814
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Romantic lllusions
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IIWA:-iG /
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815
DAVID HENRY HWANG
ROMANTIC ILLUSIONS:
M. Butterfly
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR A PLAY
DAVID HE~RY HWANG,
M. Butterfly
---------
_1\,1.
Butterfly
David Henry Hwang (b. 1957) characterizeshimself as "interestedin the dus~·that
settles when two worlds collide." Born in Los Angeles into an affiuent, ethnically
Chinese f(unily, I-Iwang'searliest influences were inulticultural: His banker fcither
CULTURAL CONTEX1'.',;
PAUL CRAY, "\Nhat
ls Love?''
ANASTASIA TOUFEXIS, "The Right Chemistry"
NATHANIEL BRANDEN, "Immature Love"
Our cultural assurnptions are so pervasive that \VC may find it lwrd to question "the obvious." The reality of romantic love is such an assumption. VVesee
and hear about it so often in movies, books, television shows, and songs that
the reality of romantic love seems beyond question. VVCmay search for the allconsurning, magical, "spiritual-crnot.ional-scxua1 attachment" \Ve often see in
contemporary films. But docs this love exist? Perhaps romantic love is just an
illusion that has more to do with physical attraction and passion than with tme
love. How do we know the difference, especially if we believe totally that such
love exists? Can the belief create the iJlusion of rcalitv? Or can it so blind us that
we fall in love with someone who turns out to be s~meonc else entirclv? How
deceived can we be by the belief in romantic love? Perhaps some people -\\'ant to
be deceived and fall in love vvith the "wrong" person on purpose. The mysteries
of love never seem more puzzling and surprising than vvhen vvetry to explain vvhy
some people choose implausible loves.
wasborn in Shanghai, and his mother, a pianist and music teacher,spent herearly
vears in the Philippines. Hwang attended the elite Harvard School in North Holly~vood,California, and later majored in English literature at Stan{or~lU1:iversity,
graduating in 1979 with honors 'and a Phi Beta Kap-pamembersh:p._1 he same
vear, his first play FOB (for "fresh off the boat") was staged at the Nat1011alPlay-
~vright'sConference. Hwang taught creative wril'ing,studied plclywritingat the
YciieSchool of Drama, wrote television scrif1ts,and saw severalplays produced
/,efc,reachieving acclaim fCir'vi. Butterfly in 1988. The play, with /ohn Lithgow
and B, D. \Vong in the principal roles,broke box-officerec?rdscmdgmned numerous honors, including the 1988 Tony Award for best /Jlay of the year.
THE CHARACTERS
Rf".~E GAI,!JlVJARD
SOI\G LILJNG
IVlARCh-tAN:NO. 2/CONSUL SHARPLESS
RENEElworvIA:S: AT PARTY/PINUP GIRL
COlv!RADE CHTN/SUZUKI/SHU-FA::\G
BEFORE YOU READ
In the film The C1ying Game(] 992) the main character, a former IRA fighter,
falls in love vvitha man vvhohe thinks is an attractive vvoman. He is shocked at
the discovery. Can you imagine this happening to someone? TOyou?
HELGA
TOUI.O'.'\f'.'vtAN~O. 1/rUDGE
DANCERS
TJMF. AND PlACE
The action of the play takesplace in a Parisprison_inthe fJresent,m_1d,
in :eccill,
during the decade 1960-1970 in Beijing,and fTom1966 to the presentm Pans.
816
HWANG/
Romantic Illusions
.M. Butterfly:Act 1,Scene 2
817
ACT 1, Scene 1
M, Gal/imard'sprisoncell, Paris.1988.
J,ightsfade up to revealRene Gallimard, sixty-five,in a /Jrisoncell. He wearsa
comfortablebathrobeand looksold and tired. The sparselyfurnished cell contains
a wooden crctte,upon which sils a hot plate vvith a kettle and ct portable tape
recorder.Galiimard sits on the erate staring cd the recorder,a sad srnileon his face.
UpstageSong, who appearsas a beautiful woman in traditionalChinese garb
dances ct traditional piece from the Peking Opera, surrounded by the percussive
clatter of Chinese music.
Then, slowly lights and sound cross-fade;the Chinese opera music dissolves
into a \Vestem opera, the "Love Duet" from Puccini's i'vfadame Butterfly. Song
continues dancing, now to the \Ve.sternaccompaniment. Though her movements
cirethe sellne,the differencein music now gives them a balletic quality.
Callimard rises, and turns upstage i'owardsthe figure of Song rvho de1nces
ivithout acknowledginghim.
1
1
1
Butterfly, Butterfly
GALLIMARD:
J-leforceshimself to tum away, as the image of Songfades out, and talks to us.
The limits of my cell are as such: four-and-a-half meters by five.
There's one vvindmvagainst the far wall; a door, very strong, lo protect me
from autograph hounds. I'm responsible for the tape recorder, the hot plate,
and this charming coffee table.
\i\lhen I want to cat, l'm marched off to the dining room-hot, steaming
slop appears on my plate. \\/hen I \\/ant to sleep, the light bulb turns itself
off-the vvorkof fairies. It's an enchanted space l occupy. The Frcneh-\vc
know hmv to run a prison.
But 1 to be honest, I'm not treated like an ordinary prisoner. \1/hy?
Because I'm a celebrity. You sec, 1 make people laugh.
I never dreamed this day would arrive. I've never been considered ,vitty
or clever. In fact, as a young hoy, in an informal poll among my grammar
school classmates, I vvasvoted "leas!·likely to be invited to a party." lt's a title I
rnanaged to hold on to for many years. Despite some stiff compehtio11.
But nmv, hO\v the tables turn! Look at me: the life of every social function in Paris. Paris? \Vhy be modest: l\i{:yfornc has spread to Amsterdam, London, :\cw York. Listen to them! In the \Vorld'ssmartest parlors. I'm the one
who lifts their spirits!
CALLI!VIARD:
( lVIichelc-Salmicri.)
PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTES
A former Frenchclif>lomatand a Chinese 0/Jerasinger have been sentenced to
six years in jail for spying for China aft.era two-claytrial tlwt tracedel storyof clandestine love and mistaken sexual idenJitv. ...
}\ilr.Boursicot1vasaccusedof passi,;gin-formationto China after he fell in love
with 1\Ir. Sh( whom he helieveclfor twentv vears to he a lVOman.
-The New YorkTimes, May I .I, 1986
This play 1.vassuggestedhy international neivs{xlperaccounts of a recentes/Jio11e1ge
trial. For purposesof dramatization, names have been challged,clwracterscreated,
and incidents devised or alterecl,cmd this fJlcty does not purport to be a /<1ctual
recordof real events or real people.
I couldescafJethis feeling
\,\/ith my China girl .
-David Howie6 IggyPop
\Vith a fl.ourish,Galfimard directsour attention to another part of the stage.
Scene 2
A party. 1988.
Lighfa go up on a chic-lookingparlor,where a well-dressedtrio, two men and
one 1+'oman make conversation.Callimard also renwins lit; he observesthem from
his cell,
1
WOMAN:
And what of Gallimard?
818
Romantic Illusions
HWANG /
}v!. Butterfly: Act 1, Scene 3
819
------
Ga1limard?
Callirnard!
CALLLVlARD (to us): You -see? Thev'rc all determined to sav n1v name,
were some new dance.
'
' '
VVOMA:\: 1---Ic
still claims not to believe the truth.
MAN 1: What? Still? Even since the trial?
WOl'vL\N: Yes. Isn't it mad?
iV'lAN 2 (laughing):
[ le says ... it \Vas dark ... and she \Vas very modest!
l'vtAN 1:
produced at La Scala, Milan, in 1904, it is uow beloved throughout the
\i\/estern \vorld.
MAN 2:
as
if i!
The trio break into laughter.
So--what? l-lc never touched her \Vith his hands?
Perhaps he did, and simply misidentified the equipment. A compelling
case for sex education in the schools.
wmvlAN: Tb protect the National Security~thc Church can't argue with that.
MA>! 1: 'T'hat's impossible! How could he not knmv?
1TAN 2:
Simple ignorance.
lVIAN
1: For hveuty years?
MAK 2:
Time flies when you're being stupid.
W0'.\1AN:
\i\/ell, l thought the French were ladies' men.
'1v!AN 2:
lt seems .\,1onsieur Gallimard vvas overly anxious to live np to his
national reputation.
W01v1AN: \Vell, he's not very good-looking.
.VIAN1: No, he's not.
l'v1AN2:
Certainly not.
WOMAN: Actually, I feel sorry for him.
J'vIA:-J2: A toast! 'f() Monsieur Gallimard!
WOMAN; Yes!TO Callirnard!
MAN 1: 'lb Ga11irnard!
MA_\"1:
MAN 2:
MAJ\: 2:
\live la difference!
They toast, laughing. Lights down on them.
Scene 3
M. Gal/imard's cell.
(smiling): You sec? T'hcy toast rne. I've become a patron saint of the
socially inept. Can they really be so foolish? Men like that--thev should be
scra!d1ing at my door, beggi~·1gto learn my secrets! For I, Rcne.,Gal1imard,
you see, I l 1avcknmvn, and been loved hv ... the Perfect Vlornan
Alone in this cell, I sit night afte_rnight, watching onr story pl.ay through
my head, always searching for a nc\v ending, oue which recleerns my honor,
vvhere she returns at last lo my arms. And l irnagine you·- my id~al audience-who co1ne to understand and even, perhaps just a 'little, to envv me.
GALLIMARD
H~ turns on his ta/Jerecorder.Over the house speakers,we hear the opening phrases
of Madame Butterfly.
•
In order for you to uudersta11d \Vhat I did and vvhv,I must introduce you to my favorite opera: IV1adameButterfly. By Giaeom~ Puccini. First
GALLIMARD:
As Gallimard describesthe opera, the tape Heguesin and out to seci'ionshe may he
describing.
And \vhy not? Its heroine, Cio-Cio-San, also known as Butterfly, is
a feminine ideal, beautiful and brave. And its hero, the man for \vhom she
gives up everything, is-(IIe pulls out a naval officer'scap from under his
crate, pofJsit on his head, and stnds about.)- not very good-looki11g,not too
bright, and pretty much a \vimp: Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton of the U.S.
Navy. A) the curtain rises, he's just closed on hvo great bargains: one on a
house, the other on a \Voman-cal1 it a package deal.
Pi11kerlon purchased the rights to Butterfly for one hundred yen-in
modem currency, equivalent to about ... sixty-six cents. So, he's Feeling
pretty pleased vvithhimself as Sharpless, the American consnl, arrives to witness the marriage.
GALLEvlARD:
1\,forc,wearingan officialcap to designateSharpless entersand plays the character.
1
Pinkcrt:011]
PINKERTOKIGALLilVIARD:
Sharpless! How's it hangin'? It's a great day, just great.
Between my house, my \Vife, and the riekshmv ride in from tmvn, I've saved
nineteen cents just this rnorning.
SHARPLESS:
\iVonderful. [ can sec the inscription on your tornbstone already: "l
saved a dollar. here I lie." (Ile looksaround.) Nice house.
PINKERTON:
H's artistic. Artistic, don't you think? Like the way the shoji screens
slide open to reveal the \vet bar and disco mirror ball? Classy, huh? Great for
impressing the chicks.
SHARPLESS:
"Chicks"? Pinkerton, you're going lo be a married man!
PlNHRTON:
Well, sort of.
SHARPLESS:
VVhatdo yon mean?
PINKERTON: This country-Sharpless,
it is okay. You got all these geisha girls
rum ling around
SHARPLESS:
I kt1ovvlI live here!
PINKERTO'.'J:
Then, you knmv the marriage lmvs,right? I split for one month, it's
annulled!
SHARPLESS:
Leave it to you lo read the fine print \\/ho's the lucky girl?
PfXKERTON:
Cio-Cio-San. Her friends call her Butterfly. Sharpless, she eats out
of my hand!
SHARPLESS:
She's probably very hungry.
PINKERTON:
l\ot like American girls. Ifs true vvhatthey say about Oriental girls.
They want to be treated bad!
SHARPLESS:
Oh, please!
PINKERTOl\:
It's true!
SIIARPU:SS:
Are you serious about this girl?
PfNKERTos::
I'm marrying her, aren't l?
SHARPLESS:
Yes-with gencrons trade-in terms.
PINKERTON:
\Vhen I leave, she'll know \vhat it's like to have loved a real man.
And l'll even buy her a few nylons.
SHARPLESshvIARC:
820
Romantic Illusions
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You aren't planning to take her with you?
lluh? Where?
SHARPLESS:
Home!
PINKI:-;RTOI\":
You mean, America? Arc you crazy? Can you sec her trying to buy
rice in St. Louis?
•
SHARPLESS:
So, you're not serious.
SHARPLESS;
PJ,-CKERTON:
Pause.
(as Pinkerton): Consul, J am a sailor in port. (As Callimard.) They then proceed to sing the famous duet, '"f"'he\\/hole VVorldOver.''
PlNKERTON/GALLIMARD
The duet plays on the speakers.Gallimard, as Pinkerton, lip-syncs his lines from
the opera.
To give a rough translation: "The \vholc \vorld over, the Yankee
travels, casting his anchor wherever he wants. Life's not worth living unless
he can vvinthe hearts of the fairest maidens, then hotfoot it off the premises
ASAP." (He turns towardsA1arc.)In the preceding scene, I played Pinkerton,
the ,vornanizing cad, and my friend l\farc from school ... (1\.1arcbows
grandly for our benefit.) played Sharpless, the sensitive soul of reason. In life,
however, our positions were usually-no, aJways-rcverscc.l.
GALUMARD:
Scene 4
HWANG/
M. Butterfly:Act 1, Scene 5
821
\iVhathappens in the morning?
In the morning, you're ready to talk some philosophy. (Beat.) So how
'bout it?
CAl,LIMARD:
T'vfarc,l can'l ... I'm. afraid they'll say no ..~.J:hegirls. So I never ask.
lVTARC: '{ou don't have to ask! That's the beanly-don't
you sec? They don't
have to say yes. It's perfect for a guy like you, really.
GALLI:VIARD: You go ahead ... I may come later.
MARC: Hey, Rene-it
doesn't matter that you're clumsy and got zits-they're
not looking!
GALL1.\1ARD: Thank you very nmch.
iVlARC; \\/imp.
CALLI'.VIARD:
MARC:
1\1arcwalks over to the other side of the stage, and starts waving and smiling at
women in the audience.
(to us): \Ve nmv return to rny version of 1\1adameButterfly and the
events leading to my recent conviction for treason.
CALI.JMARD
Gallinwrd notices i\tlarcrrwkinglewd ge1>tures.
J'vfarc,,vhat arc you doing?
Huh? (Sotto voce.) Rene, there're a lotta great babes out there. They're
probably loo kin' at me and thinking, "\Vhat:a dangerous guy."
GALLCvlARD:
Yes- how could they help but be impressed by your cool sophistication?
GAI.LI\'IARD:
MARC:
0
E·coleNationale. Aix-en-Provence.1947.
No, Marc, I think I'd rather stay home.
MARC: Are you crazy?! \Ve arc going to Dad's condo in Marseilles! You knmv
what happened last time?
GALLIMARD:
Of course I do.
rvIARC: Of course you don't! You never knmv.... They stripped, Rene!
GALLJMARD:
Who stripped'
iv1ARC: The girls!
CAI,LIMARD:
Girls? \iVho said anything about girls?
?vIARC: Rene, we're a buncha university guys goin' up to the woods. \Vhat are ,ve
gonna do-talk philosophy?
CALLIMARD:
VVhatgirls? \J\!here do you get them?
MARC: Who cares? T'he point is, they come. On trucks. Packed in like sardines.
The back flips open, babes hop out, we're ready to roll.
GALLI'.\'1ARD: You mean, they just-?
MARC:
Before you know it, every last one of them-- they're stripped and splash••
ing around my pool. 'T'here's no moon out, they can't see what's going cm,
their boobs arc flapping) right? You close your eyes, reach out-it's grab bag,
get it? Doesn't matter whose ass is between vvhoselegs, whose teeth are sinking into who. You're just in there, going at it, eyes closed, on and on for as
long as you can stand. (Pause.)Some fun, huh?
GALLlMARD:
Ecole Nationalc: National School.
Callimard po/Jsthe Sharplesscap on l\1arc'shead, and /Jointshim offstage.l\1arc
exits, leering.
Scene 5
M. Ga/limard'scell.
Next, Butterfly rn.akcsher entrance. \iVclearn her age-fifteen.
but very mature for her years.
GAI.L!!VIARD:
Lights come up cm the area wherewe saw Song dancing at the top of the play. She
appearsthereagain, noiv dressedas 1\1adameButterfly, movingto the "LoveDuet."
Callimard turns upstage slightly to watch, transfi.xed.
But as she glides past hirn, beautiful, laughing softly behind her
fan, don't we ,vho arc men sigh ,vith hope? \Ve, ,.vhoare not handsorne, nor
brave, nor pmverful, yd somchmv believe, like Pi11kerton,that \Ne deserve a
Butterfly. She arrives ,vith all her possessions in the folds of her sleeves, lays
thern all out, for her man to <lo\Vith as he pleases. Even her life itself-she
bO\vsher head as she \Vhispersthat she's not even worth the hundred yen he
paid for her. He's already given too nmch, when ,ve knmv he's really had to
give nothing at all.
GALLJMARD:
J\.1usicand lights on Song out. Gallimard sits at his crate.
GALLI.\IARD:
In real life, women who put their total worth at less than sixty-six
cents are quite hard to find. llte closest \Ve come is in the pages of these
magazines. (Ile ree1chesinto his crale, pulls out a stack of girlie rnagazines,
HWANG/
Romantic Illusions
822
and begins flipping through them.) Quite a ncccssit}, in prison. FOr three or
four dollars, you get seven or eight ,vomen.
