David Henry Hwang's The Stereotypes Of M. Butterfly

The stereotypes of M. Butterfly The play shows the situation of relying on unchallenged stereotypes and cultural confusion. David Henry Hwang attacks the western stereotypes by refiguring the well known theme of Madame Butterfly. He tries to break the century year old butterfly myths of the Asian obedience to a western authority. In the play instead of an submissive Asian women falling for a western man, the man falls in love with the women. Even though the major event of the play are not in sequential order; being in the mind of Gallimard who takes the audience back and forth from when he was young and till he dies. This is a story of a man who falls deep into his own fantasy love with the image of Oriental woman and was deceived at the end. As Gallimard says at the beginning of the play, “ Alone in this cell, I sit night after night, watching out story play through my head, always searching for a new ending, one that redeems my honor, where she returns, at last to my arms”(Scene 3, Act 1 pg 831). Gallimard is still fantasying about the real ideal women, which does not exist except for in his mind. Gallimard, who is a low ranked diplomat in China, is seeking
The only reason he got married to Helga was because no one really wanted to marry her. He lives in an imaginary world where he created his ideal of a woman. Gallimard says, “There is a vision of the Oriental I have. Of slender women in chong sams and kimonos who die for the love of unworthy foreign devils. Who are born and raised to be the perfect women. Who take whatever punishment we give them, and bounce back, strengthened by love, unconditionally. It is a vision that becomes my life” (Scene X, Act 1 pg 843). In this quote he is telling us how he feels and has wanted in a woman his whole entire life. Which he has not gotten with his wife Helga, she has not been the ideal woman he wanted her to be. He basically got married to get