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Unknowing the Unserious: Derrida, Searle, and Monsieur Butterfly
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Then in the third act, after Song’s gender and Gallimard’s treason have been revealed,
Song strips naked in front of Gallimard, an act of terrific ambiguity, attempting to evoke
empathy but also humiliation. Second, at greater length, I examine the court scene when
Song is put on trial. Third, briefly, I consider the final death scene.
II A. Submission and Revelation
From Act 1, Scene 13:
Gallimard: I’ve come tonight for an answer: are you my Butterfly? Song: Don’t you know already? Gallimard: I want you to say it. Song: I don’t want to say it … Song: I don’t want to! Gallimard: Are you my Butterfly? … I want from you honesty. There should be nothing false between us. No false pride. Pause. Song: Yes, I am. I am your Butterfly. Gallimard: Then let me be honest with you. It is because of you that I was promoted tonight. You have changed my life forever. My little Butterfly, there should be no more secrets: I love you.
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From Act 3, Scene 2:
Gallimard: You, who knew every inch of my desires—how could you, of all people, have made such a mistake? Song: What? Gallimard: You showed me your true self. When all I loved was the lie … Song: So—you never really loved me? Only when I was playing a part? Gallimard: I’m a man who loved a woman created by a man. Everything else—simply falls short. […] Gallimard: Tonight, I’ve finally learned the difference to tell fantasy from the reality. And, knowing the difference, I choose fantasy…
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As for the first scene, in the declarative utterance, of course, she becomes his
butterfly. Like Austin’s I do, Song’s submissive speech is the definitive illocutionary act
of submission. Gallimard requires her to “say it” because, at this moment, the saying is
the doing. Yet we know that the sexual positioning is for Song political posturing, an act
which consequently problematizes the distinction between the happy and the unhappy
performative. Happy, because it executes the uptake Song intends, Gallimard’s
perception of sexual submission. Unhappy, precisely because Gallimard is fooled—
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| | Authors: Fischel, Joseph. |
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8
Then in the third act, after Song’s gender and Gallimard’s treason have been revealed,
Song strips naked in front of Gallimard, an act of terrific ambiguity, attempting to evoke
empathy but also humiliation. Second, at greater length, I examine the court scene when
Song is put on trial. Third, briefly, I consider the final death scene.
II A. Submission and Revelation
From Act 1, Scene 13:
Gallimard: I’ve come tonight for an answer: are you my Butterfly?
Song: Don’t you know already?
Gallimard: I want you to say it.
Song: I don’t want to say it
…
Song: I don’t want to!
Gallimard: Are you my Butterfly? … I want from you honesty. There should be nothing false
between us. No false pride.
Pause.
Song: Yes, I am. I am your Butterfly.
Gallimard: Then let me be honest with you. It is because of you that I was promoted tonight.
You have changed my life forever. My little Butterfly, there should be no more secrets: I love
you.
28
From Act 3, Scene 2:
Gallimard: You, who knew every inch of my desires—how could you, of all people,
have made such a mistake?
Song: What?
Gallimard: You showed me your true self. When all I loved was the lie …
Song: So—you never really loved me? Only when I was playing a part?
Gallimard: I’m a man who loved a woman created by a man. Everything else—
simply falls short.
[…]
Gallimard: Tonight, I’ve finally learned the difference to tell fantasy from the reality.
And, knowing the difference, I choose fantasy…
29
As for the first scene, in the declarative utterance, of course, she becomes his
butterfly. Like Austin’s I do, Song’s submissive speech is the definitive illocutionary act
of submission. Gallimard requires her to “say it” because, at this moment, the saying is
the doing. Yet we know that the sexual positioning is for Song political posturing, an act
which consequently problematizes the distinction between the happy and the unhappy
performative. Happy, because it executes the uptake Song intends, Gallimard’s
perception of sexual submission. Unhappy, precisely because Gallimard is fooled—
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