M. Butterfly
M. Butterfly: Summary
Act I
Scenes 1-3
M. Butterfly opens in present-day Paris. Rene Gallimard is in a small prison cell. He describes his monotonous daily routine, and then confides that he is no ordinary prisoner, but a celebrity. People talk about him at parties from Amsterdam to New York. Scene 2 shows three people at a party joking about Gallimard, and the joke obviously has something to do with sex. Scene 3 returns to Gallimard's cell, and he confides that he has been loved by the "Perfect Woman.'' He then says that to understand his story, the audience must know the opera Madame Butterfly, by Giacomo Puccini. He describes the opera and plays some of the music from it on his tape recorder. His old school friend Marc appears as one of thecharacters, …show more content…
Women: A society figure who discusses the Gallimard affair.
Marc: Gallimard’s friend from student days who also adopts the role of Sharpless from the opera.
Girl: The ideal woman from a girly magazine.
Suzuki/Comrade Chin: The servant of Cio-Cio-San, who also appears as Suzuki from Madame Butterfly.
Helga: Gallimard’s wife, the daughter of an ambassador.
Summary
M. Butterfly, the famous play by David Hwang, contains intricate ties toMadame Butterfly, the Puccini Opera. However, a note by the playwright David Hwang informs the reader that the action of his play is loosely based on an improbable espionage case in which a former French diplomat was in love with a man whom he believed to be a woman for over twenty years. The play begins with Gallimard in a prison cell, haunted by visions of the “Butterfly,” the tragic heroine in Puccini’s opera, Madame Butterfly. Alone in his cell, Gallimard addresses the audience,...
(The entire page is 2386 words.)
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Act I, Scenes 7-13: Summary and Analysis
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Act I
Scenes 1-3
M. Butterfly opens in present-day Paris. Rene Gallimard is in a small prison cell. He describes his monotonous daily routine, and then confides that he is no ordinary prisoner, but a celebrity. People talk about him at parties from Amsterdam to New York. Scene 2 shows three people at a party joking about Gallimard, and the joke obviously has something to do with sex. Scene 3 returns to Gallimard's cell, and he confides that he has been loved by the "Perfect Woman.'' He then says that to understand his story, the audience must know the opera Madame Butterfly, by Giacomo Puccini. He describes the opera and plays some of the music from it on his tape recorder. His old school friend Marc appears as one of thecharacters, …show more content…
Women: A society figure who discusses the Gallimard affair.
Marc: Gallimard’s friend from student days who also adopts the role of Sharpless from the opera.
Girl: The ideal woman from a girly magazine.
Suzuki/Comrade Chin: The servant of Cio-Cio-San, who also appears as Suzuki from Madame Butterfly.
Helga: Gallimard’s wife, the daughter of an ambassador.
Summary
M. Butterfly, the famous play by David Hwang, contains intricate ties toMadame Butterfly, the Puccini Opera. However, a note by the playwright David Hwang informs the reader that the action of his play is loosely based on an improbable espionage case in which a former French diplomat was in love with a man whom he believed to be a woman for over twenty years. The play begins with Gallimard in a prison cell, haunted by visions of the “Butterfly,” the tragic heroine in Puccini’s opera, Madame Butterfly. Alone in his cell, Gallimard addresses the audience,...
(The entire page is 2386 words.)
Want to read the whole thing?
Subscribe now to read the rest of this article. Plus, get access to more than 30,000+ study guides!
READ MORE
Act I, Scenes 7-13: Summary and Analysis
New