M Butterfly Symbolism

In the play M. Butterfly, David Hwang tells the story of a French prisoner recounting an intimate relationship intertwined with disastrous hidden secrets. Rene Gallimard, the French prisoner, reminisces about how he met a Chinese opera singer, Song, along with the two-decade-long affair that developed between them. As Gallimard recalls his relationship and life with Song, dark underlying secrets are gradually revealed. The symbolism of the butterfly is crucial to the play because it forms the basis of Gallimard and Song’s relationship and signifies how their passionate love transforms into betrayal and sadness due to the dramatic changes of the relationship throughout the play. Rene Gallimard starts out in a jail cell recounting to the audience

At the beginning, Gallimard refers to Song as a “woman who passionately listens” (Hwang 2.5.8), but by the end, recalls her as “how shallow / [s]he is, how glib and obsequious” (Hwang 3.2.4-5). Though at first, Song and Gallimard seem to develop a lasting relationship, her true intent is shown when it is revealed she has been working as a spy for the Chinese government. After Song is almost caught by Gallimard, she comments on her relationship with Gallimard, “the entire mission, / it could’ve ended” (Hwang 2.7.8-9). Song’s coldness in referring to their long-term relationship uncovers the fact that she never truly loved Gallimard. It was simply an assignment for her. Song’s metamorphosis is completed as she goes from her disguise as an opera singer who is pursued by a smitten French diplomat to her true self as a Chinese communist spy. Gallimard cannot believe he has been deceived by Song all this time who had disguised herself as a woman when she was, in fact, a man all along. Song mocks him because of how blind he was, he “wanted more than anything to believe / … she was a woman” (Hwang 3.1.91-92). Gallimard is finally aware he has been living a lie after realizing he has fallen in love with a character instead of a real person. When the metamorphosis finally occurs, his love is