The play M. Butterfly, by David Hwang is a study in human weakness, psychosis, and insecurity. The lead character in the play, Rene Gallimard acts the same as a borderline schizophrenic. When the story begins he is in prison reflecting on his life, and loves. He is given to fantasy, and talking, or having conversations with the figments of his imagination. His insecurities, combined with his vivid fantasies, drive him to power trips, where he is master of his world. Dominance is his desire, where he is in total control. These illusions take him further and further from reality. Where he is weak and ineffectual, he starves for acceptance and attention. This is a story of a man who gets into a situation that perpetuates his illness. If there’s worse condition for a person with a mental illness, it would stretch the imagination to contrive it.
When he is sent to the Orient he becomes a person of power, as all westerners did at the time. “ The West has [a] rape mentality towards the East” (Hwang 1253). The cultures are so different and conflicting, that values greatly vary. The Western culture looks on the Eastern people as, “ feminine-weak, delicate, poor” (Hwang 1253). Gallimard is beside himself w
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The stage has been set for his breakdown. When Gallimard thinks, “ I finally gained power over a beautiful woman” (Hwang 1231). Women are considered so insignificant in China that even today, female children are sometimes killed at birth only because of their gender, (Con 100). Song asks him to touch her, to feel the reality of her presence. It’s obvious he’s gone through these psychotic episodes before. He is weak of mind and bankrupt of spirit. More importantly, is he feels like someone when they are together, wanted, loved, and in control. To prove his control over his life, and to show her what a real man is like.
From here on, Gallimard is utterly lost in fantasy about what’s real and what’s not. He needs to fit in and win their acceptance. ” Having her weak, subservient, and bowing to him actually makes him her slave. He has always been an odd duck, but at this point he is tittering on the edge where insanity is only a stumble away. Quickly his imaginings become possibilities, where before he’d line up pornographic magazines, hearing voices about what he’d do with the women and, “ his body shook… not with lust, but power” (Hwang 1214).
Approximate Word count =
1371
Approximate Pages =
5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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