Gender in Hwang's M. Butterfly

In David Henry Hwang's play, "M. Butterfly," there is the gender theme, especially when it comes to women, but it also concerns men, as well.

Women in the play are portrayed as weaklings. They are apparently dominated by men of superior power. When Marc tells Gallimard about the girls who came on trucks to the woods (8), there is the implication that women always give in to men no matter what, for when Gallimard starts to reject Marc's offer, Marc says, "You don't have to ask!" (8) Marc also says that "they [the girls] don't have to say yes" (8). This is making it seems as though men can always overpower women, because they are men and apparently they can do whatever they want without asking. There is that force that the men have over the women and the women always submit. When Gallimard requests that Song strips so he could see her naked body, he is utilizing the force/power that men has. As a result, Song submits to him and lets him, though he didn't strip her. This is because it is as Song thought, "once a woman submits, a man is always ready to become 'generous' '' (62). Regarding women, men often think that when "her mouth says no, [but] her eyes say yes" (83). They think that they understand women enough to assume that but they really don't.

As to Song Liling, he transforms into a woman and really do act like a woman. When Comrade Chin goes to visit Song to discuss business matters, Chin says, "every time I come here, you're wearing a dress" (48), for it seems as though Song is taking his acting really seriously. Song is really acting the way a woman would act. Throughout the play, we see him as a woman, always acting and dressing as one. It isn't until towards the end that we see him dressed as a man. It is also at the end that we see Gallimard, in his prison, dressing like a woman, even though he really is a man. He is then "Madame Butterfly" and Song is then in Gallimard's shoes.