Slowly the music turns into a duet from the Puccini opera Madame Butterfly, the 'Love Duet.' As Song dances to the music, Gallimard approaches Song and tries to call to them, but the image of Song is just a memory.

Nearby, Song, a performer dressed as a beautiful woman, does a traditional dance from the Peking opera to traditional Chinese music. The cell belongs to Rene Gallimard, a 65-year-old man who sits near a crate with a kettle and a portable tape recorder. GradeSaver, 12 April 2023 Web.The play opens in a prison cell in Paris in the 'present,' which, at the time the play was produced and published, would have been the late 1980s. Butterfly Buy Study Guide How To Cite in MLA Format GradeSaver 'M. Next Section Character List Previous Section About M. Unable to accept that Song has actually been lying to him for 20 years, Gallimard commits suicide, as Song watches and smokes a cigarette. In a dramatic display, Song reveals his masculine body to Gallimard, who is horrified by the sight. In court, Song is publicly revealed to be a spy. Gallimard is overjoyed to see her and the two continue their affair.Īfter being together for 20 years, Gallimard is tried for treason and imprisoned for passing secret documents to the Chinese government. Song then goes to France dressed as Butterfly and holding a child she claims belongs to Gallimard. Meanwhile, Song is punished for her affair with Gallimard, serving as a laborer for a few years. There, he tells his wife about Song and the two separate. When his professional aspirations are foiled, however, Gallimard is discharged and returns to France with his wife, Helga.

Through Song's submissiveness, Gallimard establishes his masculine identity.Īs the affair progresses, Gallimard is promoted to vice-consul, and sets up an apartment with Song, his mistress. Song's performance is so convincing and she is so demure about showing her body, that Gallimard remains unaware of Song's true sex.

Throughout their affair, Gallimard remains unaware that Song is actually a man playing the part of a woman, a spy for the Chinese Communist party, extracting information from him. Gallimard begins a relationship with Song, a relationship that mirrors the relationship in the opera between Pinkerton and Butterfly: the cruel white man and the submissive woman. Thus, he is surprised when he meets and falls in love with Chinese opera star, Song Liling, who he considers to be the embodiment of the perfect woman, a version of one of his favorite operatic characters, Madame Butterfly. He is mild mannered and considers himself to be a wimp and bad at seducing women. René Gallimard is a member of the French embassy in China.

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