Robert Cooperman

Arguably the most important play in terms of challenging the
political/social/cultural identities of the West over the last decade is David
Henry Hwang's award-winning M. Butterfly ( 1988). Aside from being good
theatre--the fictional dramatization of a particularly shocking true case
involving a Chinese transvestite/spy and her/his twenty-year love affair with
a male French diplomat--the play very plainly forces its Western audience to
contend with Eastern stereotypes involving sexual orientation, gender, and
culture, especially those stereotypes promulgated by the myth of Orientalism. ¹
The political ramifications of Hwang's uncomfortably penetrating probe into
the Western psyche are obvious, and there exists any number of studies and
interviews which spell out, from various perspectives, the very problems which
Hwang presents to us, as well as the efficacy of his attempt. However, M.
Butterfly also represents the culmination (to this point) of a career which has
made the Eastern-Western conflict a leit motif. M. Butterfly is simply the most
obvious and politically blatant example of this recurring theme.

Most if not all discussions of M. Butterfly are characterized by a
particularly hostile look at the polarizations confronted in the play. ² Such
treatment undoubtedly stems from Hwang's own invitation, for the play pulls
no punches in its treatment of Gallimard, whose Genet-like dream of sexual
fantasy and domination represents, for some, Western typecasting which is
both sinister and oppressive: "It's one of your favorite fantasies, isn't it?,"
Song Liling asks Gallimard, "The submissive Oriental woman and the cruel
white man" ( 17 ). Such sexual and cultural power struggles lead one, according
to James S. Moy, inevitably to the conclusion that " Hwang's indictment of the
West is clear" ( 51 ). Moy's view seems to start with the basic premise, taken
from the plot and characterizations of the play, that the West (particularly
America) is an intolerant, ignorant, and oppressive society. While no honest
Westerner could possibly deny the racism and sexism that has characterized
much of our history, it may be a bit of a stretch, however, to position
Gallimard as the all-purpose Westerner. It may be, given the circumstances of
the actual case, that he is nothing more than an all-purpose fool.

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