Critical Reception of M. Butterfly

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Critical Reception of M. Butterfly M. Butterfly was unlike any play I’ve ever read. In the play there are many conflicting themes and topics. One is the theme of homosexuality. Did Gallimard really think Song was a woman for 20 years? In my opinion, I did not think he realized Song was a man. I became interested in the relationship between Gallimard and Song. The play examines a plethora of themes, some of those include: gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, nationhood, and imperialism. The critical reception of M. Butterfly mainly focuses on stereotypes between the East and the West. David Henry Hwang wrote M. Butterfly in 1988. It was based on a true story of a French man and went onto Broadway that same year. It has also won a Tony award for best play of the year. The play contains an opera called Madame Butterfly, a story about a Western man, named Pinkerton, and a Chinese woman, named Butterfly, marrying each other. The Western man leaves Butterfly and she kills herself. Madame Butterfly has a connection with the play because they are both very similar. Critics responded to M. Butterfly either positively or negatively. The article in Contemporary Authors reports, “M. Butterfly drew both acclaim and criticism. Several reviewers applauded its ambition, richness, and drama, while others found its characterizations and plot twists unbelievable” (“David Henry Hwang”). There seemed to be more positive reports than negative. The most talked about scene in the play is unquestionably when Song reveals himself as a man. It is the climax of the play and also the most alarming scene in the play. As Hsiao-hung Chang comments, “M. Butterfly can only reach its climax at the very moment when Song Liling, the Chinese female impersonator, undresses himself in front of Rene Gallimard, the French diplomat, who still refuses to face the "true sex" of his lover
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