China Doll

“As the author who wrote M. Butterfly, I think it's fair to say that I believe our capacity for self-delusion to be fairly boundless” (Hwang “Worlds Apart” 50).

Since the times of Rudyard Kipling who wrote the famous lines “Oh, East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet” eastern vs. western otherness was the matter of discussion. In the multicultural world of the late 20th century the polemics escalated even more. Robert Cooperman in his New Theatrical Statements claimed that “[…] 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)” (p. 201). Jayne Blanchard in the pre-view about the revival of the widely spoken play at the Arena (Washington, D.C.) agreed that “The shock value may have worn off some over 16 years, but Mr. Hwang's deft deconstruction of racial and sexual stereotypes Westerners hold about Eastern culture remains powerful and wrenching”. However The spectators’ shock at Hwang having ruined one of the most widely-known and deeply incorporated into the modern cultural paradigm stereotype of Madama Butterfly, thus the fem

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The author himself used to explain up to what extent "deconstructivist” his Madame Butterfly is (“M. And so far many critics describe the effect of a “curved mirror” or inversion Hwang has used to decrown the Orientalistic myths. Why should it work with an Asian female neglecting the partner of her race in favor of an alien to the Oriental standards of beauty Caucasian? Being a male actor acting as a woman in an artificial story, thus following the tradition of the Asian theatre (and medieval theatre as well), Song Lily knows the genuine truth of such beautiful stories – the profanation, the parody, the playing. His “chauvinist platitudes” as Blanchard puts it, e.

Puccini’s opera serves the pretext, the environment and the curse for both of the Hwang’s heroes: Song Liling mockingly projects the Cio-Cio San stereotype onto a 100-percent American Girl, neglecting Kennedy for an Asian male. Butterfly's examination of the romanticized and clouded perceptions of Eastern culture by the West [which] resonates with the Asian American community as we still battle the stereotypes of exoticized women and emasculated men". There Deeney points at “a wonderfully bizarre incongruity” performed by “the medley of the voices, East and West, viewing this very romantic opera”. His image of the time puts a slick glossy sheen over this persona, but elements in the lyrics and the video work against this façade”.

Common topics in this essay:
Pinkerton Gallimard, David Hwang, Madama Butterfly, East West, Girl Bowies, Deeney French, Shi Peipu, Blanchard Gallimard, Aki Hawkins, Song Liling, china girl, madama butterfly, song liling, east west, cio-cio san, butterfly afterword 95, world existing, david hwang, puccinis opera, matter discussion, eastern culture, late 20th century, act scene 6,

Approximate Word count = 2528
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

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