M. BUTTERFLY

1. What's the significance of the scene where Helga tells Gaillimard she wants him to go to a doctor and get some medical tests (p. 40)?

2. What's the significance of Song's name?

3. Why is Gallimard's "it was her tears and silence that excited me, every time I vistied Renee" an important line?

4. What ultimately fuels Gallimard's fantasy?

5. At one point (p. 10) Gallimard feels he has transcended the Pinkerton image, saying for example:

   "the image sickened me, pulled me to my knees so I was crawling towards her like a worm. By the time I reached her, Pinkerton had vanished from my heart. To be replaced by something new, something unnatural, that flew in the face of all I'd learned in the world--something very close to love (p. 47).

   Is what he says really true; has he separated himself from the Pinketon image?

6. What is the significance of the window images (see pp. 14 24).

7. What's the significance of the very opening of the play when we see a shift from the Peking Opera to the Love Duet from Puccini's Madame Butterfly?

8. What's the significance of the character Song saying:

   As a Japanese woman? The Japanese used hundreds of our people for medical experiments during the war. But I gather that irony is lost on you.

9. What is the significance of Gaillimard mentioning his "ideal audience?"

10. What's the significance of the title?

11. What's the significance of Gaillimard's and Song's first meeting?

12. Gaillimard at one point says that he feels power. Why is this a significant contrast from his past self-image?

13. What is the significance of the butterfly image?

14. What is the significance of Song saying:

    "How can you objectively judge your own values?"

15. What is the significance of the fact that Gaillimard and Marc share an expensive bottle of wine?

16. In the background of the play is the Vietnam war. What is the significance of these statements?
    • Gaillimard
      If the Americans demonstrate the will to win, the Vietnamese will welcome them into a mutually beneficial union. ... Orientals will always submit to a greater force.

    • Toulon:
      You're not aware of this, but there's an informal gossip circle among intelligence agents/ And some of ours heard from some of the Americans--
      Gaillimard:
      Yes
      Toulon:
      That the U.S. will allow the Vietnamese generals to stage a coup...and assasinate President Diem.
      Gaillimard:
      I think...that's a very wise move.
      Toulon:
      It's what you've been advocating. A toast?

    • What is the significance of the following line said by Song:

      Song:

      Now I see--we are always most revolted by the things hidden within us

    • Much of the play is a "deconstruction" of M.Butterfly. What is the significance of this line?

      Gaillimard:

      In order for you to understand what I did and why, I must introduce you to my favorite opera: Madame Butterfly. By Giacomo Puccini. First produced in La Scala, Milan, in 1904, it is now beloved throughout the Western World.

    • Why is it significant that the play begins and ends in a prison cell?

    • What is the purpose of the Brechtian touches?

    • What is the point of the scene where Song steps out of the witness box?

    • What are some of the physical evidences of cross cultural interplay?

    • What, then, is the ultimate point of the play?