M. Butterfly - Act 3 Scene 1 Analysis

Scene one of Act three is a scene where all loose ends begin to tie up. Song begins to explain rule one, which is that men will believe what they want to hear. The setting for this scene is a courtroom in which Song and Toulon are present. Toulon is dressed as a judge and Song is describing his activities as a spy for China. He is also describing how Gallimard had a part in all of this. Song is explaining all of this because he is on trial. They are trying to squeeze any information out of Song regarding all the events that transpired throughout his relationship with Gallimard. Rule number one has a connection with Gallimard, in that, he was so blinded by his love of Song that he was in denial of Song being a man the whole time. Throughout their relationship, Gallimard would present information to Song and then Song would take copies to the Chinese embassy in Paris. Gallimard was naive to think that Song wouldn't be capable of doing anything like what he did, which is, manipulate him for information. I think the relationship went on for as long as it did because of Gallimard's obsession with Oriental women. He was simply blinded by love. Rule number two is that the West have a rape mentality towards the East. Song bases this theory using his prior knowledge of men from his mother who happened to be a sex worker who serviced white men. What he means by this is that Western men justify their sexual violence by saying that the woman they abuse secretly wanted to be abused. This has a connection with the Asian countries in that men tend to view these countries as being feminine and thus they want to abuse of Eastern women. In the same way men justify violent treatment of women, Western nations justify violence against Asian nations through stereotypes that suggest Asian people want to be dominated. This is why Gallimard wanted to control Song so desperately. Now in the beginning of M. Butterfly, Rene seems to have all control over Song but this isn't so much the case at the end. Since Rene was so obsessed with Song, he would do anything to stay by her side. He wanted to feel loved by the perfect women and in his head this woman was Song. He couldn't let go of her and slowly began falling deeper and deeper into Song's trap. This trap was set up only as a way of extracting information from Rene. The tables turn because the true intentions behind their relationship is uncovered. Song was a Chinese spy who happened to be a man, and Gallimard became so enthralled with Song that he could not let go.In the end, Gallimard was in Song's control.