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Fantasy Vs Reality In M Butterfly

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Who Holds The Power?

M Butterfly written by David Henry Hwang is a play composed about a tragic story between an unbalanced relationship between two lovers. Renee Gallimard lived twenty years of lies; he allowed himself to live in a fantasy where he was with a perfect woman; someone who’s obedient and ready to yield to a man. However, in the back of Gallimard’s mind, he knew that his lover, Song Liling, was not actually the woman he projected to be, but was a man. Gallimard tried to live out his fantasy and idea of Song to fulfill his dreams. On the other hand, Song was fully aware of the reality of their relationship, she used Gallimard to help herself and meet her own needs. The different aspects each character has on their relationship change views of common …show more content…

A major stereotype in the text is the idea of fantasy versus reality; this changes the aspect of Gallimard’s and Song’s whole relationship. Fantasy is all part of a person’s imagination, nothing more then the idea of something existing. Reality tells everyday life for how it is, where there is proof of existence. The importance of this difference is the fact that Gallimard’s fantasy made him live in a different world, where he adjusted his everyday life to fulfill his dream. This later caused him to drive himself into full-fledged insanity, he becomes obsessed with the idea of a perfect woman and he denies any possible truth that goes against his ideas. The idea of living in Gallimard’s perfect dream blurs out reality and any stereotypes society follows. He makes them seem un-important and acts as if it doesn’t apply to their relationship. The idea of fantasy and reality destroys Gallimard’s life; it also changes his perspective of other stereotypes and destructive

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