The Role Dance

I thought Chrissie’s observations were really interesting. The beginnings of the play, we, the audience, are exposed to a normal, plain man in a jail cell. As the scenes progress, however, we are thrown into this man’s mind and his inner thoughts. This fact accompanied by Song Liling’s secret really proves the point that everyone has their own agenda and no one is without a secret intent.
What Chrissie said about Gallimard’s self-comparison to Pinkerton really explains why his obsession with Song grows so rapidly. Gallimard knows of the opera Madama Butterfly and when he watches the production with an Asian woman portraying the lead, his fantasies get ahead of him and his obsession grows at a rapid rate. As he finds himself in similar situations as Pinkerton, he begins to act more and more like Pinkerton. He becomes cold, selfish, and full of testosterone.
Throughout the play, the roles of men and women are constantly changing, like some dark dance of role reversal. When Gallimard and Song first meet, he is nervous and talkative. He is fidgety and does not wish to offend Song in any way, but Song is upfront and aggressive towards Gallimard. She is forceful and very much expresses the traits of a man during their first meeting. She is obviously in control, but as the play progresses, Song begins to submit more and more to Gallimard and Gallimard gains more confidence and power after witnessing his control over Song’s attitude.
As far as Chrissie’s viewpoint on Gallimard’s relationship to his wife, I believe he is unfaithful because of his own insecurities. I believe him to be incredibly shallow and selfish when he cheats on his wife because Song’s beauty trumps his wife’s. His obsession with outer beauty has plagued him all his life it seems. He was obviously always jealous of his best friend, who had confidence therefore got ‘hot’ chicks to sleep with him. Gallimard surrounded himself with men who treat women like objects and he saw that this behavior got the girl, so naturally he would act similarly. I believe this statement of women desiring abuse is completely legitimate especially in today’s society.