I first discovered these magazines at my nnclc's house. One day, as a boy
of hvelve. The first lime I saw them in his closet .. all lined up-my body
shook. Not with lust-no, vvithpmvcr. 1-Iere,vere \vomen-a shelff1il--who
would do exactly as I ·wanted.
The "Love Duet" creefJsin over the speakers.SfJecialcmnes ufJ revealing,not Song
this time, but a jJinup girl in a sexy negligee, her back to us. Callimarcl turns
ufJstageand looksat her.
1
CHn.: l know you're vvatching me.
GALL!l'v1ARD: i'v1ythroat ... it's dry.
GIRL:
1 leavc my blinds open every night before l go to heel.
GALLI MARD:
I can't- move.
I leave my blinds open and the lights on.
GALI,lMARD:
l'n:1shakillg. l\1.yskin is hot, but my penis is soft. \Vhy?
GIRL:
I stand in front of the vvindO\v.
GALLLMARD: \Vhat is she going to do?
GIRL: l toss my hair, and I let rny lips part ... barely.
CALLT?vIARD: l shouldn't be seeing this. It's so dirly. I'm so bad.
GIRL: Then, slowly,! lift off my nightdress.
GALLL\'lARD:
Oh, god. l can't believe it. l can'tGIRL:
I toss it to the ground.
CALLI:VIAH.D: l\mv, she's going to vvalka\vay. She's going toGIRL:
l stand there, in the light, displaying myself.
GALIJivlARD:
:'.'-Jo. She's-\vhy is she naked?
GIRL:
'l() you.
GALLiivlARD: In front of a window? This is wrong. :'.'\oCrn.L:
\iVithout shame.
GALUl\.1ARD:
No, sbe must. . like it.
GlRI.:
1 like it.
GALLL'v1!\RD: She ... she wants rne to see.
GIRL:
1\Vant\'Oll to sec.
GALLIMARD:
j can't believe it! She's geUing excited]
GIRL:
I can't see you. You can do ,vhatcver yon \.Vant.
GALLlMARD:
l can't do a thing. \i\lhy?
GIRL:
\,\/hat \vould you like me to do ... next?
GTRL:
Lights go clownon her. 1\/Iusicoff Silence, as Gallimarcl fnits mvay his magazines.
Then he resumestalking to us.
Act 'Tv,iobegins with B11Ucr:Ay staring at the ocean. Pinkerton's been
called back to the U.S., and he's given his wife a detailed schedule of his plans.
In the column marked "return date," he's vv-riltcn\11hen the robins nest." This
failed to ignite her suspicions. Now, three years have passed without a peep
from him. \iVhich brings a response from her faithful servant, Suzuki.
GALl.lYfARD:
1
Comrade Chin enters, playing Suzuki.
M. Butterfly:Act 1, Scene 5
823
Girl, he's a loser. What'd he ever give you? .:Nineteen cents and those
ugly Day-Clo stockings' Look, it's finished! Kaput' Done! And you should
be glad! 1 mean, the g!!ywas a woofer! l..fo tried before, yon know-before he
met you, he went down to geisha central and plunked down his spare change
in front of the usual candidates-everyone else gagged! These are hungry
prostitutes, and they \'/ere not interested, get the picture? Nmv, slop slathering when an American ship sails in, a11dlet's make some bucks-I mean,
yen! \,\,eare broke!
Now, what about Yamadori? 1.Iey,hey-don't look away-tlic man is a
prince-figuratively, and, what's even better, literally. [·fo's rich, he's handsome, he says he'll die if you don't rnarry him-and he's even \Nillingto overlook the little fact that you've been deflowered all over the place by a foreign
devil. VVhatdo you mean, "But he's Japanese"? \\.'hat do you think you are?You
think you've been touched by the whitey god? He was a sailor \vi!:hdirly hands!
SUZUKI:
Suzuki stalks o/Tstage.
She's also visited by Consul Sharpless, sent by Pinkerton 011 a
minor errand.
GALLil'v1ARD:
J\forc
enter,'>\
as Sharpless.
l hate this job.
'] 1-iisPinkerton- he doesn't shmv up personally to tell his \vife he's
abandoning her. No, he sends a government diplomat ... at taxpayers'
expense.
SHARPLESS:
Butterfly? Butterfly? l have some bad~ I'm going to be ill. Butterfly,
I carne to tell youCAJ,I.Il\.1ARD: Butter.Hysays sl1cknows he'll return and if he doesn't she'll kill herself rather than go back to her own people. (Beat.) This causes a lull in the
conversation.
SHARPLESS:
Let-'sput it this \vay .
GALLittARD:
Butterfly nms into the next room 1 and returns holdingSllARPLESS:
GAI,LIIvlARD:
Sound cue: a baby crying.Sharpless,"seeing"this, hacks away.
\i\!dl, good. llappy to sec tl1ingsgoing so vvell.l suppose 1'11be going
now. Ta ta. Ciao. (I-le turns away. Sound cue out.) l hate this job. (He exit's.)
GALLIMARD: At that mornent, Butterfly spots in [·he harbor an American ship-the Abramo Lincoln!
SIIARPl,ESS:
iVfusiccue: "The FlowerDuet." Song, still dressedas Butterfly,changes into a wedding kimono, moving to the music.
'This is the moment that redeems her years of ,vaiting. \Vith
Suzuki's help, they cover the room with flovv·crs--
GALLiivlARD:
Chin, as Suzuki, trndgesonsi'ageand dropsa lone-fl,ower
without much enthw~iasm.
CALU?vfARD:- and she changes into her \Vedding dress to prepare for Pinkerton's
arrival.
Suzuki helps Butterfly change. Helga enters, and helps Gallimard change into a
tuxedo.
Romantic lllusions
824
l married a woman older than myself-Helga.
_IVly
father ,vas ambassador to Australia. [ grcv,,1 up among criminals and
kangaroos.
GALLI/VIARD: f-karing that brought me to the altarCALLIMARD:
HELGA:
1Ielgaexits.
-vvherc l took a vmv renouncing love. No fantasy \.VOnian ,vould
ever \.V~mt
me, so, yes, I \voulclsettle for a quick leap up the career ladder. Passion, l banish, nncl in its place-practicality)
But my vo,vs had long since lost their charm by the time we arrived in
China. The sad truth is that aH men ,vant a beautiful ,voman, and the uglier
the m.:-m
1 the greater the \.Vant.
GALLI1VlARD:
Suzuki makes final adjustments of Butterfly's costume, ctsdoes Gallinwrci of his
tuxedo.
GALLIMARD:
I married late, at age thirty-one. l was faithful to my marriage for
eight years. Until the day \vhcn, as a junior-leve·I diplomat in puritanical
Peking, in a parlor at the German ambassador's house, during the ''Reign of
a Hundred Vimvers," l first sa\\•'her. . singing the death scene from
N/adame Butterfly.
0
Suzuki n, ns offstage.
Scene 6
German ambassador'shouse. Beijing. 1960.
The upstage special area now becomes a stage. Several chairs fi:1ceupstage,
refJresentingseating for some twenty guests in the parlor. A few "diplomats"Renee, 1'\!Iarc,
'foulon - in formal dressenter and take seats.
Callirnardcdsosits dmvn, but turns towardsus "and continues to talk. Orchestrczlaccom/Janimenton the tape is now replacedby a simple piano. Song /JicksttfJ
the death scenefrom the /JointwhereButterfly uncoversthe hara-kiriknife.
'T'he ending is pitiful. Pinkerton, in an act of great courage, stays
home and sends his American ,vifc to pick up Butterfly's child. The truth,
long deferred, has come up to her door.
GALLI?vlARD:
Song, playing Butterfly, sings the lines frorn the opera in her own voice--which,
though not classical,should be decent.
"Con onor rnuore / chi non puo serhar / vita con onore."
(sim11ltaneo11sly):"Death with honor/ ls better than life/ Life with
dishonor."
SO!\G:
GALI.IMARD
The stage is illuminated; we are now comfJletelywithin an elegant di/Jlomat'sresidence. Song proceedsto play out cm abbreviateddeath scene. Everyonein the room
applauds. Song, shyly, takes her hows. Others in the room rush to congratulateher.
GcJllimc1rd
remainswith us.
Reign of a Hundred Flowers: A brief period in 1957 ,vhen freedom of expression was allowed
in China.
!JV.ANG /
.M. Butterfly:Act I, Scene 6
825
They say in opera the voice is everything. That's probably why I'd
never before enjoyed opera. 1Icrc ... here \Vasa Butterfly with little or no
voice-- but she had the grace, the delicacy ... I believed this girl. ] believed
her suffering. l \vanted to take lier i11my arms- so delicate, even Tcould protect her, take her home, pamper her until she smiled.
GALLLV1ARD:
Overt.he courseof the precedingspeech, Song has broken from the up1,tagecrowd
and moved directly upstageo{Gallimard.
SONG:
Excuse me. ?'v1onsieur... ?
Gallimarclturns u/Jstage shocked.
1
Oh! Gal!imard. Mademoiselle ... ? A beautiful .
Song Liling.
GALLIMARD: A beautiful performance.
SONG:
Oh, please.
CAT,I,JMARD:
l usually-~
SONG: You make me blush. I'm no opera singer at all.
GAL.LIMARD:
I usually don't like Butterfly.
SONG: Tcan't blame you in the least.
CALLil'v1ARD: I rnean, the story~
soi'\-c: Ridiculous.
•
GALLlMARD:
l likc the story, but ... what?
SONG:
Oh, you like it?
GALLE\1ARD: . I ... \vhat l rncan is, I've ahvays seen it played by huge \\-'Omenin
so mnch bad makeup.
SONG: Bad makeup is not unique to the West.
GALLiiVIARD:
But, who can believe thcrn?
so::---c: And you believe me?
GALLIMARD: Absolutely. You \Vere utterly convincing. Ifs the first time
S07'G:
Convincing? As a Japanese woman? 'I he Japanese used hrn1dreds of our
people for medical experiments during the war, you know. But l gather such
an irony is lost on you.
GALLI.\lARD:
No! l \vas about tu say, ifs the first time I've seen the beauty of the
story.
so;,c: Really?
GALUMARD:
Of her death. It's a ... a pure sacrifice. He's umvorthv but what
can she do? She loves him. . so much. It's a very beautiful stor:y.''
SONG: \iVell,yes, to a \iVestemer.
GALLIMARD:
Excuse me?
SONG: It's one of your favorite fantasies, isn't it? The submissive Oriental
vvoman and the cmcl white man.
CALLII.VIARD: VVell,[ didn't quite mean.
SO:'\G: Consider it this way: what woulcl you say if a blonde homecoming queen
fell in love with a short Japanese businessman? He treats her cruellv then
goes home for three years, during which time she prays to his pictt;;e and
turns dmvn marriage from a young Kennedy. Then, vvhen she learns he has
remarried,
she kills herself. Now, l believe yon \Vonld consider this girl to be
GA!.LIMARD:
SO::\G:
J-IVVAl\GI i\11. Butterfly:Act
Romantic Illusions
826
a deranged idiot·, correct? Bnl because it's an Oriental
Vlesterner-al1!-you
find il beautiful.
v,,,l-10kills
herself for a
1 Scene 8
1
827
nl'.:LGA: Politics agc1in?\Vhy can't they jnsl' hear it ~1sa piece of beautiful music?
So, 1,vhat'sin their opera?
1 don't knovv.But, whatever it is, I'm sure it must be old.
GALLPVIARD:
Silence.
Helga exits.
Yes ... vve11... I sec your point ...
SONG:
J vvillnever do Butterfly again, '.\iJonsicur Gallirnard. If you vvish to se_c
some real theater, come to the Peking Opera sornctime. Expand yom mind.
CAI ,LlMARD:
Song walksoff':;tage.
Other guests exit with her.
GALLIMARD (to us): So rnuch for protecting her in my big VVestcrnarms.
Chinese opera house and the streetsof.Beijing. 1960.
The sound of gongs clanging fills the stcige.
GALLIMARD:
.lVlywife's innocent question kept r.ingiug in my ears. J asked
Scene 7
M. G,zllimard'sapartment. Beijing. 1960.
Gallimard changes/Tomhis tux into a casual suit. Helga enters.
The Chinese are an incredibly arrogant people.
They \Varnc<l us about that in Paris, remember?
GALLILVIARD: Even Parisians consider them arrogant. That's a svvitch.
HELGA:
\i\/hat is it that .l\iladame Su sciys?''\Ve are a very old civilization." I never
know if she's talking about her country or herself.
.
.
GALI.L'vIARD:
I walk around here, all I l1ear every day, everyvvherc 1show old this
culture is. The fact that "old" may be synonymous ,vith "senile" doesn't
occur to them.
HELGA:
You're not going to change them. ''East is east, west is west, and.
GALLL'vlARD:
HELGA:
~-rtlz~~~~-.
.
.,
.
[t's just that-•silly. I met .. at Ambassador Koenmgs tomghtvou should've been there.
HEL~;A:
Koening? Oh god, no. Did he enchant you all again \vith the history of
Bavaria?
GALLJ\'IARD:
No. l met, J suppose, the Chinese equivalent of a diva. She's a
singer in the Chinese opera.
HELGA:
They have an opera, too? Do they sing in Chinese? Or maybe-in
Italian?
GALLIMARD:
'["{might,she did sing in Italian.
HELGA:
Hov/d she rnanagc that?
.
.
CALLHvtARD:
She must've been educated in the \Nest before the Revolut10n. Her
French is very good also. Anyway, she sang the death scene from 1\ladame
GALLIMARD:
Butterfly.
.
.
.
TVfodameButterfly! Then J should have come. (She be~ms lnnnmmgi
floating around the room as if dragging long kimono sleeves.)Did she have 3
nice costume? I think it's a classic piece of rnt'1sic.
what I thought, too. Don't let her hear you say that.
GALLIMAR l·i : 'Pi,·1t's
J
HELGA:
What's vvrong?
Evidently the Chinese hate it.
1-n,:1.CA: She hated it, but she performed it anyvvay?Is she perverse?
CALLL\11\RD:
'l'hey hate it because the vvhitcman gets the girl. Sour grapes if you
ask rne.
HELGA:
GALLI.\'IARD:
Scene 8
around, but no one knevv anything about tlie Chinese opera. It took four
weeks but my curiositv overcame my covvarclice.'fhis Chinese diva- ...!-his
umviliing Buiterfl.y-\,/hai- did she do-to m;-tkeher so proud?
'The room \Vashol:, and fnll of smoke. \Vriukled faces, olcl vvomen, teeth
missing-a man with a grmvth on his neck, like a human toad. All srniling,
pipes falling from their mouths 1 cracking nuts betvveen their teeth, a live
chicken pecking at my foot---a11looking, screaming, gawking ... nt her.
The upstage CJreais suddenly hit 1vithcl harsh white light. It has become the stage
for the Chinese operc1f>er{ormance.
'f-woclcmcersenter, alongwith Song. Gdl!imctrd
stands ctf)art,wcltching.Song glidesgracefidly amidst the two dancers.Drums suddenly slam to a halt. Song strikes a pose, looking straight at Gallimarcl.Dancers
exit. Light clwnge. Pause, then Song walks right off the stc1geand straight up to
Gallimard.
Yes.You. VVhiteman. I'm looking straight at you.
:Vle?
SONG: You see any other white men? It was too easy to spot you. How oft-en does
a man in my audience come in a tie?
SONG:
GALUMARD:
Song starts to rernoveher costume. Underneath, she wearssimple baggy clothes.
They are nmv backstage.The show is over.
So, you arc au adventurous imperialist?
J ... tho11ghtit vvould further n1yeducation.
SONG: It took you four v\,,c·eks.
V\/hy?
GAJ ,LLVIARD: 1've been busy.
SONG:
\\/ell, education has ahvays bceu nndervalned in the \VesJ-,hasn't it?
CALLIMARD (laughing): I don't think that's true.
SO:\"G:
No, you wouldn't. You're a \\/estcrner. How can yon objectively judge
vour own values?
C-AL{nMRD:
I think it's possible to achieve some disl·ancc.
SO;\"G;
Do you? (Pcwse.)[t stinks in here. Let's go.
GALfJIVlARD:
']'l1ese arc tl1c s1nclls of your loyal fans.
SONG: I love them for being my fans, I hate the smell they leave behind. I too can
distance myself from my people. (She looksaround, then whis/Jersin his ear.)
"Art for the masses" is a sliitty excuse to keep artists poor. (She pops a cigc1rette
in her mouth.) Be a gentleman, vvillyou? And light my cigarette.
SONG:
Gi\LLfi'vfARD;
Romantic 1fhtsions
828
HWANG/
M. Butterfly: Act 1, Scene 9
829
----·-··----
Gallimard fumbles for a match.
I lied to my vvife.Vv1·1y?
l've never had any reason to lie before. But
what reason did I have tonight? l didn't do anything wrong. That night, I had a
dream. Other people, I've been told, have dreams when angels appear. Or dragons, or Sophia Loren in a towel. In my dream, Iviarc from school appeared.
CALLHvIARD:
GALLii'v1ARD: J don't ...
SONG (lighting her own):
smoke.
Your loss. Had you lit my cigarette, I rn.ighthave blO\vn
a puff of smoke right behvcen your eyes. Come.
They start to walk about the stage. It is a summer night on the Beijing streets.
Sounds of the city play on the house s{)eakers.
"tl.!Jarc
enters, in a nightshirt and ca/J.
How I ,vish there ,vcre even a tiny cafe to sir in. \ Vith cappuccinos, and
rncn in tuxedos aud bad expatriate jazz.
