M. Butterfly deconstructs Western stereotypes of the East and the women of the East. It reveals the multiplicity of individual relationships and their meanings in social and political contexts. Within the duality of masculinity-femininity and West-East, the play brings forth the aspects of power embedded in Western stereotypes of the femininity of the East, which is comparable to the power involved in political imperialism. With the deconstruction of the stereotypes and reversal of the duality, the play leads the audience to new political consciousness, and look at the Western as well as Eastern stereotypes critically.
