Hwang mocks the classical material in ways both subtle and blaring through the relationship between his narrator, Gallimard (modeled after the French diplomat), and his love interest, the mysterious Chinese opera singer Song.Īt times oblique and even humorous in his critiques, Hwang makes his perspective clear through the words of Song: “You expect Oriental countries to submit to your guns, and you expect Oriental women to be submissive to your men. Butterfly redraws these stereotypes, pointing out the racism involved in Western perceptions of Asia, especially Asian women. The narrative is rife with racist stereotypes of Japanese women and constructs a version of the so-called “Orient” as completely subjugated and inferior to the West. Madame Butterfly is about a white sailor named Pinkerton who lands in Japan and marries an adoring Japanese woman-his ‘Butterfly’-who he then abandons her for a Western wife.

Butterfly draws from two sources: firstly, the true story of a French diplomat who fell in love with a Chinese opera singer who was actually a male spy masquerading as a woman and secondly the short story and opera which share a similar title, Madame Butterfly. When I asked Victoria for a book recommendation, she thought it over and then chose M. We have both changed remarkably since our first year, but she remains one of the people on this campus for whom I hold a deep and complete respect.

She put up with my perpetually regenerating mess, my constant searching for lost belongings and more than one night of tears-and for that I am always grateful. Things I learned from Victoria include: the basics of political science, the Thai custom of giving nicknames and how to navigate the precariousness of living with a new friend in a very, very small space.

Only one of us could really get dressed at a time-it was impossible to open both the sets of drawers under our beds simultaneously. Our beds were close enough to easily touch hands across the chasm. Victoria and I shared what has to be one of the smallest bedrooms in the first-year bricks. We learn from our professors, from administrators and staff, from our friends and-especially, I would say-from our first-year roommates. We come to Bowdoin to learn: about physics or Latin American studies about what we want to be when we grow up about the kinds of people we want to be friends with and the kinds of people we want to be.

Madame butterfly david henry hwang