GALLL\'lARD:
If mv historv serves me correctly, you \vcren't even a!IO\vedinto the
clubs in Shanghai before the Rcvoluhon: •
SONG:
Your history serves you poorly, NJonsieur Gallimard. Trne 1 there were
signs reading "No dogs and Chinamen." But a \von,1an, cspec~ally ~1de.licate
Oriental vvom,m-vve ahvays go where we please. Could you nnagme it otherwise? Clubs in China filled with pasty, big-thighed white women, while
thousands of slender lotus blossoms \Vait just outside the door? Never. The
clubs \Vm.tldbe empty. (Beat.) 'V'lchave ahvays held a certain fascination for
vou Caucasian men, have \Venot?
GAU:Il'vIARD:
But ... that fascination is imperialist, or so you tell rnc.
S01'<G: Do you believe everything I tell you? Yes. It is always imperialist. But
sornetimes ... sometimes, it is also mutual. 011- this is my flat.
GALI.TNIARD: I didn't evenSOl'\G:
Thank you. Come another time and vve vvi\Ifurther expand your mind.
Gallinwrd and 1Vlctrcstumble down the Beijing streets. Night sounds over the
Bpeakers.
1
SOT\C:
Song exits. Gallimard continues roaming the streetsas he speaks to us.
CALLil\V\RD:
°VI/hatvvasthat? \Vhat did she mean, "Sometimes ... it is mutual"?
\,\!omen do not Hirt \vith me. And I normally can't talk to them. But tonight,
I held np my end of the conversation.
Scene 9
Gallimard'sbedroom.Beijing. 1960.
1JelgC!
enters.
You didn't tell me you'd be home late.
I didn't intend to. Something came up.
HELGA:
Oh? Like what?
GALLIMARD: J went: to the ... to the Dutch arnhassador's home.
HELGA;
Again?
GALLL'v1ARD·: There \Vas a reception for a visiting scholar. He's \\rriting a sixvolume treatise 011 the Chinese revolution. \i\/e all gathered that meant he'd
have to live here long enough to actually vvrite six volumes, and \Ve all
expressed our deepest syrnpathies.
.
HELGA:
\i\lell, l had a good night too. I went with the ladies to a marhal arts
demonstration. Senne of those men-when they break those thick boards-(she mimes f(mning herself) wlioo-whoo!
HFLGA:
CALLIMARD:
Helga exit8.Lights dim.
MARC:
Rene! You met a girl!
lt's not that amazing, thank you.
~o! H's so monumental, l heard about it halfi.vayaround the world in my
sleep!
GAJ,LlMARD:
f've met girls before, you knmv.
MARC: Name one. I've corne across time and space to congratulate you. (He
hands Callimard a bottle of wine.)
GALLfl'vIARD: Marc, this is expensive.
MARC:
On those rare occasions when you become a formless spirit, why not
steal the best7
CALLT\-1ARD:
MARC:
Marc f,ops open the bottle, begins to share it with Gallimard.
You embarrass me. She. . there's no reason to think she likes me.
"Sometimes, it is mutual"?
GALLl\lARD:
Oh.
MARC:
"l\ifutual"? "lVJutual"?VVhatdocs that mean?
GALLIMARD:
You heard?
!VIARC: lt means the money is in the bank, you only have to write the check]
GALLHvIARD:
I am a married nun!
:VIARC: And an excellent one too. I cheated after ... six months. 'Then again and
again, until novv-three hundred girls in twelve years.
GALLJMARD:
I don't think we should hold that up as a model.
,1\-IARC: Of course not! tv'Iylife-it is disgu·sting!Phooey! Phooey! But, you- ..you
arc the model husband.
GALU:'vlARD:
Anyway, it's irnpossible. I'm a foreigner.
MARC:
Ali, yes. She cannot love you, it is taboo, but something deep inside her
heart. . she cannot help herself. . she musr surrender to you. It is her desGAI.Lii'viAIU):
MARC:
tiny.
Flow do you imagine all this?
The sarne way you do. It's an old story. It's in our blood. They fear us,
Rene. Their women fear us. And their men- their men hate us. And, you
know something? They are all correct.
GAf.LINTARD:
..\IARC:
They spot a light in a window.
There[ Thcre 1 Rene\
It's her window.
.VIARC: Late at night-it
burns. The light-it burns for you.
GALLI!.\.'lARD: I won't look. It's not respectful.
MARC: \\le don't have to be respectful. We're foreign devils.
?vlARC:
GALLINTARD:
Roma11ticlllusi01w
830
Enter Song, in a sheer robe, her face completely swathed in black cloth. The "One
Fine Day" aria cree/Jsin overthe speakers.\Vith her back to us, Song mimes attending to her toilette. I--lerrobecomes loose,revealingher white shoulders.
AU your life you've \Naited for a beautiful girl who vmu1d lay down for
you. All your life you've smiled like a saint \Vhen it's happened to every other
man you knovv.And you sec them in magazines and you see them in movies.
And you wonder, \'r'hal-'svvrong with me? \Vill anyone beautiful ever vvant
me? A~ the years pass, your hair thins and you struggle to hold on to even
your hopes. Stop struggling, Rene. The wait is over. (1-leexits.)
GALLIMARD:
]\!Tare?Marc?
MARC:
At that moment, Song, her bad:. still towardsu.s dro{Jsher robe.A second of her
1
naked hack then a sound cue:a phone ringing,veryloud. Blackout, followedin the
next beat by a special 11.pon the bedroomarea wherea phone now sits. Gallimard
stumbles acrossthe stageand picks up the phone. Sound cue out. Over the courseof
his conversation,area lightsfill in the vicinity of his bed. lt is the followingmorning.
HWAKC /
1vl.Butterfly:Act l, Scene 10
831
is her \vay. She is outwardly bold and outspoken, yet her heart is shy and
afraid. Jt is the Oriental in her al war with her \.Vestcn1education.
SONG (o/'(,';tage):l vvill be out in a11 instant. Ask the servant for anything you want.
GALLIMARD:
'Fmight, I have finally been invited to enter lier apartment.
'!'hough the idea is almost beycmd belief, J believe she is afraid of me.
Gallimarcl looks around the room. Ile {Jicksup a picture in a frame, studies it.
\Vithout his noticing, Song enters,dressedelegantly in a hlack gmvn from the twenties. She stands in the doorivaylooking likeArma r'\,1ay
\Vong.
0
SONG:
That is my father.
?v1ladcmoisellcSong .
GALLIMARD ( surfvisecl):
She glides up to him, snatchesaway the picture.
1
1
GALLIIVlARD:
SOKG
Yes? Hello?
Song curtseys.
(offvtage): ls it very early?
GALLE\/IARD:
\i\/hy, yes.
(offstage): How early?
CALLIMARD:
It's ... it's 5:30. \Vhy arc you-?
SONG (offstage): But it's light outside. Already.
SONG
GALLJ::'vIARD:
it·is very good that he did not live to see the Revolutio11.'/'hey ,vo11Icl, no
clouht, liavc made liim kneel 011 broken glass. Not that he didn't deserve
such a punishment. But he is my father. I \vould've hated to sec it happen.
GALLIMARD:
I'm very honored that you've allowed me to visit your horne.
SOKC:
It is. The sun must he in confusion today.
Over the courseof Song's next speech, her upstage special comesup again. She sits
in a chair legs crossed,in a robe,telephone to her ear.
1
l \vaited until I savvthe sun. That vvasas much discipline as I could manage for one night. Do you forgive me?
GALLfMARD:
Of course ... for what?
SONG: Then I'll ask you quickly. Are you rea11yinterested in the opera?
GALLIMARD: \Vhy, yes. Yes lam.
SONG: Then come again next 'fhursday. I am playing The Dnmken Beauty.
lVlayI count on you?
GAI.LIIVIARD: Yes.You may.
SONG: Perfect. Wel11 l must be getting to bed. rm exhausted. lt's been a very
long night for me.
SONG:
Song hangs up; special on her goes off Gallinwrd begins to dressfor worf.:.
Thank you. Oh! Haven't you been poured any tea?
J'rn really notso:sc (to her offstage servant): Shu-Fang' Cha! Kwai-lah I ('fo Gal/imard.) I'm
sorry. Ym1 \Vanteverything to be pcrfcctGALLlMARD:
Please.
so:--.;c: -and before the evening even beginsGALLI~vlARD: I'm really not [·hirsty.
SONG:
-it's mined.
GALLIMARD (slwrfJly): \,fademoiselle Song!
SONG:
GALIJivIARD:
Song sits down.
SONG:
I'm sorry.
\,\/hat are you apologizing for now?
GALI.fMARD:
Pause;Song starts to giggle.
SONG:
I don't knmv!
Gallinwrd !Clughs.
Exactly rny point.
Oh, I arn silly. Light-headed. l promise not to apologize
tonight do you hear me?
GALLEvIARD: That's a good girl.
GALLIMARD:
SONG:
for
anything else
1
Scene 10
Song Liling's apartment. Beijing. 1960.
I returned to the opera that next ,.vcek, and the week after that .
she keeps our meetings so short-perhaps fifteen, twenty minutes at most.
So I am left each week vvith a thirst \vhich is intensified. In this way, fifteen
weeks have gone hy. lam starting to doubt the \vords of my friend l'v1arc.But
no, not really. In my heart, I knmv she has ... an interest in me. 1 suspect this
GALLIMARD:
Shu-Fang, a sen'cmtgirl, comesout i,vitha tea tray and starts to pour.
(to S/11.1-Fang):No! I'll pour myself for the gentleman!
Shu-Fang, staring at Gallimard, exits.
SO:'\C
Anna :\fay \Vong ( 1905-1961 ): Chinese Americ<.111
actor known for her exotic beauty and most
often cast as a villain.
Romantic Illusions
830
HWANG/
M. Butterfly:Act l, Scene 10
----
Enter Song, in a sheer robe, her face completely swathed in blad cloth. The "One
Fine Day" aria creefJsin overthe sfJeakers.V1/ithher back to us, Song mimes attending to her toilette. Her robe comes loose, revealing her white shoulders.
?vIARC:All your life you've \vaitcd for a beautiful girl who would lay down for
you. All your life you've smiled like a saint when it's happened to every other
man you knmv. And you see them in rnagazincs and you sec them in movies.
And you vvonder, ,vhat's vvrong with me? 'v\/ill anyone beautiful ever ,vant
me? As the years pass, your hair thins and you stmggle to hold on to even
your hopes. Stop struggling, Rene. The wait is over. (He exits.)
GALI..f:VlARD:
1\/Iarc?0.,,farc?
At that moment, Song, her hack still towardsus, drof)Sher robe.A second of her
ne1kecl
hack, then a sound cue:a phone ringing,veryloud. Blackout1 follmveclin the
next beat by a s/)ecialup cm the bedroomarea1 ivherea f)hone now sits. Gallimcml
stumbles acrossthe stage and f)icksup the phone. Sound cue out Over the courseof
his conversation,area lights fill in the vicinity of his bed. It is the folfowingmorning.
GALLIMARD:
SONG
Yes? Hello?
is her way. She is ouhvardly bold and outspoken, yet her heart is shy and
afraid. It is the Oriental in her at war ,vith her \Vestern education.
SONG (offstage): 1 vvillbe out in an instant. Ask tlie servant for anylhing you want.
GALLJ:vlARD:
'Ionight, 1 have finally bee11 inviled to enter her apartme11t.
Though the idea is almost beyond belief, I believe she is afraid of me.
Gallimard look:-,around lhe room. He picks up a picture in Cl frame, studies it.
Vlit-houthis noticing, Song entern dressedelegantly in e1 black gown /Tomthe tiventies. She stands in t:hedoonvay looking like Amw May \Vong.
1
0
so~c:
That is my father.
(surprised): Mademoiselle Song.
GALLl'1ARD
She glides up t-ohim snatchesa-waythe picture.
1
l tis very good that he did not live to sec the Revolution. They \Vould, no
doubt, have rnade him kneel on broken glass. Not that he didn t deserve
such a punishment. But he is my father. I ,vonld've hated to see it happen.
GALUMARD:
I'm very honored that you've allcnveclme to visit your home.
SO:'\C:
1
Song curtseys.
(offstage): Is it very early?
Why, yes.
SONG (offstage): I-low early?
GALLEVIARD: H's ... it's 5:30. \i\/hy arc you-?
SONG (offstage): llut it's light outside. Already.
GALLilVIARD: lt is. The sun must be in confusion today.
CALUMARD:
Over the courseof Song's next speech, her upstage special coniesup again. She sits
in a chair, legscrossed,in a robe te!ef)honeto her ear.
1
I \vaited until I savvthe sun. That vvasas much discip'linc as I could rnanagc for one night. Do you forgive me?
GALUMARD:
Of course ... for \vhat?
SONG: Then I'll ask you quickly. Arc you really interested in the opera?
GALLI"\IARD:
\Vhy, yes. Yes I am.
SONG: Then come again next Thursday. I am playing The Drunken Beauty.
\1ay l count on you?
GALLUVIARD: Yes. You rnav.
SO:'JC:
Perfect. \i\/cll, l must be getting to heel. I'm exhausted. It's been a very
long night for me.
SOl\G:
Song hangs uj); special on her goes off Gallimarclbegins to dressfor work.
Scene lO
Song Lifing's apartment. Beijing. 1960.
l returned to the opera that next \Veek, and the week after that ...
she keeps our meetings so short-perhaps fifteen, hventy minutes at most
Sol am left each week 'Nith a thirst vvhich is intensified. In this way, fifteen
vvcckshave gone by. I am starting to doubt the ,vords of my friend 1\/Iarc.But
no, not really. ln my heart, I knmv she has ... an interest in me. I suspect this
GALLINIARD:
831
----
Thank you. Oh! llavcn't you been poured any tea?
l'rn really notSONG (lo her offstage servant): Shu-Fang' Cha! Kwai-lah! ('Jo Callimard.) I'm
sorry. You ,vant everything to be perfect--GAfLHvIARD:
Please.
S0:-JG:
-and before the evening even begins• C/\LL.l"\fARD:
I'm really not thirsty.
SONG:
- ifs ruined.
GALIJ1VIARD (sharply): lvfademoiscllc Song!
SONG:
GALLiiVJARD:
Song sits down.
SONG:
I'm sorry.
GALLlMARD:
\iVhat are you apologizing for nmv?
Pause;Song starts to giggle.
SONG:
I don't knovv!
Gallimard laughs.
Exactly my point.
Oh, I am silly. l ,ight-hcadcd. J promise not to apologize for anything else
tonight, do you hear me?
GAJJ.EvIARD:
Tha!-'s a good girl.
GALUVIARD:
SONG:
Shu-Fang
1
cl
servantgirl, comesout with a tea tray and starts to pour.
(to Shu-Fang): No! 1'11pour myself for the gentleman!
Shu-Fang, staring at-Caflimard, exits.
SOI\G
Anna l\,lay Wong (1905-196 l ): Chinese American actor known for her exotic beauty and most
often casl as a villain.
832
Romantic Illusions
HWANG/
Plcase~go
M. Butterfly:Act I, Scene .Il
The next hmc yo11see me 1 J shall again be mysclf.
the ,vay you are right now.
GALUi\ilARD:
You have a beautiful home.
No, 1 ... I don't even knmv \vhy I invited you up.
GALLIMARD: Well, I'm glad you did.
SO\!:G:
SONG:
GALLfMARD:
I like you
SOl\G:
You arc a cad.
Song loob around the room.
GALLT:MARD: VVhatdo you expect? I'm
Gallimard walks dorvnstelge.Song exits.
T'hcrc is an element of danger to your presence.
Oh?
SONG:
You must know.
CALUMARD;
H doesn't co11ccrn me. VVeboth know why I'm here.
SOi\"C:
• It dc)csn't concern me either. No ... well perhaps .
GA!.LfMARD:
\Vhat?
so:-,c: Perhaps l mn slightly afraid of scandal.
CALLL\1ARD: \Vliat are we doing?
SONG:
I'm entertaining you. In my parlor.
GAJJJiVJARD:
In France, that \Vo1ilcl hardly~
SO.,'\G: France. France is a country living in the rnodern era. Perhaps even
ahead of it. China is a nation whose soul is firmly rooted hvo thousand_yea~s
in the past. \i\/hat I do, even pouring the __
tea for you 110\V · · · it has · · · ~rn~li~
cations. The \Vallsand \Vindmvssay so. l•'.venmy own heart, strapped mstde
this \Vestem dress ... even it says things~ things Tdon't care to hear.
SO:'\C:
GALIJMARD:
Song hands Gallimard a cup of tea. Gallimard /Yufshis hand over both the teacup
and Song's hand.
This is a beautiful dress.
Don't.
CALLINIARD: \iVhat?
SOAG:
I don't even knO\v if it looks right on rnc.
GALLI\IARD:
Believe mc-so~c: You arc from France. You see so many beautiful vvomen.
GALLlMARD:
France? Since when are the European women~?
SONG:
Oh! \Vhat am l trying to do, any\vay?l
GALLUvTARD:
SONG:
Song runs to the door, com/Josesherself;then turns towardsGallimard.
l'vlonsieur Gallirnard, perhaps you should go.
But ... \vhy?
SONG:
There's sornething wrong about this.
GALJJ!vlARD:
I don't see what.
SOl\C:
I fee] ... 1arn not myself.
CALLE\.lARD: No. You're nervous.
so~c: Please. Hard as l try to he modem, to speak like a man, to hold a_VVestern
\Vornan's strong face up to my own ... in the en~, I fai_:·A_srnall, f;1ghtc~1e~!
heart heats too quickly and gives me away. lvfonsiem C-allunard, l 1;1_a Clu-nese gir1. I've never ... never invited a rnan up to my flat before. l he for~
vvardncss of mv actions makes my skin bum.
CALLLVIARD: \Vh~;tarc you afraid of? Certainly not me, I hope.
SONG:
J'm a modest girl.
GALLHvlARD: I know. J\nd very beautiful. (lfe touches her hair.)
so~G:
CAf.Ll:'vIARD:
nmv.
