chin that homosexuality was looked down upon in China, and that Song’s job was considered disgusting to his own people. Song argues that it is for his country and his job only that he stays with Gallimard to get information. He has dedicated himself to the job and put so much effort into maintaining his appearance as a woman. After awhile though, you have to question; are Song’s true intentions of his nature just for the job, or did he really fall in love with Gallimard? I think in the third act we see that Song himself is confused about his feelings. He tantalizes Gallimard and plays around with the idea of stripping, until he does strip and reminds Gallimard that Song was his butterfly all along. Throughout the earlier parts of the play when Gallimard was supposedly conjuring Song in his mind, convincing Song to come back to him in the jail cell, Song would turn Gallimard down and talk of how he was miles away flying back to his country, that Gallimard was a piece of trash he did not need anymore. These contrasting views of how love and work are seen through each character make up the relationship between Gallimard and Song. The idea that Gallimard was merely a job to Comrade Chin and the rest of Song’s people alluded to the “job” side of Song’s involvement. Marc’s view of Song as a woman to conquer and have as a mistress was Gallimard’s view of a domination or love. All together, these views of relationships between men and women build up the final ending. Song is left wanting Gallimard while Gallimard realizes he does not want Song anymore. Gallimard just needed to find that he himself is his own butterfly.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Megan that the sexual orientation of Song is rather questionable. My speculation is that he is homosexual, but he must keep this a secret because he is living in Communist China. When he has a conversation with Comrade Chin early on, it becomes clear that Song is a man, and his sexuality is questioned. Chin warns him that he is playing too far into his spy role and that “there is no homosexuality in China” (48). Interestingly, Song feels that “being Oriental, [he] could never completely be a man” (83). This also leads readers to question Song’s sexuality.
ReplyDeleteIn Act III, the judge interrogates Song about his role as a woman with Gallimard. Through the rules like “men always believe what they want to hear,” and “the West has sort of an international rape mentality,” Song expresses his idea of what it is like to live in a country that is typically given female associations (82). I agree with Megan that the main focus of this conversation highlights Gallimard and Song’s relationship specifically, by allowing them to each represent a generalization of their region of the globe. Song explains that some people believe “Oriental” women must be submissive to Western men.
Act III also presents the idea that Gallimard is in love with the fantasy idea of the perfect woman, and even though he knows Song is a man, he denies the facts in order to salvage his relationship. Song asks him whether or not Gallimard actually loved him, and Gallimard responds rather harshly. Upset by being betrayed, and hurt from losing his love, Gallimard reveals that “all [he] loved was the lie” (89).
Surly, this revelation is upsetting to Song, who for some reason believes there is still a chance for their relationship. He asks Gallimard to confess his adoration, and Gallimard refuses. His refusal to be open to a relationship with a man leaves Song heartbroken, and though there are many hints to say that Song is homosexual, the audience never truly finds out Song’s sexual orientation.
Meghan is very dead n in here interpretation of the event of scene three. I would just like to push these notions a little farther and see if I can come up with anything to relate to the historical context in which the poem is written.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the gender roles that Meghan is referring to are representative of the time period when M. Butterfly was originally written. When America entered the war in Vietnam it was in large part due to the “rape mentality” the Hwang describes. Gallimard is metaphorically representative of this rape mentality. He accepts the ideal fantasy of the submissive Asian. This exactly what America did when it entered the Vietnam War. They thought that the war would be over quickly because the Vietnamese people would be submissive and accepting of American presence.
Song is metaphorically representative of the Vietnamese people because she acts and if she is the typical “oriental” women. By using this stereotypical façade she was able to bamboozle Gallimard into believing that she was easily taken advantage of. In the reality of scene three Song is revealed to be a man and a spy for the Chinese government. Gallimard is presented with this information and seems to be stunned. I think this is representative of the United States and the “west” in general because once in Vietnam the Asian people put up such a fight that the west was forced to leave.