M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang

[katekintailbc]

M. Butterfly
by David Henry Hwang

I started reading this book years and years ago, but I had a hard time getting into it. I was pretty sure I'd seen the movie on LOGO at some point, so I knew the basic story, even though I wasn't familiar with the original "Madam Butterfly" opera. However, I still had a hard time getting a good sense of this play just by reading it. There were some times I felt a little lost and definitely would have preferred watching it rather than reading it.

This is the story of Rene Gallimard, a French officer, and Song Liliang, an actress. But Song isn't just any actress--she's actually a man disguised as a woman in order to be a spy for the Chinese government. Gillimard falls for Song, not knowing her secrets. Their relationship lasts 22 years and goes deeper than anyone intended, to the point where he not only leaves his wife but is so infatuated with the idea of M. Butterfly, he can't live his own life any more. Not only is this the story of a man in love with his fantasies, it's also a fascinating exploration of the views that people of the East and West have of each other and how their sterotypes affect their relations, desires, political motives, and private lives.

In the end it definitely drew me in. I knew it couldn't possibly end in anything but a tragedy, but I still rooted for love to win out in the end. This play made me wonder how true the love in this story was.

I'm glad to finally have finished this. And I really enjoyed the author's notes at the end. I'm considering trying to track down a version (I think it's only available on audio) of the original with John Lithgow and B.D. Wong; I've listened to some of the bits available online and it sounds great.