833
a
foreign devil.
(to us): Did you liear the way she talked about· \.Vcstem women?
ivl11chdifferently than the first night. She docs- she feels inferior lo themand to me.
GALLIMARD
Scene 11
The Frenchembassy. Beijing. 1960.
Gallimard moves tmvardscl desk.
I determined to try an experiment. In Fv1adameButterfly, Cio-CioSan fears that the \Vcsl'cm man who ca!'chcs a butterfly will pierce its heart
vvith a needle, then leave it to perish. I began to \Voncler:had 1, too, caught a
butter-Ry\Vho \Vonlclwrithe on a needle?
GALLJIV1ARD:
1Vlarcenters, dressed as a bureaucrat, holding a stacl: of /Jcl/Jers.As Callimard
speaks !'vlarchands pa/Jersto him. }le peruses, then signs, stamps, or rejectsthem.
CALLJ\JARD:
Over the next five weeks, l \vorked like a dynamo. J stopped going
to the opera, I didu't phone or write her. I knew this little flmvcr was \Vaiting
for rne to call, and, as J wickedly refused to do so, I felt for the first time that
n.1shof povver-the absolute pmvcr of ;i man.
1
1\1arccontinues acting as the bureaw.:ratbut he now specil~s
as himself
'.'vIARC: Rene! It\ me.
GALLHvIARD: ;\fare- I hear your voice every\vhcrc IIO\V. Eveu in the midst of
work.
l\dARC: T'hat·'sbecause I'm \vatching you ~all the time.
GALLIMARD:
You were ahvays the mos I:popular gny in school.
;-vrARC: \Vell, there's no guarantee of failure in life like happiness in high school.
Somehow [ knc,v T'd end up in tlie s11burbs\vorking for Renault and you'd
be in the Orient picking exotic \vome11off the trees ..And they say there's no
justice.
GALLHvIARD: That's \vhv von ,:veremv friend?
\'[ARC: I gave you a little' of my life, .~othat now you cau give me some of yours.
(Pause.) Remember Isabelle?
GALLii\1ARD: Of course I remember! She \Vasmy first experience.
MARC:
\\le all \vantcd to ball her. But she only wanted me.
CA!.UMARD:
I had her.
MARC:
Right. You balled her.
GALLlMARD:
Yon \Verethe only one vvhoever believed me.
:V1!\RC: \Vcll, there's a good reason for that (Beat.) C'rnon. You must've gnesscd.
GALLI1\:lARD: You told me lo \Vait in tlie bushes by the cafeteria that night. The
next thing J knew, she was on me. Dress up in the air.
1
Romantic Iilusions
834
She never wore underwear.
Mv arms \Vere pinned to the dirt.
MARC:
She lm,;d the superior position. A girl ahead of her tirn~.
GALLL\.1ARD: J looked up, c1ndthere was this \Voman ... houncmg up and down
on mv loins.
MARC: s·crearni11g, right?
GALLEvtARD:
Screaming, and breaking off the branches all around rne, and
pounding my butt up and down into th~ dirt.
MARC:
Huffing and puffing like a locomotive.
.
.
GALLL\IARD:
And in the middle of all this, the leaves \Vere gcttmg mto my
mouth, my legs ,verc losing circulation, J thought, "God. So this is it?"
MARC:
You thought that?
GALLIJ\,JARD:
V\/ell,J was \.vorricdabout my legs fa1Iingoff.
rvIARC: You didn't· have a good tirnc?
GAI.LlMARD:
No, that's not vvhat l ~ I had a great time!
ivlARC:
You're sure?
GALLl~lARn:
Yeah. Really.
'.V1ARC: 'Cuz I \Vanted you to Juve a good fone.
GALLlMARD:
I did.
l'v1ARC:
GALLiivIARD:
Pause.
Shit. (Pause.) \¾'hen all is said and done, she Vv'aS kind of a lousy lay,
wasn't she? [ rncan, there vvasa lot of energy there, but you never knew \vhat
she \Vasdoing \vith it. Like ,vhen she yelled 'Tm coming!" -hell, it \Vasso
Iouct \'OU wanted to go, "Look 1 it's not that big a deal."
.
CALLI!'vIAR~:
I got scared. 1 thought she meant sorneone vvasactually corrnng.
(Pause.) But, '.\fare?
1\.lARC: \Vhat?
CALLl:-V'lARD: '!"hanks.
MARC:
Oh, don't mention it.
GALLIMARD:
1t\Vasmy first experience.
11ARC:
Yeah. Yon got her.
GALLHvIARD:
l got her.
1\·1ARC: \i\/ait! Look at that letter again!
lVIARC:
Callimard /Jicks u{J one of the papers he's been stampfr1g, and rereads it.
GALU\'1ARD
(to us):
Upstage special
"Love Duet.''
011
After six vveeks,they began to arrive. The letters.
Song, as 1\!ladame Butterfly. The scene is underscored by the
Did vve fight? l do not knovv. ls the opera no longer of interest to you?
Please come-- my audiences miss the white devil in their midst.
SO:'-/C:
Gallimard looks up fi-om the letter1 towards us.
(to us): A concession, but much too dignified. (Beat; he discards the letter.) 1skipped the opera again that week to complete a position paper on trade.
CALLit'lARD
The bureaucrat hands him another letter.
M. Butterfly: Act I, Scene 12
HWANG /
835
Six weeks have passed since last we met. Is this your practice-to leave
friends in the lurch? Sometimes J hate you, sometimes 1 hate myself, but
ahvays I miss you.
GALLIJV[ARD (to us}: Better, but J don't like the \Vay she calls me "friend." \Vhen
a woman calls a man her "friend," she's calling him a eunuch or a homosexual. (Beat; he discards the letter.) 1 was absent from the opera for the seventh
\veck, feeling a sudden urge to clean out my files.
SONG:
Bureaucrat hands him another letter.
Your rudeness is beyond belief. 1don't deserve this cruelty. Don't bother
to call. I'll have you turned ,nvay at the door.
GALUMARD
(to us): 1 didn't. (1---Iediscards the letter; bureaucrat hands him
another.) And then finally, the letter that concluded my experiment.
SONG:
I am out of \VOrds.I can hide behind dignity no longer. VVhat do you
\Vant?1 have already given you niy shame.
SOKG:
Callimard gives the letter back to A1arc, slowly. SfJecial on Song {(]desout.
(to us}: Reading it I became suddenly ashamed. Yes, my experiment' had been a success. She \Vasturning on my needle. But the victory
seemed hol10\v.
MARC:
Hollmv?! Are you crazy?
GALL1..\.'1ARD: Nothing, l\farc. Please go away.
l'vJARC (exiting, with papers):
Haven't J taught you anything?
GALLI!VIARD:
"I have already given you my shame." I had to attend a reception
that evening. On the \vay, I felt:sick. 1fthere is a Coct surely he ,vould punish
me now. I had finally gained power over a beautiful woman, only to abuse it
cruelly. There m11stbe justice in the world. I had the strange feeling that the
ax vmuld fall this very eveni11g.
GALLJMARD
1
Scene 12
Ambassador Toulon't,;residence. Beijing . .1960.
Sound cue: party noises. Light change. \Ve are now in a spacious residence.
'foulon, the French ambassador enters and taps Gallimard on the shoulder.
1
Callimard? Can I have a word? Over here.
GALLJYfARD (to us): l\ilanuel 'loulon. French ambassador to China. He like_sto
think of us all as his children. Rather like God.
TOULON:
Look, Ga1limard, there's not much to say. I've liked you. From the clay
you walked in. You were no leader, but you \Vere tidy and efficient.
GALLLVJARD:
Thank you 1 sir.
TOULO:\": Don't jump the gun. Okay, our needs in China are changing. It's
embarrassing that we lost lndochina. Someone just \Vasn't on the ball there.
I don't mean you personally, of course.
CALUMARD:
Thank you, sir.
TOULON:
\Vc're going to be doing a !ot more information-gathering in the
future. 'f'he nature of our work here is changing. Some people are just' going
to have to go. H's nothing personal.
TOlJLOi\':
Romantic Illusions
836
GALLEviARD:
Oh.
TOULON:
\,Vantto
HWANG /
lvf. Butterfly:Act 1, Scene 13
837
Don't you knmv already?
I want you to say it.
SONG:
I don't ,vant to say it.
GALLlMARD:
So, that is yonr arlS\ver?
SONG:
You know how 1 feel aboutGALI.TMARD:
I do remember one thing.
SONG:
What?
GAJ..LIMARD:
In the letter I received today.
SONG:
Don't.
GALLIMARD: "I have alread:r given you my shame."
so1,.-c.: H's enough that I even wrote it.
GALLJMARD:
Well, thenSONC:
I shouldn't have it splashed across my face.
GAL!.TMARD:
-if that's all trueSONG:
Stop!
CALLIMARD:
Then what· is one more short answer?
SONG:
I don't want tol
GAI.UMARD:
Are you my Butterfly? (Silence; he crossesthe room and begins to
touch her hair.) I want from you honesty. There should he nothing false
between us. No false pride.
SONG:
knovva secret? Vice-Consul Le Bon is being transferred.
GAI,LHvL-\RD(to us): .Myimmediate superior!
TOULON:
And most of his department.
CALLlMARD (to us): Just as J feared! God has seen rny evil heartTOllLO~:
But not you.
CALLIMARD (to us): --and he's taking her away just as ... (TOToulon.) Excuse
me, sir?
TOULON:
Scare you? I think I did. Cheer up 1 Gal1imard. I V11ant you to replace
LeBon as vice-consul.
GALLEv1ARD: You-? Yes, \vell, thank you, sir.
TOUT,ON:
Anvtimc.
GALLI'.VIARD: "1. . accept with great lrnmility.
TOULON:
[ lumility won't be part of the job. You're going to coordinate the
revamped intelligence division. \\/ant to knmv a secret? A year ago) you
vvou1d'vcbeen out. But the past fe\v rnonths, 1 don't knovvhovv it happened,
von've hecorne this nc\v aggressive confident ... thing. And they also tel1 me
),on get along with the Chinese. So I think you're a lucky man, Gallimard.
Congrah1lahons.
They shake hands. Toulon exits. Party noises out. Gallimarcl stumbles across Cl
darkenedHtage.
GALLHvIARD: Vice-consul? Impossible! As I stumbled out of the party,_I smv it
,vritten across the skv: There is no God. Or, no-say that there is a Cod. But
that Cod ... under;tands. Of course! God vvho creates Eve to serve Adam,
0
v,,,}10 blesses Solornon \vith his harem hut ties Jezebel to a burning bed that God is a man. And he understands! At age thirty-nine, l \Vassuddenly
initiated into the \vay of the \Vorld.
Scene 13
Song Liling's apartment.. Beijing. 1960.
Song enters, in a sheerclreHsing
gown.
Arc you crazy?
l'vlademoisel1eSongSONG: TO come here- at this hour? After ... after eight vvecks?
GALLEvIARD:
It's the most arnazingSONG:
Yon bang on my door? Scare my servants, scandalize the neighbors?
GALLHvlARD:
I've heen promoted. To vicc~ccmsul.
SONG:
CALLlMARD:
Pause.
GA!,[JlvIARD:
Pause.
Yes, I am. I am your Butterfly.
Then let me be honest ,vith you. It is because of you that I ,vas promoted tonight. You have changed rny life forever. My little Butterfly, there
should be no more secrets: 1 love you.
S0;-.JG:
GALL!MARD:
l--Iestarts to kiss her roughly.She resistsslightly.
110 ... gently ... please, I've never .
No?
SONG:
I've tried to appear experienced, but ... the truth is ... no.
GALL!lVIARD: Are you cold?
SONG: Yes. Cold.
GALLiiVIARD: 'flien ,ve ,vi1lgo very, very slowly.
SONG:
No ...
GALI.TMARD:
He starts to caressher; her gown begins to open.
No ... let me ... keep my clothes .
But.
SONG: Please ... it all frightens me. l'm a modest Chinese girl.
GALJ..IJVIARD: fvly poor little treasure.
SONG:
l am your treasure. Though inexperienced, lam not ... ignorant. They
teach us things, our mothers, about pleasing a man.
SONG:
GAI.LIMARD:
And \vhat is that supposed to mean to me?
Arc yon my Butter-Ry?
SONG: \iVhat arc you saving?
GALLI1'IARD:
I've ·come 'tonight for an answer: are you my Butterfly?
SONG:
God who creates Eve ... burning bed: F:vc,Acbrn, Solomon, and Jezebel arc biblical characters. Sec Gen. 2:18-2 S; I Kings l l: l-8; and 11Kings 9: 11-37.
Gallimardgets up and heads for a lamp. Song, proppedup on one elbow, tossesher
hair back ctndsmiles.
SO'N"G:
CALLII'vlARD:
GALLll\.lARD:
Yes?
I'll do my best to make you happy. Turn off the lights.
Romantic 1llusions
838
SONG:
"Vieni,
CALLIIvlARD:
SONG:
vieni!"
"Come, darling."
"Ah! Dolce
M. Butterfly: Act 2, Scene 3
839
Exactly. \Ve Chinese-once,
I suppose, it is tmc, \Ve ruled the \vorld.
But so ,vhat? How much more exciting to be part of the society ruling the
world today. TCIIme- ..what's happening i11Vietna1n?
GALI.T!VIARD: Oh, Butterfly-you
\Vant me to bring my work home?
SONG:
l ,vant to know what you knmv. To be impressed by my rnan. lt's not the
particulars so much as the fact that you're making decisions \vhich change
the sh,q,c of the world.
GALLHvIARD: Not the vmrld. At best, a small corner.
SONG:
lVIonsieur Gallimarcl?
Yes, Butterfly?
GALLI:rvIARD:
SONG:
HWANG/
notte!"
"Beautiful night."
SONG:
"Tutto estatico d'cmwr ride il ciel!"
CALLil\JARD:
"All ecstatic \Vith love, the heavens are filled vvith1aughter."
G-AI,LllVlARD:
Toulon enters, and sits lil a desk upstage.
He tums off the lamp. Blackout.
Scene 3
ACT 2, Scene 1
M. Gallimarcl's cell. Paris. 1988.
Lights up on Callimard. He sits in his cell, reading {,-om a leaflet.
French embassy. Beijing. 1961.
Callimard moves downstage,
to
'foulon's desk. Song remains upstage, watching.
And a rnore troublesome comer is hard to imagine.
GALLlMARD:
So, the Americans plan to begin bombing?
TOULON:
This is very secret, Gallimard: yes. The Americans don't have an
embassy here. They're asking 11sto be their eyes and ears. Say Jack Kennedy
signed an order to bomb North Vietnam, Laos. l lmv \Vouldthe Cl1inese react?
GALJ.tMARD:
I think the Chinese will sq11awkTOULON:
Uh-hnh.
GAJ,LHvlARD:
- but, in their hearts, they don't even like I Io Chi l\ifinh. 0
TOULON:
GALLEvlARD:This, from a contemporary critic's commentary on i\1adame Butterfly:"Pinkerton suffers from ... being an olmoxiou~ hounder .vvhornr:very
man in the audience itches to kick." Bully for us men m the amhence! I hen)
in the same note: "Butterfly is the most irresistibly appealing of Puccini's
'Little \,\/omen,' \J\latching the succession of her humiliations is like vvatching a child under torture." (I--letosses the pamphlet over his shoulder.) l suggest that, ,vhile we men may all ,vant to kick Pinkerton, very few of us \Vould
pass up the opportunity to he Pinkerton.
Gallimard moves out of his cell.
Pause.
\iVhat a bunch of jerks. Vietnam was our colom·. Not onlv didn't the
Americans help us fight- to keep them, but nmv, sev~n years h;ter, they've
come back to grab the territory for themselves. lt's very irritating.
GALLlMARD:
Vv'ith all clue respect, sir, why should the Americans have \V0n our
war for us hack in fifty-four if \VC didn't have the will to win it ourselves?
TOULON:
You're kidding, aren't-you?
TOULON:
Scene 2
Gallimard and Butterfly's flat. Beiiing. 1960.
.
.
\Ve are in a simple but well-decorated parlor. Gallimcnd moves to sit cm a sofa,
1vhile Scmg, dressed in a cheongsam, enters and curh up at his feet.
0
(to us): We secured a flat on the outskirts of Peking. Butterfly, ad
was calling her 110~1, decorated om "home" with \Vcstern fur:11ture and Chinese antiques. And there, on a fe\v stolen afternoons or evenmgs each week,
B11tterflvcommenced her education.
SO:"IG: 'l'l·1c;Chinese men~ thev. keeJ) ns dowT1.
GALLI!VIARJY Even in the "Ne\V Society"?
SONG:
In the "Nev,-'Society," we are all kept ignorant equally. That's one of the
exciting things about loving a Western man. I know you are not threatened
bv a woman's education.
CALLl;\Ii-\RD:
I'm no saint, Butterfly.
so~c: But you con1e from a progressive society.
GALLL\'lARD: • \,\/c're not ahvays rerninding each other how "old" we are, if that's
\Nhatyou mean.
Pause.
GAJ.LIMARD
cheongsam: A fitted drcs_swith side slits in the skirt
The Orientals simply vvanl·to be associated with whoever shows
the most strength and j)O\Ver. You live \vlth the Chinese, sir. Do you think
they like Conmmnisn1?
TOULON:
I live in Cliina. Not with the Chinese.
GAU.!YlARD:
Well, I,_
TOULO'.\":
You live \Vith the Chinese.
GALLLVIARD: Excuse me?
TOULo:,.;:
I can't keep a secret.
GALLLviARD: \iVhat are you sayi11g?
TOULO-:\:
Only that I'm not i~nrnune to gossip. So, you're keeping a native mistress? Don't answer. It's none of my business. (Pause.) I'rn sure she must be
gorgeous.
