Gender Roles In David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly

M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang exemplifies the beliefs the Western world has over the East. Politically, the West believes they can be a dominating force by intervening in all Eastern affairs through the use of weapons. Socially, Western cultures and traditions have entered the Eastern world, impacting the daily lives of the Chinese people. The white man has displayed inappropriate behavior over the traditional oriental woman by controlling every aspect of her life. In Hwang’s M. Butterfly, there is an evident struggle between the dominator and those that are being dominated on a political and social level, with an additional conflict between gender roles. The prevalence of Western imperialism in China during the 1960s, completely altered …show more content…
Butterfly, Gallimard struggles on how to properly portray an imperialistic, foreign devil. Beginning at a young age, Marc, Gallimard’s childhood friend, who can be interpreted as the ideal Western man, attempts to convince Gallimard to treat women with dominance and power. Marc’s description of the young college girls, “ On trucks. Packed in like sardines. The back flips open, babes hop out...” , insinuates the idea the women can be treated as a herd of animals. Marc continues further on by explaining to Gallimard that he can touch any girl he wants with his eyes closed, in a dark space. Marc’s improper description on how to be an imperialist man may have been one of the factors as to why Gallimard can recognize who Song is, at the end of the play, solely through the use of his hands. In meeting Song, Gallimard finally has the perfect woman, one that will be completely submissive to him. In knowing that Song has fallen in love with him, Gallimard begins to avoid her, abusing his new found power and dominance. However, after weeks of separation and the revelation that Song has revealed herself completely to him, Gallimard cannot live up to the ideals of the imperialistic man and thus, feels guilty for the pain he has caused Song. Gallimard fails to notice the control and power he actually has in his marriage with Helga. When faced with the decision to have a child or not, Helga says, “Only if you want a child, Rene”. Helga’s biddable decision to …show more content…
Ideally, however, Song personifies the characteristics of a Western woman, or man in the end of the play, that is dominating and aggressive in all aspects of life. “ The Whole World Over,” depicts the story of Gallimard and Song, however it is Song who in the end leaves Gallimard, “ The Yankee travels, casting his anchor wherever he wants. Life’s not worth living unless he can win the hearts of the fairest maidens, then hotfoot it off the premises ASAP”. From their first encounters together, Song portrays obvious mannerisms of an authoritative woman. She takes the first initiative to approach Gallimard at the ambassador’s house, suggests that Gallimard’s feelings for song may be mutual, and calls Gallimard during the early morning, confessing that she could no longer wait to speak with him. These actions are those that would not be taken by any traditional Oriental woman. In the bed room, Song takes on the role of constantly pleasing Gallimard, with no favors done in return on Gallimard’s behalf. Ironically, Gallimard did not enjoy loosing his virginity to a young woman that was controlling and authoritative. Upon learning that Song is a man, more Western qualities that Song possesses are revealed. Song was able to manipulate Gallimard’s feelings by telling Gallimard the things he wanted to hear. As Song states in the courtroom, “ Her mouth says no, but her eyes say yes”, describes