Mr. Butterfly, a play by David Henry Hwang, has captivated audiences for many years. I like stories full of twists and turns, and M. Butterfly describes an affair between a Chinese "woman" and a French diplomat that lasts 20 years, only to discover that the "woman" was actually a man. A Communist Party spy sent to get information about the Vietnam War, but Gallimard was too stubborn to see it until Liling, the Chinese opera singer, was sent to France, where she is revealed to be a man in court. Through this we can see the relationship between gender, capitalism, ethnicity/nationality and sexuality. The way M. Butterfly shows gender can be seen very clearly as the play progresses. When Song Liling and Comrade Chin discuss how men play women's roles, Liling responds, "No, it's because only a man knows how a woman is supposed to act." This statement says that a man knows a real woman, a woman who is submissive to him, and this is what Liling gave to Song. Take the time when Gallimard and Song were talking, and Liling said, "This is one of your favorite fantasies, isn't it? The submissive oriental woman and the cruel white man." By this, Liling highlights the gender differences between men and women at that time. White women were considered more outgoing than Chinese women. Thus, when Gallimard finds Liling, he thinks he has found a woman of his fantasies, a woman he can have as a mistress but who will not tell his wife, will be content to be submissive to him. René Gallimard fantasized about being a real man because he did not consider Chinese men to be real men or masculine. During the scene where Song and the judge are talking, Song says, "His eyes say yes, but his mouth says no." The West sees itself as male, big gun, big industry, while the East is feminine, weak and delicate. ". This shows how gender is perceived in different cultures. Another scene that shows the connection between sexuality and these characters is when Gallimard meets Renée for the first time and they are about to have sex She says, "You have a nice weenie." This demonstrates her sexuality as a heterosexual, but it catches Gallimard off guard because he has never had a compliment on his penis before. It shows how open she is about it. sexuality and how it playfully expresses it The play M. Butterfly is a story of love and betrayal But unlike other love stories, this tale also shows how the Chinese were perceived by the. Westerners in the early 60s and perhaps still today M. Butterfly shows us through gender, capitalism, ethnicity and sexuality, how three of the main characters reflect all of these ideals and how they are all connected. to each other through these ideals..