GALLL\lARD:
VVcH.
GAI.LJ.\1ARD:
Ho Chi Minh (189()......
f 969): Firsl president of:\'orth Victmim (1945-1969).
Romantic Illusions
840
I'm impressed. You had the stamina to go out into the streets and hunt
one clcnvn.Sornc of us have to be content \Vilh the wives of the expatriate
community.
GALLEv1ARD:
I do feel . . fortunate.
TOULON:
So, Gallimarcl, you've got the inside knowlcclge-\1.,,fo:rtdo the Chinese thi11k?
GALLHvfAl-m:
Deep dovvn, they miss the old days. You knovv,cappuccinos, men
in tuxedosTOULON:
So \Vhat do we tell the Americans about Vietnam?
GALLL\i!ARD: Tell them there's a natural affinity bchveen the West and the OricnL
TOULON:
And that you speak from experience?
GALLL\'1ARD:
The Orientals are people too. 'T'hey \Vant the good things \Ve can
give them. 1fthe Americans derncmstrate the will to \Vin, the Vietnarncse will
welcome them into a mutuallv beneficial union.
TOUT.ON:
1 don't see how the Vi~tnamesc can stand tip to Arncrican firepower.
GAJJ,IMARD:
Orientals vvillalivays submit to a greater force.
TOULOK:
J'l] nol"c your opinions in my report. The Arncricans always love to
hear hO\v"welcome" they'}] be. (He starts to exit.)
CAUJMARD:
Sir?
TOULON:
1\/Immrn?
GALLIMARD:
'This ... rumor you've heard.
TOULON:
Uh-huli?
CALUMARD:
Hmv ... vvidesprcacldo you think it is?
TOULON:
H's only ividesprcad within this embassy. \i\/here nobody talks because
everybody is guilty. \Ve were worried about you, Gallimard. \iVethought you
were the only one here vvithout a secret. Nmv you go and find a lotus blossom ... and top us all. (He exits.)
GALLEvtARD (to us): Toulon knows! And he approves! I \Vaslearning the benefits
of being a man. \iVeform our mvn clubs, sit hchind thick doors, smoke-and
celebrate the fact that \Me'resti11boys. (He starts to move down.stage, towards
Song.) So, over theTOULON:
Suddenly Cornrade Chin enters. Callimard backs ctwcty.
Song): No! \~/hy does she have to come in?
Rene, be sensible. Hmv can they understand the story \.vithout her? Nmv,
don't embarrass yourself.
GALLliVIARD (to
Okay, see if you can find out when the Americans plan to start bombing
Vietnam. If you can find out v.1hat cities, even better.
SONG: I'll do my best, but 1 don't vvantto arouse his suspicions.
CHTN: Yeah, sure, of course. So, what else?
SONG: _ 'l'hc Americans \.Vill increase troops in Vietnam to 170,000 soldiers vvith
120,000 militia and 11,000 American advisors.
cmN (writing): Wait, wait, 120,000 militia anclSONG:
- I J,000 AmericanCHIN:
-American advisors. (Beat.) Hmv do you remember so much?
SONG:
I'm an actor.
•
CIIIN:
Yeah. (Beat.) Is that how come von dress like that?
SO.'\"G: Like what, Miss Chin?
•
CHil'::
Like that dress! You're wearing a dress. And everv time I come here
you're ,vearing a dress. ls that because you're an actor?
what?
'
SO.'i:G: H's a ... disguise, .l\iiissChin.
CHIN:
Actors) I think they're all ,vcirdos. l\1y mother tells me actors are like
garnblcrs or proshh1tes or-SO..'l"G: lt helps me in my assignment.
CHIN: .
br
Pause.
You're not gathering information in any way that violates Cornrmmisl·
Party principles, arc you?
SONG: Why would l do that'
CHIN: Just checking. Remember: 'vvhenworking for the Great Proletarian St-ate,
you_rcpresent our Chairman ?vfooin every position you take.
SONG:
l'll try to imagine the Chairman taking my posit-ions.
CHIN:
We all think of him this way. Good-bye, comrade. (She starts to exit.)
Comrade?
SONG:
Yes?
CI-III'\: Don't forge!':there is 110 homosexuality in China!
SONG:
Yes1 I've heard.
CHIN:
Just checking. (She exits.)
SONG (to us): \Vhat passes for a 1,vomani11 modem China.
CHIN:
SOKG:
Gallimard sticks his head out (rom the wings.
Callimctrd moves dow11ce11ter.
SONG:
(to us): Nmv, you will sec \vhy my story is so amusing to so many
people. \Vhy they snicker at parties in disbelief. Please-try to understand
it from rny poi11t:of vie\\·'.We arc all prisoners of our time and place. (I-le exits.)
ls she gone?
Yes, Rene. Please continue in your own fashion.
GALLTMARD:
GALLHvIAlW
Scene 4
Callirnarcl and Butterfly's flat. Beijing. 1961.
]96l. The flat-lv1onsicur Gallirnard rented for us. An evening
after he has gone.
SONG
(to us):
Scene 5
Beijing. 1961-1963.
Gallimard moves to the couch where Song still sits. He lies down in her lap,
and she strokes his forehe,ul.
(to us): And so, over the years 1961, '62, '63, we settled into our routine, Butte:fly and L She would ahvays have prepared a ligh!·snack and then,
ever so delicately, and only if 1 agreed, she woul<lstart to pleasure me. VVit-h
GALLIMARD
Romantic Illusions
842
her hands her mouth ... too many ways to explain, and too sad, given my
present sil~iation. But mostly \Ve vmuld talk. About my life: Perhaps there is
nothing more rare than to find a \voman who passionately ltstens.
HWANG/
Ren~\ I visited Dr. Bolleart this morning.
VVhv?Are you ill?
, ,-10. You sc~, I wanted to ask him ... that question we've been <lisHEI,GA:
.N'ri,
cussing.
.
.
GALLiiVIARD: And I told yon, it's only a matter of time. Why chd you bnng a doctor into this? \Ve just have to keep trying-like a crapshoot, actually.
HELGA: I \Vent, I'm sorry. But listen: he says there's nothing v-,.•rong
\vith me.
GALLil'vlARD: Yon sec? NO\v,\Vill you stop-?
Hk:LCA:
Rene_,he savs he'd like vou to go in and take some tests.
CALLIMARD:
\Vhv? So he can fi;·1dthere's nothing vvrongwith both of us?
II ELGA:
Rene, J clon't ask for much. One trip\ One visit!And then, whatever you
vvantto do about it-you decide.
CALLIMARD:
You're assuming he'll find something defective]
HELGA:
No! Of course uot! VVhatcverhe finds-if he finds 110thing,we decide
what to do about nothing! But go!
GALLIMARD:
lf he finds nothing, we keep trying. Just like ·we do now.
le·astwe'll know! (Pause.)I'm SO!T\.'. (She starts to exit.)
Bllt
at
HELGA:
GALLIMARD:
Do you really want me to sec Dr. Bollcart?
.
.
HELGA:
Only if you want a child, Rene. We have to face the fact that time 1s
nmnlng out. Only if yon \Vant.a child. (She exits.)
,
GALLilvlARD (to Song): l'm a modern man, Butterfly. And yct,_ldon t ,va_nttog~lt's the same old voodoo. I feel like God himself is laughmg at me if I cant
prod nee a child.
.
.
.
.
SONG:
Yon rncn of the \]\lest-you're obsessed by your odd desire for equahty.
Your \Vlfccan't give you a child, and you 'regoing to the doctor?
CALLUvIARD: VVeJl,
vou see, she's already gone.
SONG:
And becau;e this incompetent can't find the defect, you nmv have to
subject yourself to him? It's unnatural.
CALLl1\lARD:
\Vell, ,vhat is the "natural" solution?
SONG:
In lmperial China, when a man found that one wife was inadequate, he
turned to m1other-to give him his son.
GALLlivIARD:
\A/hat do vou-? l can't ... marry you, yet.
.
SONG:
Please. I'm not "askingyou to be my husband. But I am already yourvnfe.
GALLl\lARD:
Do \'OU want to . . have my child?
SONG:
I thought),ou'd never ask.
CAl.I,HvlARD:
Bnt, yonr career. . your.
SONG:
Phooey on my career] That's your Western mind, twisting itself mto
strange shapes again. Of course I love my career. But what vvou~d1love mo~:
of all? Tb feel something inside rne-day and night-sornethmg I krHN/ is
yours. (Pause.) Promise me ... you won't go to this doctor. VVhois this \A.-bt-
GALLIJVIARD:
843
ern quack to set himself as judge over the man I love? l know who is a man
and who is not. (She exits.)
'
CALLHvIARD (to -us): .Dr. Bollcart? Of course I didn't go. What man would?
Song remains upstage, listening, as Helga enters and fJlaysa scene dm.vnstagewith
Gallimard.
HELGA:
M. Butterfly:Act 2, Scene 6
Scene 6
Beiiing. 1963.
Party noises over the house s{Jeakers.Renee enters, wearing a revealing gown.
GALLIMARD:
1963. A party at the Austrian embassy. None of us could .rcmeniber
the /\.t1str!anambassador's m_1me,w~1iehsecn~ed somehow appropriate. (To
Renee.) So, 1 tell the Amencans, Diem must go. 'T'he U.S. ,vants to be
res1?ectcdby the Vi_etnarnese,and yet they're propping up this nobody semi~tanan. as her president. A man whose c1aim to fame is his sister-in-law
unposmg ~<IIntic"moral order" campaigns? Oriental women---whcn they're
good, they re very good, but \Vhenthey're bad, they're Christians.
RENEE,
Yeah.
GALLJMARD:
And what do you do?
RENEE,
I'm a student. Myfather cxporls a lot of useless stuff to the Third World.
GALLHvlARD: HO\v useless?
RENEE:
You know. Squirt guns, confectioner's sugar, Hula Hoops.
GALLTMARD: I'm sure they appreciate the sugar.
RENEE:
['111 here for two years to study Chinese.
GAI,LIMARD:
rl\vo years!
RET\LE:
That's what evcrvbodv savs.
GALLHvIARD: When did v~u a;rivd?
RENE!-::
Three ,veeks ag-o.
GALI,II.'vIARD: And?
RENEE:
I like it. It's primihve, but ... well, this is the place to learn Chinese, so
here lam.
GALLIMARD, WhyChinese'
Rli:XEE:
I think it'll be i1nport·ant sornedav.
GALLI!VIARD: You do?
•
RENEE:
Don't ask me when, but ... that's what I think.
GALLll'vtARD: \Ve11,I agree with you. One hundred percent. That's very farsighted.
HJ•~NEE: Yeah. Well of course, my father thinks I'm a complete vvcirdo.
GALLE\.1ARD: He'll thank you someday.
RENEE:
Like when the Chinese start buying Hula I..Ioops?
GALLI:1'IARD: Therc're a billion bellies out there.
RENEE,
And if they end up taking over the world--well, then I'll be lucky to
know Chinese too, right.?
Pause.
0
GAU ,[\lARD:
At this point, I don't sec how the Chinese can possibly take-
~)iern: Ng:), Dinh Diem (1901-1963 ). president of South Vietnam (l 95 5-1963), assassinated
ma coup cleh1t supported by the United States.
844
Romantic Illusions
You knmv 1,vhatI don't like about China?
Excuse me? ?\"o-what?
RF.NEE:
Nothing to do at night.
GALLHvlARD: You come to parties at embassies like everyone else.
RENEE:
Yeah, but they get out at ten. And then vvliat? .
.
CALIJMARD:
I'm afraid the Chinese idea of a <lance hall 1s a dirt floor and
with a flute.
RENEE:
Arc you married?
GALLHvlARD: ·Yes. Whv?
RE".'\EE: You 1,varma. ~ . fool around?
HWANG/
RENEE:
Butterfly:
Act 2, Scene
6
845
Yes. Tl'sa ... bigger problem than l imagined.
I- ..I think maybe ifs bccansc I really don't know \vhat to do with
!hclll - that's \vhy J call them '\vccnies."
GALLIMARD:
\Vell, you did quite well \vitli ... mine.
RENEE:
Thanks, but J mean, really do \vith thclll. Like, okay, have you ever
looked at one? 1 mca.11
really?
1
GALLlMARD:
No, I suppose when it's part of you, you sort of take it for granted.
RENEE:
[ guess. Bnt, like. it just hangs there. This little ... Hap of Resh. And
there's ~o much fuss that \VC make abou!· it Like, J think the reason \Ve fight
wars is because \Vewear clothes. Beca11Scno one knm:vs-between the men,
I rnean-vvho h.as the biggest ... weenie. So, if I'm a guy 1.,vitha small one,
l'm going to build a really big building or take over a realiy big piece of land
or write a really long book so the other rncn clo11'lknmv, right? But, sec, it
never really works1 thal.,sthe problem. 1 mean, you conquer the country, or
viil1aJ-ever,bn!' you're still wearing clothes, so t-hcres no way to prove
absolutely whose is bigger or smaller. And !:hat'swhat we call a civilized society. The vvhole \Vorld nm by a bunch of men \Vith pricks the size of pins.
(She exits.)
GALLTMARD (to us): This \Vas simply nol· acceptable.
GALLil\.'IARD:
GALLlMARD:
REXEE:
a man
Pause.
Sure.
CAI.LTMARD:
M.
RENEE: I'll v,/aitfor you outside. \\lhat's your name?
Gallimard. Rene.
Wcir<l.rm Renee too. (She exits.)
• I !'!ARD (to us): And so I crnbarked on my first extra-extramarital affair.
CAL i,:nee was picture perfc:t. With a body like those girls in the magazines. !fl
put a tissue paper over my eyes) I wonldn't have been ab;e to.t~ll the ch!fcrencc. And it vvasexciting to be with someone who \Vasnt afo~1cl~o.be seen
com.plctclv naked. But is it possib1e for a \vornan to be too 1mmh1b1ted,too
\villing, so,as to seem almost too ... masculine?
GAr.LrMARD:
RE~EE:
0
Chuck Berry blares from the house speakers, then comes dmvn in volume as Renee
enters, toweling her hair.
You have a nice \Veenie.
GAJ.LIMARD:
What?
RENEE:
Penis. You have a nice penis.
GALLLSIARD:
Oh. Well, thank you. Thafs scry
RENEE:
\Vhat-can't take a compliment?
GALLHvlARD:
No, it's very ... reassuring.
RENEE:
But most girls cion't come out and say it, huh?
GALLIMARD:
And also ... vvhat did you call it?
RE>11::E: Oh. J\ilostgirls don't call it a '\vecnie," huh?
GALLilVIARD: lt sounds veryRENEE:
Small, I know.
CAI.LTMARD:
I was going to say, "young."
..
RENEE:
Yeah. Young, small, same thing. '.\'lost guys are pr~tty, uh, sensitive
about that. Like 1 yon kno'0,1,f had a boyfriend back home m Denmark. I g?t
mad at him once and called hirn a little weenie head. ffo got so mad! He said
at least I should call hirn a great big wecnichcad.
CALLIMARD:
I suppose I just say "penis."_.
_ .
RENEE:
Yeah. That's prettv clinical. There•s "cock," but that sounds like a
chicken. And "prick" is i)ainful, ancl "dick" is like you're talking about someone v..-'ho'snot in the room.
RENEE:
Chuck Berry (b. 1926): lnAuential American rock 'n' roll musician whose first recording came
out in 1955.
1
A high-/Jilched chime rings through the air. Song, dressed as Butterfly, Ci/Jpearsin
the upstage special. She is obviously distressed. Iler body swoons as she attempts to
clip the sterns offl.owers she's arra12gingin a vase.
But J kept up our affair1 wildly, for several months. VVhy?I believe
because of Butterfly. She knew the secret I was trying to hide. But, unlike a
V\/esternwoman, she didn't confront me, threaten, even pout. I remembered
the words of Puccini's Butterfly:
SONG:
"Noi siamo gente avvezzc1I alle piccole cose I umili e silenziose.n
GALLTMARD:
"J come from a people I \Vho are accustomed to little/ Humble
and silent·.'' l savvPinkerton and ButterAy, and \Vhalshe \vould say if he \Vere
unfaithful ... nothi11g. She ,vould cry, alone into those wildly soft sleeves,
once full of possessions, nmv empty l:ocollect her tears. It vvasher tears and
her siiencc that excited me, every !'ime I visited Renee.
TOULON (offstage):
Callimard!
GALLl:'vIARD:
1
Toulon enters. Gallimarcl turns towards him. During the next section, Song, up
center, begins to dance with the ffowers. ft is a dnmken, reckless dance where she
1
breaks small /Jieeesoff the stems.
They're killing him.
\,\,110?J'rn sorry? \\/hat?
TOULON:
Bother you to come over at this late hour?
GALLfMARD:
No ... of course not.
TOULON:
Not after you hear rny secret. Champagne?
GALUMARD:
Um ... thank you.
TOULON;
You're surprised. There's something that you\1e wanted, Callimard.
No, not a promo hon. Next hmc. Somet:hing in the vvorld. ·You'renot mvare
of this, but there's an informal gossip circle among intelligence agents. And
so1nc of 011rsheard from son1e of the Americans~
TOULON:
GALJ,I!vIAR.D:
Romcmtic Illusions
846
Yes?
That the U.S. will allmv the Vietnamese generals to stage a coup.
and assassinate President Diem.
GALLIMARD:
TOULON:
The chime rings again. Toulon freezes. Gallimard turns upstage and looks at But-
terfly, who slowly and deliberatelyclips a fl.oweroff its stem. Callimard turns back
towards'foufon.
CALLIMARD:
l think . . that's a very \vise move!
Toulon imfree.zes.
TOVLO~:
H's what you've been advocating. A toast?
GALIJivlARD: Sure. ·1consider this a vindicatio11.
