Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University

M. Butterfly

(1986)

David Henry Hwang

(August 11, 1957 – )

Notes

Act 1

Scene 1

1  Peking Opera:

1  "Love Duet":the song is "Vogliatemi bene" ["Love me a little"]

1  Puccini's Madame Butterfly:

Scene 2

3  ladies' men:

• ladies' man (n.)
• man who enjoys being with and giving attention to women; a man who shows a marked fondness for the company of women or is especially attentive to women (Merriam-Webster)
• synonyms and related words: sexually attractive men: Adonis, babe magnet, beefcake... (Macmillan Dictionary)
• (also lady's man) (Oxford Dictionaries)
  informal  A man who enjoys spending time and flirting with women:
  EXAMPLE SENTENCES
  he was a bit of a ladies' man at an early age
  When I was growing up, my father was the ultimate ladies' man.
  I've heard lots of stories about how he's such a ladies' man and womanizer.
  Being the suave ladies' man that he is, Marty inflates the condom like a balloon, then lets go of it, sending it flying over the shower wall.

4  Vive la différence!: French, literally translated as "long live the difference"

• long live the difference (between the sexes) (Merriam-Webster)
• chiefly humorous  An expression of approval of difference, especially that between the sexes. (Oxford Dictionaries)
• Eric Partridge, A Dictionary of Catch Phrases from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day, ed. Paul Beale (London: Routledge, 2005): 495.
  'A catch phrase used when someone has just said that there is hardly any difference between men and women' (Barry Prentice): since 1919 or 1920. An adaptation rather than a simple adoption of the French male toast.)
        To show how easy it is to err in 'coverage', another correspondent writes, 1974: 'Heard when somebody mentions that women are [in temperament] different from men.'
        [John T.] Fain, 1977, comments, 'This has taken on a new life since the women's liberation movement became so prominent.'
• Ed. Rosalind Fergusson, Shorter Dictionary of Catch Phrases (London: Routledge, 1994)
  usually refers to the difference between the sexes; as in 'Women are far more emotional than men.' 'Vive la difference!' From a French male toast, adopted in the UK around 1920. It is also used in the context of racial or political diversity.

Scene 3

4  patron saint:

• patron saint (Merriam-Webster)
  1: a saint who is believed to protect a particular place or type of person; a saint whose protection and intercession a person, a society, a church, or a place is dedicated
  2: a person who is known or admired as a leader or example; an original leader or prime exemplar
  Examples of PATRON SAINT
  St. David is the patron saint of Wales.
  St. Christopher is the patron saint of travelers.
  The success of her books has made her the patron saint of a new literary movement.

7  "The Whole World Over": the song "Dovunque al mondo"

7  cad:

• 2: a man who acts with deliberate disregard for another's feelings or right (Merriam-Webster)

Scene 4

9  Sotto voce: the literal meaning in Italian is "under the voice"; in theater it is more like a stage whisper, when you pretend to whisper but speak loudly enough for people to hear

• sotto voce (Merriam-Webster)
  1: in a very quiet voice; under the breath: in an undertone; also: in a private manner
  2: very softly—used as a direction in music
• stage whisper (The Language of Theatre)
  A form of stage convention akin to the aside: the actor whispers loudly or speaks sotto voce whilst the audience accepts the convention that this utterance goes unheard by certain other onstage characters. A term with a wide general usage, the main difference being that the real life stage whisper is heard by all.

Scene 5

10  girlie magazines:

10  pinup girl:

12  Day-Glo:

13  The Flower Duet: 

Scene 6

15  the death scene: the song is "Con onor muore" ["Death with honor"]

17  medical experiments: during World War II, a special division of the Japanese army based in Manchuria was involved in developing germs for biological warfare and tested the diseases on Chinese people

Scene 7

18  "East is east, west is west, and...":

Scene 8

22  "No dogs and Chinamen": This is a reference to a sense of racial discrimination suggested by a regulation sign at Shianghai's Public Garden, now Huangpu Park. Originally regulation number 4 read "No Chinese shall be admitted to the ground except servants of the various Clubs" and later item number 1 read "No dogs or bicycles are admitted." The provocative combination of the two is immortalized in the Bruce Lee film Fist of Fury, also known as The Chinese Connection and The Iron Hand.

Robert A. Bickers and Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, "Shanghai's 'Dogs and Chinese Not Admitted' Sign: Legend, History and Contemporary Symbol," The China Quarterly (1995) Victor Mair, "Dogs and Japanese Not Admitted," Language Log (2013)

Scene 9

23  Sophia Loren:

25  "One Fine Day": a popular soprano aria; Butterfly sings "Un bel di," to Suzuki about not losing hope in Pinkerton's promise to return though he has been absent for two years

Scene 10

27  Anna May Wong:

Scene 11

32  Renault:

Scene 12

37  jump the gun: act hastily or prematurely without adequate consideration

• jump the gun (Merriam Webster)
  1: to start in a race before the starting signal
  2: to act, move, or begin something before the proper time
• jump the gun (Cambridge Dictionaries Online)
  to do something too soon, especially without thinking carefully about it:
  Ex. They've only just met—isn't it jumping the gun to be talking about marriage already?
• Meaning and origin at The Phrase Finder

38  Solomon:

38  Jezebel:

Act 2

Scene 1

42  bounder:

• bounder (Merriam-Webster)
  2: a man of objectionable social behavior: cad
  

Afterword

94  a certain stereotyped view of Asians:

Review Sheet

Characters

Rene Gallimard – "65, in a prison cell. He wears a comfortable bathrobe, and looks old and tired" (1); "I married a woman older than myself—Helga" (14); "I married late, at age thirty-one. I was faithful to my marriage for eight years" (14); Toulon wants him "to replace LeBon as vice-consul" (37); "At age thirty-nine, I was suddenly initiated into the way of the world" (38)

[Benjamin Franklin] Pinkerton – 

Marc –

Sharpless – 

Comrade Chin –

Suzuki –

Shu Fang – 

Song Liling, Butterfly –  

Comrade Kang – (61)

Toulon – "Manuel Toulon. French ambassador to China. He likes to think of us all as his children. Rather like God" (36)

Judge –  

Renee – has an affair with Gallimard; "I'm a student. My father exports a lot of useless stuff to the Third World...I'm here for two years to study Chinese" (52); "Renee was picture perfect. With a body like those girls in the magazines...wasn't afraid to be seen naked" (54)

Helga –  Gallimard's wife; "My father was ambassador to Australia. I grew up among criminals and kangaroos" (14); "in China, I was happy...going on your arm to the embassy ball, visiting your office and the guards saying, 'Good morning, good morning, Madame Gallimard"—the pretense...was very good indeed" (75)

Time 

1960

1986

present

Places 

Beijing

French Embassy –   

Song's apartment –    

Paris

Gallimard's prison cell –    

courthouse –    

Reference

Hwang, David Henry. M. Butterfly. New York: Plume, 1989. Print.

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Last updated March 4, 2015