M. Butterfly

A detailed Summary of M. Butterfly

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 act

Ultimately, the decision is not what actually led to the unfortunate downfall of Gallimard and the destruction of the relationship thereof. The experiment was merely a catalyst that pushed the relationship of Song Liling and Rene Gallimard to new heights. After the experiment, Song showed more desperation towards Gallimard, and Gallimard realized the power he had over such a beautiful eastern woman.

Gallimard was never the typical strong male type. This is displayed in his conversation with his friend Marc regarding their pasts with women. Also, in a flashback to 1974, Gallimard turns down an offer to go to Marc's father's condo with a group of his university friends and a group of girls. This incident provides the information that Gallimard is not after what most men are stereotypically after- women. Because his background is not filled with numerous affairs, the fact that he considers one with Song is a major issue. This is also a reason for which the experiment takes place. Gallimard is not a strong man when it comes to women. When he initiates his experiment, it sends him on a power trip. "[He] felt for the first time that rush of power - the absolute power of a man" (Act 1, Scene 11). Deciding to conduct this experiment revealed that Gallimard was a weak man, but it also revealed that he yearned to be powerful or in a situation of power rather. His relationship with Song provides exactly this for him. It gives him

Some common words found in the essay are:
Gallimard Gallimard, Madame Butterfly, Butterfly Cio-Cio-San, Reading Gallimard, French Diplomat, Diplomat China, 1 scene, Butterfly Act, Rene Gallimard, scene 11, act 1, 1 scene 11, act 1 scene, Gallimard Song, relationship song, rush power absolute, absolute power, rene gallimard, needle act, 1 scene 12, attending opera, power absolute power, gallimard attending, scene 12,

Approximate Word count = 974
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English