Act 1, scene 11, Gallimard, the love stricken French Diplomat in China announces his decision to "try an experiment."(Act 1, Scene 11). Upon thinking up this experiment, he reverts back to a memory of Madame Butterfly where "Cio-Cio-San fears that the western man who catches a butterfly will pierce its heart with a needle, then leave it to perish."(Act 1, Scene 11). He too feels that he has caught a butterfly who will "writhe on a needle" (Act 1, Scene 11). This butterfly is his mistress, Chinese opera singer, Song. Up to this point, there had been a series of visits to Song's opera performances on Gallimard's behalf. Gallimard's experiment was set up in order to essentially play hard to get, and to have Song do the work to initiate a relationship. Gallimard's decision to run this experiment exposed Song's desire for a relationship, which eventually lead to his downfall.
             Leading up to this point, the story is as follows. Rene Gallimard is a French Diplomat serving in China, and living with his wife. Up until this point in his life, he has not had extramarital affairs, which is quite the opposite for his colleagues. Song is the first woman outside of his fantasies of magazine women with whom he has actively pursued a relationship. Gallimard first sees Song perform a piece from Madame Butterfly one night, and continues to visit her performances week after week. One night, after a rough visit to Song's apartment, Gallimard decides to start his experiment. In this experiment he is to cut off all ties to her. "[He] stopped going to the opera, [he] didn't phone or write her" (Act 1, Scene 11). Gallimard admits that this gives him a rush of power - "the absolute power of a man" (Act 1, Scene 11). As for Song, she is unaware of this decision for the very reason that she is the center of this experiment.
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