The play M Butterfly, by David Henry Hwang, is an extremely complex piece of literature and a fascinating dissection of the East versus West mentality as well the gender binary. Examining Gallimard’s behavior under these lenses leads to many insights to his motivations and provides reasoning for his rather strange actions. These ideas which permeate the play are all grounded in the fundamental concept of ideology and the interpellation of the “subject” by said ideologies. As well as Althusser’s specific understanding of how the concept is ultimately manifested in reality. All of the ideologies have affected Gallimard in various ways and in conjunction together these specific ideologies coalesce in a way which ultimately leads him to act as
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As Gallimard often breaks the fourth wall throughout the play and talks directly to the audience he says to them that it is his “favorite opera” and that he needs to explain it “in order for you to understand what I did and why” (Hwang 4). He is very clearly captivated by the nature of the relationship between Pinkerton and Butterfly; likely due to how in line it is with his other ideologies. Although it isn’t just the idea of the opera itself where this ideology lies. As he mentions that “[he had] never before enjoyed opera” and while he has clearly seen the opera before seeing Song perform it is “the first time [he’s] seen the beauty of the story” (Hwang 16-17). Thus the opera is less of an ideology on its own but more of a holistic amalgamation of the previously examined ideologies. For Gallimard, it is the ultimate union of the two major ideologies he adheres to, at least in reference to women. Even if he wasn’t conscious of the process it is still worth noting, as has already been shown how the processes of interpellating those particular mindsets into him have already been carried out and ingrained in him. In previous versions he notes that “the voice is everything” and yet those versions and those “Butterflys” did not capture his attention the way Song did because they …show more content…
Although one of the fundamental elements of the theory he posits rests on the idea that “Ideology represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence” (Althusser 693). While the opera does not inherently possess the elements of an ideology it combines them in such a way that resonates so strongly with Gallimard that the story of Pinkerton and Butterfly becomes an ideology to him. He is interpellated by the delicate and fragile image of Song as Butterfly. He then exports elements of that ideology onto his real life and relationship with Song. The fantasy of Pinkerton and Butterfly becomes Gallimard’s “ideological, i.e., imaginary, representation of the real world” (Althusser 694). It is in this way that the opera is able to become such a compelling ideology for Gallimard and becomes a driving force in how he acts and interprets the world. It can be argued that the reality of the situation is really a reversal of the opera. However Althusser stresses that the nature of ideology is to “explain the imaginary distortion of the ideological representation of the real world” (694). It is Gallimard’s imagining of reality and as such the actual confines of reality itself are not as important as how he interprets them into his ideological representation. He has a “vision of the Orient”
As Gallimard often breaks the fourth wall throughout the play and talks directly to the audience he says to them that it is his “favorite opera” and that he needs to explain it “in order for you to understand what I did and why” (Hwang 4). He is very clearly captivated by the nature of the relationship between Pinkerton and Butterfly; likely due to how in line it is with his other ideologies. Although it isn’t just the idea of the opera itself where this ideology lies. As he mentions that “[he had] never before enjoyed opera” and while he has clearly seen the opera before seeing Song perform it is “the first time [he’s] seen the beauty of the story” (Hwang 16-17). Thus the opera is less of an ideology on its own but more of a holistic amalgamation of the previously examined ideologies. For Gallimard, it is the ultimate union of the two major ideologies he adheres to, at least in reference to women. Even if he wasn’t conscious of the process it is still worth noting, as has already been shown how the processes of interpellating those particular mindsets into him have already been carried out and ingrained in him. In previous versions he notes that “the voice is everything” and yet those versions and those “Butterflys” did not capture his attention the way Song did because they …show more content…
Although one of the fundamental elements of the theory he posits rests on the idea that “Ideology represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence” (Althusser 693). While the opera does not inherently possess the elements of an ideology it combines them in such a way that resonates so strongly with Gallimard that the story of Pinkerton and Butterfly becomes an ideology to him. He is interpellated by the delicate and fragile image of Song as Butterfly. He then exports elements of that ideology onto his real life and relationship with Song. The fantasy of Pinkerton and Butterfly becomes Gallimard’s “ideological, i.e., imaginary, representation of the real world” (Althusser 694). It is in this way that the opera is able to become such a compelling ideology for Gallimard and becomes a driving force in how he acts and interprets the world. It can be argued that the reality of the situation is really a reversal of the opera. However Althusser stresses that the nature of ideology is to “explain the imaginary distortion of the ideological representation of the real world” (694). It is Gallimard’s imagining of reality and as such the actual confines of reality itself are not as important as how he interprets them into his ideological representation. He has a “vision of the Orient”