M. Butterfly.
by David Henry Hwang
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Book Summary Information
Author: David Henry HwangEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1998-01
ISBN: 0822207125
Number of pages: 93
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service Inc
Book Reviews of M. Butterfly.
Book Review: Pained Love
Summary: 4 Stars
M. Butterfly / 0-822-20712-5
Hwang's drama takes a real life story, often distilled into a joke or a bit of trivia, and creates a compelling drama. He refuses easy answers here, noting that the thing people "really" want to ask is "Did he or didn't he know?" The novelty of the situation shocks us - Did he know? Didn't he know? If he didn't know, HOW did he not know? - and we want to hear the details, partly to satisfy a vicarious desire, and partly to reassure ourselves that such deception could not happen to us.
However, Hwang turns the question aside as meaningless and points out that the underlying deception - that of a false lover - is one that we've all seen (and many have experienced) countless times. The gender of the participants is less important than their feelings and motivations. Whatever else may have occurred, he argues, a human being was used in a terrible way, and his heart was destroyed in the process. Everything else in immaterial.
Summary of M. Butterfly.
A play based on the true story of a French diplomat, Bernard Boursicot, posted to Peking, who fell in love with a seductive opera singer, named Shi Pei Pu, apparently unaware that Pei Pu was a man.United States Books
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