“M. Butterfly” was a play written by David Henry Hwang in 1988. Besides based on the true story of the scandalous affair between French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and the Chinese spy Shi Pei Pu, “M. Butterfly” is also inspired by the Italian play writer Giacomo Puccini’s famous opera, “Madama Butterfly”. Although critics usually refer the work as a demonstration of dangers inherent in living a life satisfied with shallow stereotypes and misconceptions, the work can be understand in a deeper level with its historical context. As stated by Hwang, “the action of the play takes place in a Paris prison in the present, and, in recall, during the decade 1960-70 in Beijing, and from 1966 to the present in Paris.”(6) In world history, the 1960s was the time where the Second World War (1937-1945) has ended. The Asians were more united after the war, thus nationalism rose among the Asians. They were hoping for democracy of their own homelands. Meanwhile, the western powers were exhausted from war and they retreated from Asia, thus the Asian countries were able to carry out political reforms after escaping from colonization of the West. Under these contexts, Hwang’s M. Butterfly could be seen as a work discussing the power struggle between the Orient and the Occident by making a metaphor out of the gender stereotypes. To start with, the two main characters, French diplomat Rene Gallimard and the Chinese spy Song Lilan, represented the perception of the West that how the East is a
It was useful for Alvarez to apply literary and rhetorical devices to enhance the appropriate understandings of her symbols, and foreshadowing in her novel. The four sisters were most known as “Las Mariposas”, which in the English language translates to Butterflies. “Even in the church during the privacy of the holy communion, Father Gabriel bent down and whispered “Viva la Mariposa”” (Alvarez 259). Butterflies are known for its beauty, freedom, and short term lives. Which all three known facts represents the Maribel sisters, they had the face of angels but strong and determined to fight against Trujillo and the regime.
Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies, expresses Minerva’s dilemmas through the use of symbolism to emphasize the struggle of choosing to prioritize her family or fighting in the country’s revolution. Having been apart from her family for so long, Minerva, the second daughter amongst four, wishes to live a normal life with her family and to see her children grow up. But the responsibility she holds as the country’s savior weighs heavily on her and becomes a grave issue for her. After she is released from prison, Minerva feels as if the house arrest is a blessing in disguise: “But to tell you the truth, it was as if I’d been served my sentence on a silver platter. By then, I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more than to
Composers have the ability to influence how we the audience views and responds to characters and issues. Through viewing and analysing ‘The Shoe Horn Sonata’ by John Misto and ‘Saving Private Ryan’ directed by Steven Spielberg, it is obvious that composers have the ability to impact and influence our views on characters and issues that occur. Shoe Horn Sonata and Saving Private Ryan were set in the same context of World War 2. John Misto’s Shoe Horn Sonata takes place during the war against Japan, the play focus on the lives of two women Bridie and Sheila who have been captured by the Japanese to become (POW) prisoners of war. John Misto’s play was based on real accounts from POWs, the play was to commemorate the female POWS who story was unheard of and to give an insight to the audience into what the POWs had to endure while under the japanese rule.
Iris Chang’s “The Rape of Nanking” is a distressing and vivid account of the atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army during their capture of the city of Nanking, China in 1937. The book details the rape, torture, and murder of hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and prisoners of war in what is often referred to as one of the worst war crimes in modern history. The author’s detailed research, personal interviews, and firsthand accounts create a powerful and emotionally charged narrative that exposes the true terror of the event. The book begins by contextualizing the events leading up to the Japanese invasion of Nanking.
In “The Time Of The Butterflies” is a book written by Julia Alvarez in which a family during the time of Trujillo 's dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. In the one of the themes which was “power” took place was with Trujillo’s bown. The main characters were Minerva, Trujillo, Maria Teresa, Dede, Fela, and Patria. Each sister has different stories going through their lives in the theme of power. For example When Trujillo was sitting down with his son at the girl’s skit they had made it was all going as planned until Sinita got up and walked towards Trujillo and pointed the bow at him.
This historical analysis will define the imperial impact of French colonialism and the influence of Chinese communism and on the Vietnamese people in the pre-WWII era. The important role of China in the development of Vietnam’s history is crucial to understand the ways in which foreign colonists could not sustain dominance over these peoples. In the past, Northern Vietnam had been a part of China, which defines the close relationship that these people had with a larger and more powerful empire in this region of the world. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the role of China’s own nationalist movements had an impact on Vietnam’s own struggles in French-Indochina. The early focus on “nationalism” in China was going against western
In The Time Of Butterflies was written by Julia Alvarez. Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American poet, novelist, and essayist. She wrote In the time of Butterflies in 1994. The book divided into four sections, which make the sisters to have their own sections. The story took place in Dominican Republic during President Trujillo’s dictatorship government.
Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is a work of historical fiction set in the Dominican Republic that focuses on the four Mirabal sisters who bond together to rebel against the corrupt leader of their country, Rafael Trujillo. The four Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa form closer relationships with each other as they figure out a way to bring down the tyranny of Rafael Trujillo. Although they have a mutual goal, each of the Mirabal sisters has different feelings and thoughts throughout this time period. The theme of coming-of-age and identify is best exemplified through the character of María Teresa, known as Mate, through the ways she matures throughout the novel and becomes her own person who stands up for what she believes in.
It came to dominate my understanding of the discussion on the social and historical scene and to restrict my ability to participate in that discussion.(444) If we go back and use the reference again of the electronic tool we can see the struggle of being at home and communicating with her family and having an influence of capitalistic viewpoints and living the life of a capitalist, then immediately having to communicate in a different language at school and being surrounded by socialistic views and living the life of a socialist. Her thoughts were constantly flip-flopping and this became very frustrating for her. If we bring all these struggles into one main purpose, Min-Zhan Lu’s mother falls into silence two months before her death and Min-Zhan Lu attempts to “fill up that silence with words that I have since come to by reflecting on my earlier experience as a student in China.(437) The struggles that she faced growing up in China as a student and her past experiences have really helped her overcome life obstacles and develop her as a better reader and writer.
After reading In the Time of the Butterflies, one can clearly see that Dominican-American author Julia Alvarez thoughtfully and purposefully incorporated a plethora of symbols throughout the story in order to carefully craft her novel. From instances as large as the title of the novel, to concepts as simple as the weather each day of the narration, Alvarez shows deep consideration in utilizing the literary device of symbolism consistently throughout the story. Alvarez took the time to deliberately focus and place emphasis on the element of symbolism in order to not only recognize Dominican culture, but to highlight the journey of the Mirabal sisters as they left their mark on society and fought back against the oppressive Trujillo regime. As
Four beautiful Dominican heroines known as the Butterflies make a big change on the world for women. “Each represent courage, love, and sacrifice”. The Butterflies bravely went against their ruler Trujillo and went through a lot of troubles. One of the four Butterflies whom were the bravest is Minerva. Minerva was the oldest, and wanted to go to law school.
Throughout The Secret Life of Bees bees play a recurring role in the novel, repeatably being mentioned during the novel in epigrams before the start of each chapter and within the story itself. Unfortunately, on certain occasions the reason why bees are included in a certain part of the story can be unclear and confusing to readers, causing them to occasionally misinterpret the importance of bees throughout the novel. Regardless, the bees throughout play a very important role in understanding many of the themes and symbolism that Kidd included within the novel. In The Secret Life of Bees Kidd symbolizes Lily’s experiences and situations through the bees frequently present in the novel to show that seemingly different things can function in the same way.
Gene Luen Yang offers a humanistic perspective on western imperialism in China during the late nineteenth century to early twentieth century in his graphic novel Boxers, a tragic narrative about Chinese grassroots resistance against foreign occupation in which an armed revolution ultimately fails. The novel focuses on religious identity, and cultural connections in the face of invasion. Boxers highlights the negative effects of imperialism through clashes between different religions, ideologies and power structures. Therefore, the criticism of western imperialism presented in Boxers could support a world systems theory approach to international relations because it shows to exploitation through westernization and the squandering of cultural
Consolisa Edmond Professor Sanati English Comp. 102-12 22 March 2017 Analysis of” Trying to Find Chinatown” Shortly after birth, we have our identity written on our birth certificate and we are forever defined by that. The world often defines the people within it, instead of people going off to discover their own identity themselves. Race, ethnicity and other factors like it describe who we are but not represent our identity. In David Hwang’s 1996 play “Trying to Find Chinatown” Hwang considers the role of race and ethnicity in how we identify ourselves and how others identify us.
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston addresses prevalent topics faced in America today. How should women act? Should women be treated differently from men? In her memoir, Kingston faces many obstacles with her Chinese-American identity such as finding her voice as a young woman. In “White Tigers,” Kingston tells her own version of a popular Chinese ballad, “Fa Mu Lan,” while incorporating her own reality back into the section.