M. Butterfly Literary Elements

Play

From 1960 to the present, Beijing and Paris

Throughout most of the play, Gallimard is the narrator, but Song interjects at times as well.

Tragic, comic, ironic, theatrical

Protagonist: Gallimard. Antagonist: Song

The main conflict is that Song is secretly spying on Gallimard and handing over classified information to the Communist Party.

The play reaches its climax when Gallimard discovers that Song is actually a man, not a woman.

From the beginning, we are given many hints that Song is a man. The references to Madama Butterfly, the opera, foreshadow Gallimard's death.

Gallimard often understates his humiliation at being duped so horribly.

Allusions to Puccini as well as the Cultural Revolution and the rise of Mao in China.

There are many evocative stage images throughout, such as the use of traditional Chinese opera imagery, dramatic lighting cues, and other theatrical storytelling devices.

The central love story is paradoxical. While Gallimard loves Song when he believes in the fantasy that she is a compliant and submissive woman, he cannot feel love for her when he finds out Song is a man. Additionally, in the final scene, it becomes clear that Gallimard himself wants to be the "perfect woman" he so desires, which makes his position all the more paradoxical.

The play often poses the question of Western colonialism alongside questions of Western sexual attitudes towards Eastern women. Sex and war/politics are placed in parallel.

In Act 1, Scene 10: ‘’her heart is shy and afraid’’