TOULON:
Not exactly. "To the test. Let's hope you pass."
Thev drink. The chime rings again. Toulon freezes. Caflinwrd turns ufJstage,and
Son'g clips another fiower.
GALLL'v1ARD (to Toulon): The test?
TOULON (unfreezing): It's a test of everything you've been saying. l personally
think the generals probably \Vill stop the Communists. And you'll be·a,hero.
But if anything goes \Vrnng, then yonr opinions ,von't be worth a pigs ear.
I'rn sure iliat \Von't happen. But sometimes it's easier ,vhen they don't listen
to you.
CALLIMARD:
They're your opinions too, aren't they?
TOULON:
Personally, yes.
GALLii'vlARD:
So \Veagree.
TOULO:N: But my opinions aren't 011 that report. Yours arc. Cheers.
Toulon turns awav from Gallimard and raiseshis glass.At that instant Song /Jids
up the vase and f1urls it to the ground. It shatters. Song sinks clownamidst the
shardsof the vase, in a calm, childlike trance.She sings softly, as if recitinga child's
nurseryrhyme.
SONG (repecltelsnecessary): "The whole vvorld ovcr,_the white man travels, setting anchor, wherever he likes. Life's not worth living1 unless he finds, the
finest maidens, of every land . "
Callimard turns downstagetowardsus. Song continues singing.
I shook as l lcft his house. 'fhat cmvard! That ,vorm! '10 put the
burden for his decisions on mv shoulders!
J started for Renee's. But no, that was all I needed. A schoolgirl who
1.voul<l
question the role oFthe penis in modem society. \Vhat l ,vantecl vv~s
revenge. A vessel to contain my humiliation. Though [ hadn't seen her m
several v,/ecks,1 headed for Butterfly's.
CALLllvlARD:
Gc1lli11wrcl
enters Song's afxtrtment.
SONG:
Oh! Rene ... I ,vas dreaming!
GALLIMARD:
SONG:
You've been drinking?
lF I can't sleep, then yes, I drink. But then, it gives me these dreams
vvhieh~ Rene, it's been almost three \vccks since yott visited rnc last.
J know. There's been a lot going on in the vvorlcL
GALLI~lARD:
HWANG /
iv!. Butterfly:Aet 2, Scene 6
847
Fortunately I am drunk. So J can speak freely. It's not the ,vorld, it's you
and me. And an old problem. Even 1:hcsoftest skin becomes like leather to a
man vvho's touched it too often. J confess I don't knmv how to stop it. I don't
know hmv to become another woman.
GALU'..\1ARD: 1 have a request.
SONG:
Is this a solution? Or arc you ready to give up the flat?
GALLFv1ARD: [t may be a solt1tion. But I'm sme you \Von't like it.
SONG:
Oh \Vcll, thaf s very important-. "J ,ike it?" Do you think I "like" lying here
al_m1c,,vaiting 1 ahvays waiting for your return? Please-don't \Vorryabout
\vhat J may not "like."
GALLEvIARD:
I \Vantto sec you ... naked.
SONG:
Silence.
I thought you 1.111dcrsloocl
my modesty. So you \:\/~mtme to-what·strip? Like a big cowboy girl? Shiny pasties on my breasts? Shall J fling my
kimono over my head and yell "ya-hoo" in the process? I thought you
respected my shame!
GALLIMARD:
I believe you gave me your shame many years ago.
SO:'.\G: Yes-and it is just Jikc a ,vhite devil to use it against me. I can't beJicve it.
1 thought myself so repulsed by the passive Oriental and the cruel white man.
Nmv I see-we are always most revolted by the things hidden ,vithin us.
GALLIMARD;
I just rnean SONG:
Yes?
GALLIIVIARD: - ..that it will remove the only barrier left bchveen us.
SONG:
No, Rene. Don't couch your request in sweet words. Be yourself-a
cad-and know that my love is enough, that-I submit-submit io the \VOrst
you can give me. (Pause.)\i\/cll, come. Strip me. V\/hatcver happens, know
that you have willed iL Our love, in your hands. J'm helpless before my rnan.
SONG:
Gallimardstarts to crossthe room.
Did f not undress her because J knev,.,-somcvvlicre deep dmvn
what l vvouldfind? Perhaps. Happiness is so rare th:1tour mind can turn som~
crsaull-sto protect it.
At the time, J only knew that I 1.vasseeing Pinkerton stalking towards his
Butterfly, ready to rc,vcud her love with his lecherous hands. The image sickened me, pulled me to my knees, so I \Vascrmvling tovvarclsher like a vvorm.
By the time [ reached her, Pinkerton ... had vanished from mv heart. Tb be
replaced by something nc\v, something unnah.!fat that f:levvin 'the face of all
I'd learned in the workl--somcthing very close to love.
GALLIMARD:
He grabsher around the waist;she strokeshis hair.
GALLJMARD:
SOKG:
GALLL\iARD:
SONG:
For everything. From the start.
I'm.
1 vvantto-I'm pregnant. (Beat.) I'm pregnant. (Beat.) I'm pregnant.
GA!,LJ:\lARD:
SONG:
Butterfly, forgive !TIC.
Rene.
848
Romantic Illusions
Beat.
GALLIMARD:
849
Pv1issCliin? \i\lhy, in the Peking Opera, are \VOmen'sroles plaved bv men?
1 don't know. lvfaybe, a reactionary remnant of male
'
•
SONG:
No. (Beat.) Because only a man knows how a woman is supposed to act.
Chin exiL'>.Song tams upstage, towards Callimard.
SONG:
I vvant to marry yott!
CHIN:
Scene 7
Gallimard and Butterfly'sflat. Beiiing. 1963.
Downstage, Song {Jc1cesas Comrade Chin reads from her notepad. Upstage,
Gallimarcl is still kneeling. He remains on his knees throughout the scene, watching it.
1need a baby.
(from pad): l·-Te's
been spotted going to a dorm.
SONG:
I need a baby.
CHII\:
At the Foreign Language Institute.
SONG:
I need a baby.
cmN: The room of a Danish girl. ... \iVhat do you mean, you need a baby?!
SONG:
TCll Comrade Kang-last night, the entire mission 1 it could've ended.
CHIN:
\\/hat do you mean?
SONG:
Tell Kang-he told rnc to strip.
CIIIN:
Strip?!
SONG:
\Vritc!
CH!N:
l [·ellyou, J don't understand nothing about this case anymore. Nothing.
SONG:
He told me to strip, and 1took a chance. Oh, \VeChinese, vveknmv how
to gamble.
CHIN (writing):
.. told him to strip."
SO:'\G:
.L'vly
palms ,vere wet, I had to make a split-second decision.
CHIN:
l ky! Can you slrnv dmvn?l
SONG:
CHIT\
after Chin): Good riddance' (1,, Song.) J could forget all
that betrayal.man mstant you knmv. ff you'd just come back and become
Butterfly agam.
GALLIMARD ( calling
1
S01\"G:. _ 1~:1t
chance.
You're here in prison, rotting in a cell. Ancl I'm 011 a plane,
\Vmgmg my way back to China. Your President pardoned me of our treason
you knmv.
'
GALLL'VIARD: Yes, I read about that.
SON"G: .l'v1ust
make you feel ... lower than shit.
GALLIMARD:
But don't you, even a little bit, wish you were here vvlthme?
SO:.'\G; J'm\ an artist, Rene. 'You were my great~st ... acting challenge. (She
,tc:ug(is.;H doesn't matter hmv rotten I answer, does it? Yoll still adore me.
rI1c~Is why I love you, Rene. (She points to us.) So"-you vvere tellincr vour
auchencc about the night I announced I \Vaspregnant.·
b,
Gallimarc~ puts his arms :mmnd Song's waist. He and Song are in the positions
they were m at the end of Scene 6.
Scene 8
Sarne.
CALLl\LARD:
Pctuse.
I'll divorce my wife. \Ve'11live together here, and then later in
France.
SONG:
[ feel so ... ashamed.
CALJ,UvfARD: VVhy?
You v\!fitefaster1 I'm the artist here. Suddenly, it hit me- "All he vvcmtsis
for her to submit. Once a \Voman submits, a man is ahvays ready to become
'generous.
CHIN:
You're just gonna end np with rough notes.
so:;--;G: And it worked! I le gave in! Now, if l can just present him with a baby. A
Chinese babv with blond hair-he'll be mine for life!
CHIN:
Kang ,vili never agree! The trading of babies has to be a eounterrevolu~
tionary act!
SONG:
Sometimes, a counterrevolutionary act is necessary to eotmter a counterrevolutionary act.
I had begun to Jose faitl1.And novv,you shame me with your aenerositv.
Generosity? No, l'm proposing for very selfish recis~ms. a
•
SONG:
Your apologies only make me feel more ashamed. ]\ily outburst a
moment ago!
GALLL\1ARD:, Your outbmst? What about my request?!
SONG:
You ve been very patient dcali11gwith my ... eccenlTicihes. A \i\/estern
man, nscd to ,vomcn freer vviththeir bodicsGAU.Ii\tIARD:
ft \Vassick! Don't make excuses for rnc.
SONG:
I have to. You don't seem willing to make them for vourself .
Pause.
Pcwse.
You're crazv.
I'm happy. \\lhici1 often looks like crazy.
GALLHv1ARD: Then make rnc crazv. ~VIarrv
me·.
SO:'\G:
SONG:
GALLIJ\lARD:
.
GALLEVIARD:
SOKG:
\i\/ait.
1 need one ... in seven months. t/J.ake sure it's a boy.
CHIN:
This doesn't sound like something the Chairman would do. f'vfaybe
you'd better talk to Comrade Kang yourse'!f.
SONG:
Good. l will.
Pause.
Chin gets ufJ to lectve.
SOKG:
CHIN:
SONG:
,'
SONG:
,'
No.
\Vhat?
Do l sound silly, a slave, if I sav
. l'm not worthv?
GALLLVIARD:
.
HWANG/ ;VJ. Butterfly:Act 2,
Romantic Illusions
850
GALLIMARD: .
Thank you. And no one ever will. I'll sec to that.
So \vhat is the problem?
SONG: Rene, \VeChinese arc realists. We understand rice, gold, and guns. You
are a diplomat. Your career is skyrocketing. N"mv,what would happen if you
divorced your \vife to marry a Communist Chinese actress?
GALLIMARD:
That's not being rca1istic.That's defeating yourself before you begin.
SONG: \Ve conserve our strength for the battles vvc can \Vin.
CALLI:\tARD:
Thar sounds like a forhmc cookie!
SONG:
\.Vhcre do you think fortune cookies come from!
GALLL\1ARD:
l don't care.
SOKC: You do. So do L And vve should. That is why 1 say l'rn not worthy. I'm
worthy to love and even to be loved by you. But I am not worthy to encl the
career of one of the \Vest's most promising diplomats.
CALLlMARD:
it's not that great a career! I made it sound like more than it isl
SONG:
Nfodesty will get you nmvherc. Flatter yourself, and you :Ratterme. T'm
flattered to decline your offer. (She exits.)
GALL!MARD (to us): Butterfly and I argued all night. And, in the end, I left,
knowing I vvould never be her husband. She went away for several months~
to the countrvside , like a small animal. Until the nicrbhtl received her call.
SOKC:
GALLitIARD:
Pause.
That wasn't my choice.
It is mine. And this is my promise to you: I \vill raise him 1 he vvillbe our
child, but he v,,,il} never burden you outside of China.
GALLIMARD:
\Vhy do you make these promises? I \Vantto be burdened! I \.Vanta
scandal to cover the papers!
SOl\G (to us): Prophetic.
GALI.TMARD: I'm serious.
SOl\G:
So am I. His name is as l registered it. And he \.\'illnever live in the \Vest.
GALLrMARD:
SONG:
Song exits with the child.
GALLIMARD (i'o us): Is it possible that her stubbornness onlv made me want her
more? That drawing back at the moment of my capih;lation \Vasthe most
brilliant strategy she could have chosen? His possible. But it is also possible
that _by
this point she could have said, could have done ... anything, and [
\vould have adored her still.
.
A baby's cry from offstage. Song enters, carryinga child.
SONG:
He looks like you.
(Beat; he approaches the baby.) Well, babies arc never very
attractive at birth.
SONG:
Stop!
GALUMARD:
['m sure he'H grovv more beautiful vvith age. rvlore hke his mother.
SONG:
"Chi vide mai Io bimbo de/ Giappon. "
GA!.LIMARD:
"What baby, J \vonder, was ever born in Japan" - or China, for that
matterSONC:
.. occhi azzurrini?"
GALUMARD:
"\Vith azure eyes" - they're actually sort of brown, \vouldn't you
say?
SONG:
"E ii labbro."
CALLI":vIARD: "And such lips!" (He kissesSong.) A..nd such lips.
SONG:
"E i ricciolinid'oro schietto?"
CALLli\'lARD:
"And such a head of golden" -if slightly patchy~ "curls?"
so;s.;c: I'm going to call him "Peepee."
CALLHvJARD: Darling, could you repeat that because l'm sure a rickshmv just
flevvby overhead.
SONG: Yemheard rne.
GALLJ:MARD: "Song Pecpee"? i\1ay 1 suggest :'vlichael, or Stephan 1 or Adolph?
SONG:
You mav, but I \Von't listen.
GALLLVIARD: Y;m can't be serious. Can you imagine the time this child \vill have
in school?
SO:\"G:
In the VVcst,yes.
GAI.LIMARD:
()\r!
851
H's \vorse than naming hirn Ping Pong or Long Dong or -"
But he's never going to live in the \Vest1 is he?
GALI.l?vIARD: Yes. In fact you do. No one has loved me like you.
SONG:
Scene 9
Scene 9
Beijing. 1966.
A driving rhythm ofChinese percussionfills the stage.
CALI.fl\-IARD: And then, China began to change. 1Vlaobecarne very old, and his
cult became very strong. And, like many old men, he entered his second
childhood. So he handed over the reins of state to those with rnincls like his
mvn. And children ruled the l\.liddlc Kingdom \vith complete caprice. The
doctrine of the Cultural Revolution° implied continuous anarchv. Contact
behveen Chinese and foreigners became impossible. Our flat ;,as confiscated. Her fame and my money nmv counted against us.
'J\,vodancersin lVlaosuits and red-starredcaps enter, and begin crudely mimicking
revolutionaryviolence,in cm agitpropfashion.
GALLlM\RD
And somehow the Amc11cc1nvvarwent \\Hmg too Four hundred
thousand dollars were bcmg spent for c\crv Viet Cong k1l1ed,so Cenerdl
VVcstrnorcland's rcrnark tliat the Oriental docs not value life the w~rvAmericans do was oddly accurale. \Vhy weren't the Vietnamese people g.iving iu?
\Vhv. were they. content instead to die and die and die aaain7
b
•
Toulon enters.Percussionand dancerscontinue upstage.
TOULOl\i:
Congratulations, Gallimard.
GALLIMARD:
Excuse me, sir?
0
0
0
~iddle Kingdom: The royal domain of China during its feudal period. Cultural Revoluhon: The reform campaign of 1965-1967 to purge countcrrevolutionarv thought in China
that challenged lvfao Zedong. Viet Cong: .ivlcmber of the National -Libera~ion Front of
South Vietnarn, against \vhich U.S. forces were fightillg. General Westmoreland: \Villiarn
\i\/eslrnoreland(b. 1914), cmnrnamler of American trooi:;~in Vietnam frorn ! 964 tu 1968.
HWANG
IM. Butterfly: Act 2, Scene 10
Romantic Illusions
852
---
Not a promotion. That was last t.irnc.You're going home.
CALLL\'1.ARD:
\A/hat?
TOULON: Don't sav l didn't \vam you.
GALLIMARD:
l'rn b,eing transferred ... because 1 vvas\Vnmgabout the American
TOULON:
\Var?
Of course not. VVedon't care about the Americans. \Ve care about
vour mind. T'hc quality of your analysis. In general, everything you've predicted here in the Orient ... just hasn't happened.
GALLIMARD:
Tthink that's premature.
TOULO!\:
Don't force me to be blunt. Okay, you said China \Vas ready to open to
\Vcstern trade. The only thing they're trading out there are \Vcstern heads.
And, yes, you said the Americans would succeed in ]ndochina. You \Vere kidding, right?
GALLJMARD:
l think the end is in sight.
'l'OULO":
Don't he pathetic. And don't take this personally. You were wrong. Jt's
not vour fault.
GALLii\I_;RD:
But l'm going horne.
TOULO::-J:: Right. Could I have the number of your mistress? (Bee1t.) Joke! Joke!
Eat a croissant for me.
TOUT.O>l:
Toulon exits. Song, tvearing a 1\Jcwsuit, is dragged in from the wings as part of the
upstage dance. Tiwy ''beat" her, then fam/Joon the acrobatics of the Chinese o/Jera,
as she is made to kneel onstage.
GALLHv1ARD
(sinwltcmeously): I don't care to recall hm:vButterfly and I said our
hurried farevvc1l.Perhaps it ,vas better to end our affair heforc it killed her.
Gaflimard exits. Percussion rises in volume. The lampooning hecomes fO.ster,more
frenetic. At its height, Comrade Chin walks across the stage ·with Cl banner reading:
"The Actor Renounces His Decadent Profession!" She reaches the kneeling Song.
At the moment Chin touches Song's chin, percussion stof>swith a thud. Dancers
strike /x>ses.
CHIN: Actor-oppressor, for years you have 1ived above the comrnon people and
looked dmvn on their labor. \~lhilc the fanncr ate rnillctSONC:
I ate pastries from France and S\vectmcats frorn silver trays.
CHIN:
And hmv did you come to live in such an exalted position?
SONG: I was a plaything for the imperialists!
CHIN: \,\/hat did vou do?
SONG:
J shamed Chi11aby allm.vingmyself to be corrupted by a foreigner .
