The Actual Roles of "Him" and "Her": Contrasts in She Stoops to Conquer and M. Butterfly Anonymous College

The figurative use of masks in She Stoops to Conquer and M. Butterfly is present in both the characters and the themes to define genders and deceit. Goldsmith and Hwang use mockery and satire in the two plays interchangeably through time and space and to interlock the two plays together in terms of themes as well as to set them apart. When it comes to the ending of the play. Both protagonists from M. Butterfly and She Stoops to Conquer challenges social norms through satire and deceit to transform and break gender stereotypes for femininity and masculinity, and while M. Butterfly makes the audience form false assumptions about gender roles from disguise and irony, She Stoops to Conquer uses satire to cross boundaries on how the audience thinks about men and women from different social hierarchies.

As the play begins, Rene Gallimard in M. Butterfly paces around his jail cell and mutters about losing his one and only love, addressing Butterfly, who is actually a man in disguise: “He still claims not to believe the truth.” “What? Still? Even since the trial?” “Yes. Isn’t it mad?” (Hwang, 8) By using two complete random characters whose name isn’t even mentioned, Huang uses irony and satire to emphasize on making fun of Gallimard...