M. Butterfly

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content, antigay bias, racism, gender discrimination, and emotional abuse.

Gallimard’s relationship with Song emblemizes his relationship with his ego and the world. As soon as the play begins, Gallimard harps on the need to tell the perfect version of his story. He refers to the play’s viewers as his “ideal audience” and describes Song as the “Perfect Woman.” Over the course of the play, it becomes apparent that Gallimard’s idea of perfection is highly subjective. Things are only perfect insofar as they meet his expectations. He’s apprehensive of the surprise that reality brings—and the growth that such surprise entails.

The early scenes that characterize Gallimard’s relationship with women are crucial in creating the pretext for his relationship with Song. Gallimard is shy when Marc offers him the opportunity to meet real women and potentially have sex with them. This contrasts his childhood experience with pornographic magazines, when gratification rewarded the transgression of looking at explicit pictures. Gallimard becomes more comfortable in the success he imagines than the failure that he expects to come from his interactions with real women. This feeds directly into his appreciation for the opera

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