The characters of “M. Butterfly” are Song Liling (a Chinese spy who plays women roles in the theatre and French diplomat, Rene Gallimard falls in love with him. He obtains from him the information for the Chinese government, and finally causes that he is put under the trial), Rene Gallimard (a French diplomat who fell in love with Song Liling not knowing that he is a man. Their relations were revealed only during the trial when Rene came to know that Song was a man), Comrade Chin (a supervisor of Song from the side of the Chinese Communist Party. He is an intelligence agent and is undoubtedly devoted to the Communist ideals), Helga (the wife of Rene Gallimard), Marc (Gallimard’s school friend who advices him to be more persistent in his pursuit of Song), Renee (a young and attractive student from Denmark with whom Gallimard had sexual relations), M. Toulon (the ambassador in Beijing) and Judge who presides the court during the Paris trials over Gallimard.
Among these characters, the protagonist is Rene Gallimard, to some extent, because he is cheated and has no bad intentions in his mind. His feelings seem to be positive but in reality they turn to reveal confidential information to Chinese intelligence and bring him under the trial. M. Toulon can also be treated as protagonist because he treats his subordinates in the embassy like his children and is ready to advice and help them. On the contrary, the antagonists of the play are Song Liling who uses cheating and betrayal to reach the goals of the Chinese intelligence, Comrade Chin who supervises Song in his actions and Marc who encourages Gallimard to have relations with song not knowing what this will result in. Other characters are impartial, meaning that their positions can not be called either protagonist or antagonist ones.
The playwriting structure of the play is contextual in its essence. This can be demonstrated by the fact that the plot of the play develops not in one line, i. e. in a direct subsequence of events, but with references to the past while the very present events take place in a prison after all the happenings to the characters are over. The author refers to various situations that took place in Beijing and Paris in 1960s – 1970s but then returns to the prison in Paris where the characters are at the moment.
The conflict of the whole play is between its characters and the very society they live in. However, this conflict is reflected in the play by conflicts of particular people between each other and their conflicts with the Government of China. The situations with the Chinese spies and French diplomats are rather complicated and, although reflected through their personal conflicts, are actually the conflicts of a wider scope. Another conflict is the stereotyping of Asian women by Western people and topic of feminism in this play. Gallimard is an embodiment of a Western man who dominates, while Song, although he is a man, symbolizes the opinion about a submissive Asian woman, and this is one of the major conflicts of the play.
The style of presenting this play that fits it most of all can not be defined as a single one, because the play itself is a combination of romantic story, a betrayal and the manifestation of the hardships of life. That is why the style of the play’s presenting should be a combination of romanticism, realism and existentialism.
The genre of presenting this play should be the genre of musical theatre. This can be explained by the fact that musical theatre is the genre where the story is told through a combination of such devices as singing, dance and usual speech. As the play is a story about an opera singer and a diplomat, and about their affair, musical theatre will be the most fitting genre of theatre to present it.
The very script of the play is rather interestingly developed. It starts with a dramatic episode during which Gallimard in his prison cell can be observed. He talks about his present and recalls past comparing his story to his favorite opera – Madame Butterfly by Puccini. The development of the script takes place simultaneously in the present and in the past by which the author tries to reach the better understanding of the events and problems of the play. I think that the script is rather skillful and emotion-provoking.
The super objective of Gallimard, although a protagonist of the play, is to become a real man through the submission of an Asian woman. As far as the conflict of the Eastern and Western civilizations is concerned, the Western Caucasian men believe that Asian women make the best wives and men can feel manlike only while exercising their power over them.
The major obstacles that Gallimard faces in his trying to reach the above stated super objective are the stereotypes of his own and of the culture he belongs to. Besides, he is a rather shy person who has always had problems communicating with the opposite sex, and this fact adds to the obstacles he faces. Moreover, the diplomatic activity he deals with turns out to be another obstacle on his way.
The lines in act 1, scene 2 (p.9) depict one of the sides of Gallimard’s nature – his being sure that the person he loved was a woman:
- Man 1: Gallimard!
- Woman: He still claims not to believe the truth.
- Man 1: What? Still? Even since the trial?
The shyness of Gallimard is demonstrated by the following lines (p.12):
- Gallimard: Marc, I can’t…I’m afraid they’ll say no – the girls. So I never ask.
- Marc: You don’t have to ask! That’s the beauty – don’t you see? They don’t have to say yes. It’s perfect for a guy like you, really.
Or another case, when communicating with Marc (p.21):
- Marc: Rene, you met a girl!
- Gallimard: It’s not that amazing, thank you.
Shyness of Gallimard and his attitude to life and women is demonstrated by another episode (p.13):
- Girl: I know you’re watching me.
- Gallimard: My throat…it’s dry.
- Girl: I leave my blinds open every night before I go to bed.
- Gallimard: I can’t move.
The manifestation of his super objective is found in the following lines (p.18):
- Gallimard (To us): So much for protecting her in my big Western arms.
The super objective of Song Liling is to obtain the confidential data for the Chinese intelligence he works for. To do this, he must have overall control over Gallimard and keep the romantic and sexual relations with him. Thus, Song’s super objective is rather practical in its essence and can be compared to Gallimard’s one in these terms.
Obstacle that Song Liling face on the way of reaching her super objective are the necessity to play a woman even while having sexual affairs with Gallimard, necessity to betray a person who did not do anything bad to him.
Song’s attempts to play the shy Eastern girl can be found on page 17:
- Gallimard: I usually…
- Song: You make me blush. I’m no opera singer at all.
Anotehr similar demonstration is found on page 32:
- Song: Please…It all frightens me. I’m a modest Chinese girl.
The uncovering of Song’s real intentions is seen in the following line on page 17:
- Song: It’s one of your favorite fantasies, isn’t it? The submissive Oriental woman and the cruel white man.
The formation of Gallimard’s attitude towards Song is shown on page 18:
- Helga: How’d she manage that?
- Gallimard: She must have been educated in the West before the revolution. Her French was also good.
But the actual intentions of Song are revealed on page 36:
- Chin: Okay, see if you can find out when the Americans to start bombing Vietnam.
- Song: I’ll do my best, but I don’t want to arouse his suspicions.
The differences of the play and the opera are the country where they take place – China and Japan respectively, in opera Chio-Cio-San was a real woman but not a man dressing up like one, and the Pinkerton left the girl in the opera, while in the play the “girl” betrayed the man. The similarities of both are the themes of prejudice, collision of cultures and stereotyping against Oriental women manifested by Western men.
- Song: You’re Westerner. How can you objectively judge your own values? (p.20); France is a country living in a modern era. Perhaps even ahead of it. China is a nation whose soul is firmly rooted two thousand years in the past (p.25);
- Gallimard: The Chinese are incredibly arrogant people (p.18); Orientals will always submit to a greater force (p.35).
- Song: The Chinese men – they keep us down (p.33).