Controversial Issues in M. Butterfly

Because of the multilayered nature of the text, M. Butterfly is Hwang’s most famous play and accounts for a majority of the scholarly works by him. Above all, this play puts forward three crucial, controversial questions related to gender, postcolonialism, and deconstruction matters: Does Song Liling subvert the stereotype of Asian women or weaken the image of Eastern masculinity? Is Gallimard gay? Does M. Butterfly deconstruct Orientalism? Hwang deliberately leaves these controversial questions open. After analyzing various critiques of the play, it appears that this play has limitations in subverting stereotypes of Asian women, because Hwang is stuck in the binary opposition of two stereotypes of Asian women. Second, Gallimard is not gay because of his desire to have a Madame Butterfly, his belief in the fact Song and he had a baby, and his genuine pain after realizing Song’s gender identity. Lastly, M. Butterfly attempts to subvert Orientalism, but failing to implement it. The failure is related to the author’s understanding of Chinese culture, his personal identity, and his utilitarian desire. Hence, this study examines how M. Butterfly reflects the dominant discourses of the late 20 th and early 21 st centuries which will subsequently strengthen the understanding of M. Butterfly.