CHtN: \Vhat docs this mean? 'l'he People demand a full confession!
SONG: I engaged in the lmvcst perversions with China's enemies!
CHIN: \Vhat perversions? Be more clear!
SONG: 1 let hirn put it up my ass!
1
Dancers look over, disgusted.
Cl-Ill\:
SONG:
Aaaa-ya! Hcnvcan yon use such sickening language?!
i\1y h~11guagc... i~only as foul as the crimes I comrnittcd .
853
CHIN: Yeah. 'fhat's better. So-Vvl1at do you wa11tto do ... nmv?
SONG: Twant to serve the people!
Percussion starts up, with Chinese strings.
CHIN: What?
SONG: I \Vantto serve the people!
Dancers regain their revolutionary smiles, and begin a dance of victory.
CHIN: What?!
SONG: I \Vantto serve the people!!
Dancers unveil a bC1111wr:
"The Actor Is R.e-I1abilite1ted!"Song remains kneeling
before Chin, as the dancers bounce around them, then exit. /\1usic out.
Scene 10
A commune. Hunan Province.1970.
CHI;\": How you planning to do that?
SONG: l'vc already vmrked four years in the fields of Hunan, Comrade Chin.
CHIN: So? H1rmers,vork aH their lives. Let me sec your hands.
Song holds them out for her inspection.
CHIN: Goddamn! Still so smooth! Flmv long docs it take to tum you actors into
good anythings? Hunh. You've just spent too many years in luxury to be any
good to !:heRevolution.
SONG: I served the Revolution.
CHIN: Serve the Revolution? Bullshit! You vvoredresses! Don't tell me-I was
there. I saw you! You and your white vice-consul! Stuck up there in your flat,
living off the People's 'l l·easury!Yeah, I knew what was going on! You t:wo.
homos! Homos' Homos! (Pause; she composes herself) Ah! Well ... you will
serve the people, all right. But not \vith the Revolution's money. This time,
yon use your mvn rnoney.
SONG: l have no money.
CHIN: Shut up! And you \von't stink up China anymore with your pervert stuff.
You'll pollute the place where pollution begins-the West.
SONG: \Vhat do you rnean?
CHJN: Shut up! You're going to France. \Vit:hout a cent in your pocket. You find
your consul's house, you make him pay your expensesSONG: No.
CHIN: And you give us ,vcekly reports! Useful information!
SONG: That's crazy. Tt'sbeen four years.
CHIN: Either that, or back to rehabilitation center!
SO;\!G; Comrade Chin, he's not going to support me! Not in France! 1-fo'sa
white man! I \vas just his p1aythingCHIN: Oh yuck! Again vvith the sickening language? \Vhere's my stick?
SO~G: \'Ou don't understand the rnind of a man.
Pause.
Romantic Illusions
854
Oh no? No l don't? Then hmv come I'm married, huh? How come l got
a man? Five 1 six years ago, you ahvays tell me those kind of things, l felt very
bad. But not nmv! Because vvhat does the Chairman say? He tells ns l'm now
the smart one, you're 110\v the nincompoop! You're the blockhead, the harcbrain, the nih,vi.t!·Youthink you're so smart? You understand "The NJincl of a
Man"? Good! Then you go to France and be a pervert for Chairman .Nlao!
CT-ITI'\":
Chin and Song exit in ofJposite directions.
855
GAI,LIMARD:
1---Ielga-
ll:vvasall going on in China, too. Don't you rerncmber?!
HELGA:
Helga! Please! (Pause.) You have never nndcrst·ood China, have
you? You w~Jk.in here \V.itl:lh~se ridiculous ideas, that the \Vest is falling
apart, that Chma was sp1ttmg 111 our faces. You come in, dripping of the
streets, and you leave \Valerall over my floor. (He grabs Helga's tmvel, begins
GALLIMARD:
mopping up the floor.)
HELGA:
But it's the trnth!
Helga, I vvanta divorce.
GALLIMARD:
Scene 11
Paris. 1968-1970.
Gallimard enters.
And vvhat was ,vaiting for me back in Paris? \\ 7elt better Chinese
food than I'd eaten in China. Friends and relatives. A little accounting, regular
schedule, keeping track of traffic violations in the suburbs .... And the indignity of students shouting the slogans of Chairman i\!Iaoat me -in French.
HELGA:
Rene? Rene? (She enters, soaking wet.) I've had a ... problem.
GALLllVIARD:
(She sneezes.)
You're wet.
Yes, I ... coming back from the grocer's. A group of students, waving
red flags, they -
GALLIMARD:
HELGA:
Callimard fetches a toivel.
-they ran by, I was caught up along with them. Before I kne\v \vhat
was happcning-
HELGA:
Gallimard gives her the towel.
Thank yon. The police started firing water cannons at us. I tried to
shout, lo tell them I was the vvifeof a diplomat, but-you knmv how it is.
(Pause.) Needless to say, I lost the groceries. Rene, \.vhat's happening to
Fra11ce?
GALLIMARD:
What's- 7 Well, nothing, really.
HELGA:
Nothing?! The storefronts are in flames, there's glass in the streets,
buildings arc topp'ling-and I'm. wet!
CAI.UM.ARD:
Nothing! ... that 1 care to think about.
HELGA:
And is that why yon stay in this room?
GALLIMARD:
Yes, in fact.
H'ELGA:
\iVith the incense burning? You know something? I hate incense. It
srnel1sso sickly S\Veet.
CALLIMARD:
VVcll,I hate the French. VVhojust smell-period!
HELGA:
And the Chinese were better?
GALLHvlARD:
Please - clon't start.
HEJ ,GA: \Vhen we left, this exact same thing, the riots HELGA:
GALLIMARD:
HELGA:
)\o, IIO .
Students screaming slogans, smashing dmvn doors-
Pctuse;Callinzard continues mopping the floor.
I take it back. China is ... beautiful. Incense, I like .incense.
I've had a mistress.
HELGA:
So?
GALLfMARD:
For eight years.
HELGA:
I knew you \vould. 1 knew you ,vouk1 the clay I married you. And nmv
wliat.?You want to marry her?
GALLilVIARD: 1 can't. She's in China.
HELGA:
l see. You know that no one else is ever going to marry me, right?
GAI.LilVIARD: I'm sorry.
•
HELGA:
And y_ou,vant lo leave ..For someone vvho'snot here, is that right·?
GALLIMARD:
That's right.
HELGA:
You can't live with her, but sti11you don't want to live with me.
GALLfMARD:
That's right.
HELGA:
GAU.IM.ARD:
Pause.
Shit Hmv terrible that I can figure that out. (Pause.) l never thonght I'd
say it. But) in China 1 1 was happy. l kne\v, in mv mvn vvav,I knew that vou
were not everything you pretended to be. But tl;e prdens'e-going on )/our
arm t? the embassy ball, visiting your office and the guards saying, "Good
mornmg, good_morning, tv1adame Gallirnard" --the pretense ... ,vas very
good indeed. (Pause.) [ hope everyone is mean to you for the rest of your hfc.
(She exits.)
GALJJMAJ-m (to us):
Prophetic.
HELGA:
Marc enters with two drinks.
(to J\forc): Jn China, I was different from all other men.
Sure. You \Verevvhite. Here's vour drink
GALLnvIARD:
I felt ... touched.
,
•
GALLIMARD
?vlARC:
In the he~1d?Rene, I don't want to hear about the Oriental love goddess.
Okay? One mght- ca11we just drink and throw up without a lot of conversation?
GALLlMARD:
You still don't believe me, do vou?
rvtARC: Sure I do. She \.Vasthe most beautiful, et cetera, et cetera, blase, blase.
Pause.
?vTARC:
GALJ.EvIARD:
~rviy
life in the \Vest has been such a disappointment.
856
Romantic lllusicms
HWANG
I tvl. Butterfly: Act 3, Scene 1
'
Life in the \Vest is like that Y(m'll get used to it. Look, you're driving me
away. I'm leaving. Happy, now? (He exits, then returns.) Look, l have a date
tomorrovv·night. You \Vanna come? I can fix you up with.-GALLHvtARD: Of course. l would love to come.
\.'!ARC:
Pause.
rvfARC: Uh- on second thougl1t, no. Yon'tl better get ahold of yourself first.
I-le exits; Callimard nurses his drink.
This is the ultimate cmclly, isn't it? That 1 can L1]kand talk
and to anyone listening 1 ifs only air--too rich a diet to be s,vallmved by a
nmncLmc \vorlcl. \Vhy can't anyone understand? That in China, J once
loved, and was loved hy, very simply, the Perfect Woman.
GALLIMARD(to us):
Song enters, dressed as Butterfly in wedding dress.
GA1,rJ1\.'lARD
(to Song): :N"otagain. lVIyimagination is hell. Arn l asleep this time?
Or did I drink too much?
SO~G:
Rene!
GALLLMARD:
Cod, it's too painful! That you speak?
SONC:
\iVhat arc you talking about? Rene - touch me.
CA!,I.IMARD:
Vv7hy?
SONG:
I'm real. T11ke my hand.
GALUNJARD:
\.Vhy? So you can disappear again and leave rnc clutching at the
air? For the entertainment of my neighbors \vho-?
Song touches Gallimard.
SO-"C:
Rene?
Gallimard takes Song's hand. Silence.
GALLll'vfARD:
Butterfly? I never doubted you'd return.
SONG: You hadn't ... forgotten-?
CALLil'vIARD:
Yes, actua1ly, I've forgotten everything. 1\/Iymind, you see-there
\Vasn't enough room in this hard head - not for the vvorld and for you. No,
there was only room for one. (Beat.) Come, look. Sec? Your bed has been waiting, vvith the Klimt poster you like, and-see? The xiang lu you gave me?
SONG: I ... I don't knm:vvvhat lo say.
GALUMARD:There's nothing to say. Not at the encl of a long trip. Can I make
yon some tea?
SO:'.\G: But where's your \vife?
GALLIMARD:
She's by my side. She's by my side at last.
0
0
Gallimard reaches to embrace Song. Song sidesteps, dodging him.
GALLHv!ARD:
\i\lhy?l
SONG(to us): So I did return to Rene in Paris. \\-'here I foundCALLlMARD:
\Vhy do you nm mvay?Can't ,ve shmv them how \Veernbraced that
evening?
Klimt: Gustav Klirnt (1863-1918), Austrian painter in the art nouveau style, vvhose most
famous painting is The Kiss. xiang lu: Incense hurncr.
-·-
-··-··-··~"
·-···-··-
857
SONG: Please. I'm talking.
GALLIMARD:
You have to do \vhat I say! .l'm conjuring you up in my mind!
SONG:
Rene, I've never done what you've said. VVhyshould it be any different in
your mind? Now split--the stor},moves on, ancl I must change.·
GALLI!'vIARD:
1 welcomed you into my home] I didn't have to, you kumv! I
could've left you penniless Oil the streets of Paris] But J took vou in!
SONG: Thank you.
,
GALLIMARD:
So ... please ... don'!' change.
SONG: You knmv l have to. You know 1 will. A11cl anyvv'ay,,vhat difference does it
make? No matter \.Vhatyour eyes tell you, you can't ignore the truth. You
already knmv too n1l1ch.
Gallimard exits. Song tums to us.
SONG: The change I'm _goingto make requires about five mi1mtes. So I thought
yon might \Vant to take this opportunity to stretch your legs, enjoy a drink, or
listen to the musicians. I'll be here, when you return, right \,vhereyou left me.
Song goes to a mirror in front of which is a wash basin of 1vater.She starts to remove
her nwkea/1 as stagelights go to half and houselights come up.
ACT 3, Scene l
A courthouse in Paris. 1986.
A') he f1romised, Song has completed the bulk of his transformation onstage by
the time the houselights go cloivn and the stagelights come up full. As he speaks lo
us, he removes his wig and kimono, leaving them on the ffoor. Underneath, he
wears a well-cut suit.
So l'd done my job better than I had a right to expect. \\/ell, give him
some credit, too. I·-fc'sright-! \Vasin a fix vvhen 1 arrived in Paris. J walked
from the airport into tO\vu, then J located, by blind groping, the Chinatown
district. Let me make one thing clear: \vhatever else may be said abont the
Chinese, they are stingy! l slept in doorways three days unt"il I could find a
tailor who \Vould make me this kirnono on credit. A; it hirns out, mavhc 1
didn't even need it. l'vlaybe he ,vottld've been happy to sec me in a si;nple
shift ancl rnascara. But ... better safe than sorry.
That \Vas I 970, when J arrived in Paris. F~r the next fifteen years, yes) J
lived a very comfy life. Sorne relief, believe me, after four years 011 a fo~king
commune in Nmvheresvillc) China. Rene supported the boy and me, and I
did some demonstrations around the country as part of my "cultural
exchange" cover. And then there was the spying.
S0:\"G:
Song moves upstage, lo Cl chair. T'oulonenters as Cl judge, wearing lhe approprillte
wig and robes. lie sits near Song. lt's 1986, and Song is testifying in a courtroom.
SONG: Not· much at first. Rene had lost all his high~leve1contacl's. Cmnrade
Chin wasn't very interested in parking-ticket sl'ahstics. But finally, at my urging, Rene got a job as a courier 1 handling sensitive documents. He'd photograph them for me, and I'd pass them on to the Chinese embassy.
858
Romantic Illusions
HWANG/
----
Did he understand the extent of his achvity?
He didn't ask He knew that I needed those documents, and that
enough.
JUDGE:
But he must've knmvn he vvaspassing classified information.
SONG:
I can't say.
JUDGE:
He never asked what you were going to do \vith them?
SO:'\/G:
I\ope.
\Vas
Pause.
There is one thing that the court~indecct that all of France-\vould
like to knmv.
SONG:
Fire away.
JUDGE:
Did lVIonsieur Gallimard knmv you ,vcre a man?
so;-.;G: Well, he never smvme completely naked. Ever.
JUDGE:
But surely, he must've ... limv can 1 put this?
SONG:
Put it hmvever y011 like. I'm not shy. He must've felt ar011ml?
JlJDGE:
fv1mmmm.
SONG:
:'lot really. I did all the work. He just laid back. Of course we <lidenjoy
more . _. cm;1plcte union, and I suppose he might have ,vondere<l vvhyI ,vas
always on my stomach, but. .. But ,vhat you're thinking is1 "Of comse a
wrist must've brushed . . a hand hit ... over l:\.ventyyears!" Yeah. \\/ell, Your
Honor, it vvasmy job to make him think l ,vas a wornan. And che,v on this: it
wasn't all that hard. See, my mother ,vas a prostitute along the Bunclt before
the Revolution. And, uh, 1 think it's fair to say she learned a few things about
\Vestcrn men. Sol borrmvcd her knmvledge. ln service to my country.
JUDGE: "!ould you care to enlighten the court with this secret knmvledge? I'm
sure we're al1verv curious.
SONG:
I'm sure you' arc. (Pause.)Okay, R11leOne is: lVIenahvays believe ,;vhat
they vvant to hear. So a girl can tell the most obnoxious lies and the guys will
believe them every time- "This is my first time" - "That's the biggest l've
ever seen" -or both, \Vhich1 if you really think about it, is not possible in a
single 1ifetime. You've maybe heard those phrases a fcv,,times in your mvn
life, yes, Your Honor?
JUDGE:
It's not my life, ]\1onsieur Song, which is on hial today.
SONG:
Okay, okay, just trying to lighten up the proceedings. 'T(mgh room.
JUDGE:
Co on.
SONG:
Rule 'l \vo: As soon as a VVcsternman comes into contact vviththe Easthe's alreadv confused. The Y./esthas sort of an international rape mentality
tmvards the East. Do you knovvrape mentality?
JUDGE:
Give us your definition, please.
SO'.'/G:
Basica1ly,''I-lcr mouth says no, but her eyes say yes."
The \Vest thinks of itself as masculine- big guns, big indnstry, big
money-so the East is feminine-,veak, delicate, poor .. hut good at art,
and full of inscrutable v,,,isdorn-the feminine mystique.
Her mouth says no, bnt her eyes say yes. rf'he \Vest believes the East, deep
dcnvn,wants to be dominated- because a woman ca11t think for herself.
JUDGE:
1
859
\Vhat docs t:l1ishave to clo ,vi!:hmy question?
You expect Oriental countries to submit to your guns, and you expect
Oriental women to be submissive to ymu men. That's vd1yyou say they make
the best wives.
JUDGE:
But whv would that make it possible for vou to fool 1\ilonsieur Gallirnard? Pleas~-get to the point
,
SONG:
One, because when he finally met his fantasy woman, he Vi1antedmore
than anything to believe that she vvas,in foct, a woman. And second, I am an
Oriental. And being an Oriental, I could never be completely a man.
JUDGE:
JUDGE:
SONG:
M. Butterfly:Act 3, Scene 2
SO.NG:
Pause.
JUDGE:
SONG:
JUDGE:
Your armchair political theory is tenuous, Monsicnr Song.
You t:l1inkso? 'l7hat's why you'll lose in all your dealings ,vith the East.
Just answer my question: did he knmv you ,vere a man?
Pause.
SONG:
You know, Your Honor, 1 never asked.
Scene 2
Same.
i'\1us·ic
from the "Death Scene" from Butterfly blaresoverthe house speakers.It
is the loudest thing we'veheard in this fJ!ay.
Gallimard enters, crawling towardsSong's wig and kimono.
CALLIMARD:
Butterfly? ButterRy7
Song remainsa man in the witness box, deliveringct testimony we do not hear.
GALLJMARD (to us): In my rnorncnt of greatest: shame, here, in this courtroor111
with that ... person up there, telling the world .... What strikes me especially is hmv shallow he is, hmv glib and obsequious ... completely .
vvithout s11bstance!The type that prowls around discos \vith a gold medallion
stinking of garlic. So little like my Butterfly.
