M Butterfly

In first reading this play i was completely confused with who was who and what was going on. But in reading through i realized what was going on. I was really shocked at some of the topics that were discussed in this play. The clear distinction made in this play between the "orient" and the "other" or the "west" really helped to solidify Seids definition of "orientalism". Especially when Seid defines the orient as "real" and not just imaginitatvie. this seems to parallel the play directly as if Hwang was writting this as he was reading Seids book. I was shocked at alot of things that went on in the play...inclding all the espionage, deceit and lies, including the multi partner relationships that Rene had. This was actually an enlightning and informative play to the real world out there that mnay of us may not know about!