The Ideal Woman M. Butterfly by Henry David Hwang highlights the stereotypical woman and draws a picture of the "perfect woman". According to Hwang's characters, the character traits of the perfect woman include submissiveness, passivity, modesty, beauty, dislike of sex, kindness, and tranquility. These traits are shown in Song, labeling her as a perfect woman. The reader later discovers that Song is not a woman at all; she is a man. This calls into question the image of the ideal woman. All female characters have flaws, demonstrating to the reader that the concept of crafting the perfect woman is not possible. Hwang uses Song's character to mock the image of the perfect woman. Creating the perfect woman, but not making her feminine is a slap in the face to the ideal woman. Hwang understands that no woman can be perfect and reflects this by giving the perfect woman one huge flaw: she's a man! Hwang is trying to convey the idea that there is no such thing as a perfect woman. The work defines femininity as a passive state. Being a good woman in M. Butterfly means being a servant and having no opinions. After Gallimard asks him where he finds the girls, Marc replies that they come “…with trucks. Full of sardines. The back opens, the girls pop out, we're ready to go. This passage shows what Marc, and the common man alike, feels about women: he objectifies them. These women are shipped just for him and never say no. Marc says, "They don't have to say yes." They do what he says and have no opinions of their own. This illustrates the concept of the perfect woman in M. Butterfly. Helga, as a woman, falls far short of the ideal depicted in M. Butterfly. She is neither beautiful nor mysterious. Gallimard says "...middle of paper...one's thoughts, interests and agendas. The perfect woman cannot exist. All real women have flaws, as exemplified by Helga and Renée. The only real women are imaginary, created in literature or television. The song depicts the shell of a perfect woman, but inside there is a man. To be a perfect woman, she would not only have to be a biological woman, but she would not have to be without motivation had to truly submit to Gallimard, without any agenda. Ideal woman is just a concept imagined by men to satisfy their desires. There is not, and there will never be, a woman who does everything perfectly well for her man and for her tastes. Song herself said it best: "...Only a man knows how a woman should behave (pg. 1302, Act II, Scene VII) Only a man knows what he wants, and only a man would." could have invented the idea of ​​Song, the perfect woman.