Yet even in this moment my mind remains agile, Hip-flopping like a
rnan on a trampoline. Even nmv, my pict:11redissolves, and I sec that. . \Vitncss ... talking to me.
Song suddenly stands straight up in his witnessbox, and looksat Callimard.
SO?'-/G;
Yes.Yon. \Vhitc man.
Song steps out of the witness box, and moves dmvnstagetowardsCallimard. Light
change.
(to Song): \\/ho? Me?
Do you see any other white 111en?
GALI.l:\lARD: Yes. There'rc white men all around. T'his is a French courtroorn.
SO:"-IG: So you arc an adventurous irnperialist. Tell me, why did it take you so
long? T() come back to this place?
GALLIMARD:
What place?
SONG:
This theater in China. \Vhcrc ,ve met many years ago.
GALLIMARD
SONG:
860
Romantic Illusions
----
GAIJJ?vlARD
(to us): An<lonce again, against my vvill,I am transported.
Chinese of>eramusic comes up on the speakers. Song begins to do opera moves, as
he did the night they met.
Do you remember? 'T'he night you gave your heart?
H ,vas a long time ago.
SONG:
Not long enough. A night that turned your vvorldupside down.
GALLIMARD:
Perhaps.
SONG:
Oh, be honest with me. What's another bit of flattery when you've
already given me twenty years' worth? It's a wonder rny head hasn't S\.vollen
to the size of China.
GALLHvlARD: Who's to say it hasn't?
SONG: \\/ho's to say? And what's the shame? In pride? You think 1 could've
pulled this off if J wasn't already full of pride ,vhen ,ve met? No, not just
pride. Arrogance. It takes arrogance, really-to believe yon can \vill, vvith
yonr eyes and your lips, the destiny of another. (He dances.) C'mon. Admit it.
You still want me. Even in slacks and a button-dmvn collar.
GALLI!VJARD: I don't see what the point ofSONG:
You don't? VVcllmaybe, Rene, just maybe-- I want you.
GALLlMARD:
You do?
SONG:
']'hen again 1 maybe I'm just playing vvithyou. Ho\v can you tell? (Re/Jrising his feminine chctracler1 he sidles up lo Gallimard.) "How I \vish there were
even a small cafe to sit in. V\/ithmen in tuxedos, and cappuccinos, and bad
cxpatriale jazz." Now you v-,1ant to kiss me, don't you?
GALLIMARD (pulling away): \i\/hat makes you--?
SONG:
-so sure? Sec? 1 take the \vords from your mouth. Then I wait foryou to
come and retrieve them. (Fie reclines on the floor.)
GALLilVIARD: \Vhy?! V\.lhydo you treat me so cruelly?
SONG:
Perhaps I was treating you cruelly. But novv-J'm hcing nice. Corne
here, my little one.
GAT..LL\IARD: I'm not your little one!
SOl\C:
l\1y mistake. H's 1 who arn your little onc right?
Gi\.f.JJlVIARD: Yes, 1SONG:
So come get your little one. ff you 1ike1 1 may even let you strip me.
CALLJMARD:
r mean, you \vcrel Before ... but not like this!
SONG:
I was? Then perhaps I still am. If you look hard enough. (l-le starts to
remove his clothes.)
GAl.IJivIARD:
\i\lliat-what are you doing?
SONG:
Helping you to sec through my act.
CALLfMARD:
Stop that! 1 don't want to] I don'tSONG:
Oh, but you asked me to strip, remember?
GALLirvTARD: What? 'I'hat was years ago! And 1 took it hack!
SONG:
No. You postponed it. Postponed the inevitable. 'foday, the inevitable
has come calling.
SONG:
CALLHvIARD:
1
From the speakers, cacophony: Butterfly mixed in with Chinese gongs.
M. Butterfly: Act 3, Scene 2
HWANG/
861
1
No! Stop! I do11t want to see!
SONG: '1'hen look mvay.
GALJ.I?v'IARD: You're only in my mind! All this is in my mind! I order you! 'fo stop!
SOl\G:
T() \Vhat?TO strip? 'J'hat's just vvhat I'mGALLIMARD:
No! Stop! 1 \Vantyon-]
SO:--JG: You want me?
GALLl?v!ARD: To stop!
SONG: You know sornething, Rene? Your mouth says no but your eyes say yes,
Turn them avvay.I dare you.
GALL!MARD:
I don't have to! Every night, you say you're going to strip, but then I
beg you and you stop!
so~G:
f guess tonight is different.
GALLIMARD:
Why 7 Why should that be 7
SONG:
l\ilayhc I've hccome frustrated. i1aybe I'm saying "Look at me, you fool!"
Or maybe I'm just feeling ... sexy. (He is clown to his brief,;.)
GALLIMARD:
Please. This is unnecessary. I know \vhat you arc.
SOI\G:
Yon do? \Vhat am I?
GALLIMARD:
A-a man.
SONG:
You clou't really believe that.
GALLllVIARD: Yes l do! I knew all the time somew-hcre that rny happiness \Vas
temporary, my love a deception. But my mind kept the knowledge at bay. '1{)
make the wait bearable.
SONG:
Monsieur Callirnar<l-the \Vailis over.
GALLii\1ARD:
1
Song drops his briefs. I-le is naked. Sound cue out. Slowly, we and Song come to the
realization that what we had thought to he Gallimard's sobbing is actually his
laughter.
Oh god! What an idiot! Of course!
Rene-what?
GALLIMARD:
Look at you! Yo11re a man! (He bursts into laughter again.)
SONG:
l fail to see vvhafs so funny!
GALI.Hv!ARD: "You fail to see-!" l mean, you never did have much of a sense of
humor, did you? I jnst think it's ridiculously funny that I've \Vastedso much
time 011 just a man!
SONG: \A/aiLrm not "just a man."
CALLIMAH.D: No? Isn't that vvhatyou've been trying to convince me of?
SONG: Yes1 but vvhat l meanGALLIMARD:
And nmv, l finally believe y01.1 and you tell me it's not true? l think
you must have some kind of identity problem.
SO:'\C: Will you listen to me?
GALLI.MARD: Vvl-1y?!
l've been listening to you for twenty years. Don't J deserve a
vacation?
S0'.\fG:
I'm not just any man!
GAI.Llil-'IARD: Then, what exactly are you?
SONG: Rene, how can you ask~? Okay what about· this?
CALLIMARD:
SOi\'.G:
1
1
1
Romantic Illusions
862
1-iepicks up Butterfly'srobes,starts to dance around. No music.
GALLIMARD:
Yes, that's very nice. I have to admit.
Song holds out his arm to Callimard.
so:--.c: It's the same skin you've worshipped for years. T(mch it.
GALLTMARD:
Yes, it docs feel the same.
SONG: Novv·--·close your eyes.
Song coversCallimard'seyeswith one hand. With the other,SongdrawsCal!imard's
hand up to his face. Gallimard,like a blind man, lets his hands run overSong'sface.
'1'his skin, I remember. The nuve of her face 1 the sofrness of her
cheek, her hair against the back of my hand ..
SONG: I'm yonr ButtcrAy. Under the robes, beneath everything, it \Vas ahvays
me. Nmv, open your eyes and admit it~you adore me. (J--Ie
removeshis hand
GALLIMARD:
from Ga!Limard'seyes.)
HWANG/
1vl.Butterfly:Act 3, Scene l
Ca!limard bodily removesSong from the stage, taking his kimono.
Rene! I'll never put on those robes again! You'll be sorry!
(to Song): I'm already sorry! (Looking at the kimono in his hands.)
Exactly as sorry ... as a Butterfly.
SONG:
GALLLMARD
Scene 3
M, Gal/inwrd's f,rison cell, Paris.1988.
I've played out the cvent·s of my life night after night, ahvays
searching for a nc\.v ending to my slory1 one \vhere I leave this cell and reJnrn
forever to my Butterfly's arms.
Tbnight l realize my search is over. That I've looked all along in the
wrong place. And now, to you, 1 will prove that· my love 1,vasnot in vain-by
returning to the vmrld of fantasy ,vhere 1 first met her.
GALU!\.IARD:
You, vvho knevv every inch of my desires-how could you 1 of all
people, have made such a mistake?
SONG: What?
GALLJMARD:
You shovved me your true self. VVhcnall I loved 1,vasthe lie. A perfect lie, which you lcr fall to the ground- and nmv, it's old and soiled.
SONG: So-you never reaJly loved me? Only when I was playing a part?
GALLI?vlARD:
I'm a man ,vho loved a ,vonia11 created by a man. Everything
else - sirnply falls short.
Dancers bring the washbasinto him and help him mal::eup his (c1ce.
Pause.
GALLPvlARD:
GALLJ!\1ARD:
\.Vhat am I supposed to do nmv?
You were a fine spy, fvlonsieur Song, with an even finer accomplice. But now I believe you should go. Cet out of my life!
SO!\C:
Go 1,vhere?Rene, you can't live without me. Not after twenty years.
GALLIMARD:
J certaiIJly can't live ,vith you-not after twenty years of betrayal.
SONG:
Don't be stubborn! Where 1,villyou go?
GALLHvIARD:
I have a date ... with my Butterfly.
SONG: So, throw mvayyour pride. And come .
GALLI.!\'fARD: Get away from me! Tonight, I've finally learned to tel'l fantasy from
reality. Anet kno1,a,:ing
the difference, I choose fantasy.
SONG:
I'm your fantasy!
GALLL\JARD:
You? You're as real as hamburger. Now get out! J have a date with
my Butterfly and I don't \Vant your body polluting the room! (He tosses
Song's suit at him.) Look at these ~you dress like a pimp.
SONG: I Icy! These are Armani slacks and -1. (I-le puts on his brief'>
and slacks.)
Let's just say ... l'm disappointed in you, Rene. ln the crush of your adoration, I thought you'd become something more. l\lore like ... a vvornan.
But no. Men. You're like the rest of them. It's all in tl1eway we dress, and
make up our faces, and bat our eyelashes. You really have so little imagination!
GALLlMARD:
You, i\!Ionsieur Song? Accuse rne of too little imagination? You, if
anyone, should know~I am pure imagination. And in imagination I will
remain. Now get out!
SOJ\"G:
GALLIMARD:
863
He picks u/J the kimono; dancersenter.
There is a vision of the Orient that I have. Of slender women in
chcongsams and kimonos 1,vl10die for the love of umvorthy foreign devils.
VVhoare born and raised to be the perfect \.Vomen.\\lho take \Vb at-everpunishrnent 1,vcgive them, and bounce back, strcngtl 1ened by love, nncondilionaHy.Jt is a vision that has become my life.
G-ALLIMARD:
In puhlic 1 1 have continued to deny that· Song L.iling is a ma 11. Tliis
brings me headlines, and is a source of great embarrassment to mv French
colleagues, \vho can novvbe sent· into a coughing fit by the rncre m~ntion of
Chinese food. But alone 1 in my cell, I have long siucc faced the truth.
And the truth demands a sacrifice. For mistakes made over the course of
a lifetime. lvly mistakes \Vere simple and absolute-the man I loved was a
cad, a bounder. lle deserved not·hing but a kick iu the behind, and instead J
gave him ... all my love.
Yes-love. VVhynot admit it all? T'hat ,vas my undoing, wasn't it? Love
v,mrped rny judgment, blinded my eyes, rearranged the very lines on my
face ... until l could look in the rnlrror and sec nothing hut ... a \VOmcm.
Dcmcershelp him fmt 011 the Butterfly wig.
l have a vision. Of the Orient. Tha!·, deep \Vithin its almond eves,
there are still 1,vomen.\\/omen willing to sacrifice themselves for the love :-Jfa
man. Even a man 1,vhoselove is completely \,vil·houhvorth.
GALUMARD:
D:mcersassistCallimard in donning the kimono. They hand him a knife.
Death \Vith honor is better than life ... life vvith dishonor. (l-iesets
himself center stage, in a seppuku position.)' f'hc love of a Butterfly can ,vitl1-
GALLilvIARD:
stand many things- unfaithfulness, loss, even abandonment. But how can it
face the one sin that implies all others? 'T'he clevastat·ingknovvledge that,
underneath it all, the object of her love 1,vasnothing more, nothing less
than ... a man. (He sets the tip of the knife againsthis body.) It is l 988. And]
have found her at last. In a prison on the outskirts of Paris. 1\!Iyname is Rene
Gallimarcl-also knov,11 as tfadamc Butterfly.
1
Callimard tums ufJstageand plunges the knife into his body, as music from the
"Love Duet" hlares over the speakers.J--Iecolfapses into the arms ofthe dancers,
who lay him reverently011 the fl.oor.The image holds for severalheats. Then a tight
special ufJ on Song, who stcmds as a man, staring at the dead Gctllimard._He
smokesa cigarette;the smoke filters up through the lights. 'I\vo wordsleave his lzp1;.
SONG:
Butterfly? Butterfly?
Smoke risesas lights fade slowly to black.
What ls Love?
GRAY/
Romantic Illusions
864
[1988]
THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT
l. Gallimard says near the encl of act 1, scene 5 that he married Helga for
practicality. VVhen he sees IV1adameButterfly, he is changed. Does this
make sense to you?
2. Is if hard to imagine falling in Jove with a person you think is one sex but
is rcaHy another? Ilmv docs the play try to explain Callimard's mistake?
Does it have something to do \Vith his statement) "Happiness is so rare
that our mind can turn somersaults to protect it" (act 2) scene 6)?
3. Why does Hwang tell this story rnostlv in flashback through Gallimard's
eve~?\,\/hy not just do a straight play in linear time?
4. J.~ookagain al the court scene (ad 3, scene ] ). VVhat do you think of
Song's ideas about a fantasy woman? Is GaJlimard any \Viserat the end of
the play, or docs he stilJ want the illusion?
5. Some critics also sec a political allegory here concerning the \i\/est's view
of the East. Does this make sense to you?
PAUL CRAY
What Is Love?
beloved) a conviction that no one on earth has ever felt so torrentiallv about a fe]l0vvcreature before. Love is ecstasv and torment, freedom and slavc~v.Pods and
songwriters ,vould be in a fine mes~">
vvithout it. Plus, it makes the ,vorfclgo round.
Until recently, scientists \Vanted no part of it.
Tl1creason for tliis avoicLmce, this reluctance to study what is probably life's
most· intense emotion, is not difficult to track clO\.vn.Love is nmshy; science is
hard. Anger and fear, feelings that have been considerably researched in the field
and tlie lab, can be quantified through measurements: pulse and breathing rates,
muscle cont-rachons, a vvhole spider \veb of involuntary responses. Love does not
register as definitively on i-l1c instruments; it leaves ;J blurred fingerprint· that
could be mistaken for anything from indigestion I-oa manic attack. Anger and
fear have direct roles-fighting or running-· in the survival of the species. Since
it is possible (a cynic vvould say connno11placc) for humans to mate and reproduce vvithout love, aJl the attendant sighing and swooning and sonnet vvrihng
have struck many pragmatic investigators as beside the evolutionary point.
So bioiogists and anthropologists assumed that it ,voukl be fruitless, even
frivolous) to study love's cvolut·iomuy origins) the ,vay it ,vas encoded in our genes
or imprinted in our brains. Serious scientist·s simply assumed that love-and
especially Romantic Lovc-\vas really aJl in the hea~l, put there five or six centuries ago when civilized societies first found enough spare time to indulge in
flowery prose. The task of ,.vritingthe book oflove was ceded to playwrights, poets
and pulp novelists.
But during the past decade, scientists across a broad range of disciplines have
had a change of heart about love. The amount of research expended on the tender
passion has never been more intense. Explanations for this rise in interest vary.
Some cite the spreading threat of AIDS; \Vith casual sex carrying mortal risks1 it
seems important to know more about a force that binds couples faithfully together.
Others point to the grmving number of \vomcn scientists and suggest that they may
be more willing than their male collcagnes to take love seriously. Says Elaine Hatfiekt the author of Love, Sex, and intimacy: Their Psychology,Biology, and I-.listory, "When I was back at Stanford in the J960s, they said studying love and
human relationships vvasa quick vvayto min my career. VVhynot go where lhe real
vvorkwas being done; on how fas!'rats could run?'' \i\lhatever the reasons, science
seems to have come around to a viev, that nearly everyone else has ahvays taken for
granted: romance is real. It is not merely a conceit; it is bred into our biology.
Cctl:ing to this point logically is harder tfom it sounds. The love-as-culturaldclusion argument has Jong seemed unassailable. \iVhatactually accounts for the
emotion, according to this scenario, is that people Jong ago made the mistake of
taking fanciful literary tropes seriously. Ovid's Ars Amatoria is often cited as a
major source of rnisrcadiIJgs, its instructions folJowed, its ironies ignored. Other
prime suspects include the hvelfth-ccntury troubadours in Provence v.:ho more
or less invented the Art of Courtly Love, an elaborate, ctiolated ritual for idle
nob!e\.vomcn and aspiring swains that \:vouldhave bee11broken to bits by any hinl
of physiec1lconsum11wtion.
Ever since then, the injunction to love and to be loved has lmmrned nonstop
through popular culture; it is a dominant theme in music, films, novels, magazines
1
Paul Gray, a seniorwritercmdbook reviewerfor '"I'ime,joined the magazine in 1972
after cm academic career,teaching at Princeton Universitythrough the 1960s.Currently, he readsfive books a week and writes articleson Cl great variety of sufrjects,
many of which apf;earas coverstories.''V,lhcztIs Love?''was '1'ime's lead article in
the February15, 1993, issue.
VVhatis this thing callecllove? \iVhat?Is this thing called love? \\!hat is this
tl1ing called? Love.
However pundttated, Cole Porter's simple question begs an answer. Love's
symptoms arc familiar enough: a drifting mooniness in thought and behavior, the
mad conceit that the entire universe has rotlecl itself up into the person of the
865